Placement supervisors and partners

New partnerships start with a conversation with the WILAC for the discipline. They will:

• talk with you about the learning opportunities, supervision and likely capacity you can offer
• visit your site, in person or virtually
• complete a work health and safety (WHS) risk assessment covering the work, travel, location and environment.

Once the WILAC recommends the site, the WIL Unit:

• establishes a WIL Partner Agreement, including legal, insurance and site compliance requirements
• completes a site risk assessment
• confirms placement capacity with you
• arranges your initial orientation.

Students are allocated once the agreement is in place, and orientation must be complete before they arrive.

Every student must meet Fit to Practice requirements before placement, including:

• a National Police Certificate
• a Working with Children Check
• immunisations
• other discipline-specific requirements, such as first aid, CPR or manual handling.

SCU checks these, and makes sure students complete any site-specific requirements you set, such as inductions, online modules or extra clearances, before they attend.

Before each placement you’ll receive a confirmation with the student’s details, dates, learning outcomes, supervision arrangements and key contacts.

Students must keep their requirements current throughout placement. If a requirement lapses, SCU will suspend the placement and let you know.

We ask every new placement supervisor to complete orientation before their first student arrives. The orientation video at the top of this page covers everything you need in about 17 minutes.

Reorientation is offered annually and as required — for example, when monitoring changes at your site or when concerns indicate it would help.

You can also download the full WIL Orientation Package.

• Supervision should suit the student’s level of training and experience, at the ratio agreed with SCU.
• Students work within an agreed scope of approved activities. Please tell us if anything changes, such as staffing, services or models of care.
• Students should complete your site induction, including WHS and emergency procedures, at the start of placement.

If you have a concern about a student’s performance or conduct, contact their Unit Assessor straight away. Don’t wait until the end of the placement.

The Unit Assessor will work with you and may start the University’s process for unsatisfactory progress (section 7 of the WIL Procedures) or for non-academic misconduct.

Changes to placement dates, hours or location must go through SCU’s formal process. Please contact the WIL Unit rather than agreeing to changes directly with the student.

SCU keeps a duty of care to students throughout their placement.

• In an emergency, call 000 first.
• Follow your own site procedures to make everyone safe.
• Tell the WIL Unit or the WILAC as soon as possible. SCU records placement incidents in its incident system and follows up with you.

We stay in touch with you and with students throughout each placement. How often depends on the site’s risk level. The WILAC also visits sites from time to time.

We’ll review a placement site if, for example:

• there is an incident or a complaint
• site management or governance changes
• staffing changes affect supervision, or key supervisors leave
• the WIL Partner Agreement is due for renewal.

Please let us know about changes like these. Your feedback, and students’ feedback, helps us improve placements.