UPDATE: Research is still suspended in Victorian Government Education Settings due to COVID-19
Subject to public health advice and operational guidance about external visitors to education settings, our Research in Schools and Early Childhood settings (RISEC) process and all research and evaluation activity in education settings are suspended in 2022 until further notice.
The ongoing challenges of COVID-19 necessitate this further temporary suspension. This supports education settings as they manage the increased workload related to the return to onsite learning.
Please note that:
- Researchers, including those with RISEC approval, should not contact schools, early childhood staff, or children to commence, continue, or recruit for research and evaluation activity.
- We will not accept new RISEC applications or requests to amend existing RISEC approvals.
We are considering exemptions from the suspension on a case-by-case basis for the following types of projects:
- If your research or evaluation activity is in partnership with or commissioned by the department, please get researchers to discuss the next steps with their contact officer in the department.
- If your research is part of an undergraduate or postgraduate research degree (e.g. PhD, Masters, Honours), please get researchers to contact research@education.vic.gov.au to discuss their next steps. Supervisors please discuss this with your graduate researchers.
For the limited number of research activities that have been exempted from the suspension, please note that vaccination requirements apply.
Schools and early childhood settings must collect, record and hold vaccination information for all visitors working onsite. Only visitors who have provided information that they are fully vaccinated or medically excepted persons are allowed to work onsite.
Please ensure your researchers can provide vaccination information upon request by the school or early childhood setting. More information, including what counts as ‘vaccination information’, is available at COVID-19 Vaccinations – Visitors and Volunteers Working on School Sites. Any other queries researchers may have, please direct them to research@education.vic.gov.au.