Restraint, Seclusion, and Restrictive Practices in Victorian Schools: What Parents Need to Know

Finding out that your child has been physically restrained or placed in isolation at school is one of the most distressing things a parent can hear. It also triggers immediate legal questions: Was this allowed? Does the school have to tell you? Can you make them stop?

Victoria has specific, detailed rules governing the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools. Understanding those rules — and the reporting obligations that come with them — is essential for parents whose children are at risk of these interventions.

What Are Restrictive Practices?

In the Victorian school context, "restrictive practices" refers specifically to two interventions:

Physical restraint: Any direct physical contact that restricts a student's movement or freedom. This includes holding a student's arms, physically blocking their exit, or using any physical force to control their position or movement.

Seclusion: Confining a student alone in a room or area from which they cannot freely leave. This is distinct from a student voluntarily choosing to be in a quiet space — the defining element is that the student cannot leave freely.

These interventions are distinct from general behaviour management strategies. Using a calm voice, redirecting a student, or providing a sensory break are not restrictive practices. Physically holding a student or placing them in a room they cannot exit are.

When Physical Restraint Is Permitted

Under the Department of Education's Restraint and Seclusion Policy, physical restraint in a Victorian school is only lawful when:

1. There is an imminent risk of physical harm — to the student, another student, or staff
2. The restraint is necessary — less restrictive alternatives have been considered and are not feasible in the moment
3. The restraint is reasonable in its intensity and duration — only the minimum force necessary is used
4. The restraint ceases immediately when the imminent risk of harm has passed

Restraint is explicitly not permitted as a form of punishment, as a behaviour management strategy, or as a response to non-dangerous challenging behaviour. Using restraint to stop a student from leaving a room, to prevent property damage (without risk of harm to people), or as a routine response to distress is outside the policy.

Seclusion is only permitted under the same conditions: imminent risk of physical harm, necessity, reasonableness, and immediate cessation when the risk passes.

Mandatory Reporting Obligations

Every incident of physical restraint or seclusion in a Victorian government school must be:

1. Formally documented through the eduSafe Plus system — the Department's online incident reporting platform
2. Reported to the Incident Support and Operations Centre (ISOC)
3. Communicated to parents as soon as practicable after the incident

The third obligation — parent notification — is one that schools frequently handle poorly. Parents often hear about restraint incidents hours or days later, or discover them through their child's account of events. If the school does not proactively notify you of a restraint or seclusion incident on the day it occurs, that is a failure of mandatory reporting obligations.

What You Are Entitled to Know

After any restraint or seclusion incident, you are entitled to:

• A clear account of what happened, including who was involved, what triggered the intervention, what form the restraint took, and how long it lasted
• Confirmation that the incident has been logged in eduSafe Plus
• Information about whether any injury occurred to your child or staff
• Access to the school's documentation of the incident

Request this information in writing. A verbal account the next morning is not adequate documentation. Ask specifically: "Has this incident been reported to ISOC through eduSafe Plus? Can I receive a copy of the incident report?"

Proactive Planning: When Restrictive Practices Should Never Be a Surprise

If your child's disability includes presentations that create a foreseeable risk of physical incidents — dysregulation, flight responses, aggressive behaviour in distress — the school should be working with you proactively to ensure restrictive practices are never needed.

This means:

A Behaviour Support Plan (BSP) should be in place. A properly developed BSP identifies the function of behaviour, the environmental and antecedent factors that precede difficult incidents, proactive strategies to reduce the likelihood of escalation, and de-escalation approaches that are appropriate to the student's profile. A school that uses physical restraint repeatedly without a BSP in place is failing the student.

The BSP should be developed with allied health input. If your child has an occupational therapist, psychologist, or behaviour support specialist, their recommendations should inform the BSP. Strategies should be individualised, not generic.

The BSP should be reviewed at SSG meetings. If restrictive practices have been used, the SSG must review what happened, why existing strategies didn't prevent the incident, and what changes are needed.

If your child's school is using restraint or seclusion regularly but has not developed an adequate BSP, the appropriate response is an urgent SSG meeting demanding a BSP review and documentation of what proactive adjustments are being put in place.

When Restraint Is Being Used Unlawfully

Restraint or seclusion used outside the narrow permitted circumstances — as punishment, as routine management, or without genuine necessity — is unlawful. It may also constitute a breach of:

• The school's own Restraint and Seclusion Policy
• The Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) — if the behaviour being "managed" through restraint is a manifestation of the student's disability and adequate adjustments were not in place
• The Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) — if the practice discriminates against the student because of their disability
• The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) — which protects dignity and protection from cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment

If you believe restraint or seclusion is being used unlawfully, or that incidents are not being reported as required, the escalation pathway is:

1. Formal written complaint to the principal documenting the specific incidents
2. Escalation to the DET Regional Office if the school's response is unsatisfactory
3. A complaint to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) if the conduct involves discrimination under the EOA
4. In serious cases, a complaint to the Commission for Children and Young People, which has oversight of child safety in Victorian educational settings

Recording Incidents Yourself

Parents cannot always rely on the school's own documentation to be complete or accurate. Maintain your own written log of every incident:

• Date and time you were notified
• What you were told, by whom, and how
• What your child reports about the incident
• Any visible signs of distress or injury
• What follow-up the school offered or failed to offer

This record is essential if you later need to demonstrate a pattern to a DET Regional Office or VEOHRC.

The Connection to Ministerial Order 1125

Ministerial Order 1125 (MO 1125) — which governs suspension and expulsion — is also relevant when restrictive practices are being used repeatedly. If a school is resorting to restraint or seclusion regularly, it is often a signal that the student is being managed through crisis intervention rather than properly supported. MO 1125 requires that students with disability have appropriate SSG processes and behaviour support in place before any escalation to formal discipline. If neither adequate behaviour support nor appropriate SSG engagement exists, the school's management of the student may be failing on multiple fronts simultaneously.

The Victoria Disability Advocacy Playbook (/au/victoria/advocacy/) includes templates for requesting a BSP review at an SSG meeting, a formal complaint letter for unlawful use of restraint, and an incident documentation template for tracking restrictive practice incidents over time.

Summary

Physical restraint and seclusion in Victorian schools are only permitted when there is imminent risk of physical harm, and only when less restrictive options are not feasible. Every incident must be logged in eduSafe Plus, reported to ISOC, and communicated to parents. Repeated use of restraint without an adequate Behaviour Support Plan is a systemic failure that should be challenged through the SSG, then through the formal DET complaints pathway and, if necessary, VEOHRC.

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