2026 Refresh of T1D Learning Centre Courses
Incorporating Workplace Safety Obligations in Schools
Overview
For the 2026 calendar year, the Australian Paediatric Society (APS) continues to maintain and update the T1D Learning Centre “Diabetes at School” package, ensuring alignment with contemporary clinical practice, evolving diabetes technologies, and workplace safety obligations applicable to Australian schools as workplaces.
Annual refreshes support schools and education authorities to meet their duty of care to students and their statutory obligations to employees by ensuring staff can safely, confidently, and lawfully respond to foreseeable diabetes-related risks in the school environment.
Background to the Courses
The reforms implemented in 2023 addressed deficiencies in terminology, role clarity, and clinical consistency identified through coronial processes and sector review.
The 2026 updates reflect a more fundamental shift arising from criminal enforcement of workplace safety law, authoritative judicial clarification of employee status, and the confirmed legal responsibility of schools as employers.
Specifically, the 2026 changes recognise that:
- A school is a workplace, and students with Type 1 diabetes introduce foreseeable medical risk into that workplace.
- School employees are not informal or voluntary “helpers” when responding to diabetes-related needs; they are workers performing regulated duties within the course of their employment.
- Contemporary case law has extinguished any argument that school staff providing diabetes-related assistance act merely as informal “carers” outside the scope of workplace safety law.
- Criminal conviction of a school for workplace safety breaches has reinforced that failure to provide appropriate training, systems, and supervision for foreseeable medical risks may constitute a breach of statutory duty.
- Schools, as employers, must determine required training, ensure competency, and maintain currency; they cannot lawfully rely on ad hoc or variable advice from parents to discharge their obligations.
- Medical practitioners and parents may inform care planning, but cannot authorise, credential, or assess employee competence for higher-risk tasks.
Accordingly, the 2026 framework reframes Type 1 diabetes management in schools as a workplace safety and competency issue, not a discretionary welfare activity. Training is no longer optional, informal, or goodwill-based; it is a mandatory risk-control measure.
These changes directly support the necessity for a nationally recognised, RTO-accredited training and assessment pathway, ensuring school employees are trained, assessed, and authorised to perform diabetes-related duties safely, lawfully, and consistently across jurisdictions.
1. Management Plans (Clarifying Legal Responsibility)
To reflect contemporary legal and workplace safety expectations, key documents have been reframed to clearly articulate responsibility and authority:
- Emergency Response Plan (previously known as Diabetes Action Plan) defines mandatory emergency responses and escalation pathways.
- Diabetes Management Plan provides clinician-authorised instructions for day-to-day and complex care, supporting staff to act within scope and competence.
These documents are central risk-control measures within a school’s safety system.
2. e-Learning Modules (2026)
The internationally endorsed T1D e-learning modules have been updated to reflect:
- Rapid expansion in diabetes technologies (CGM, pumps, AID systems)
- The need for individualised student care
- Explicit recognition of school employees’ workplace obligations to:
- Identify foreseeable medical risks
- Respond promptly and appropriately
- Escalate to trained staff where required
Failure to provide appropriate education exposes both students and employees to preventable harm.
3. Levels of Care (Aligned with the ISPAD Position Statement)
The three-tier framework remains consistent with the 2024 International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) Position Statement:
Level 1 – Essential Care of ALL Students with Type 1 Diabetes (2026)
- Mandatory for all school staff in a school enrolling a student with T1D
- Establishes baseline knowledge required to safely work in a school environment where diabetes risk exists
Level 2 – Essential Care of the Individual Student with Type 1 Diabetes (2026)
- Required for staff with supervisory responsibility who, in the judgement of the school, may need to respond to a T1D emergency
- Enables staff to meet both student duty of care and employee safety obligations during routine school activities
Level 3 – Complex Care of the Individual Student with Type 1 Diabetes (2026)
- Required for staff providing health services or complex medical care
- Content is individualised by the medical team and family
- Off-campus activities require additional, location-specific preparation and risk controls
4. School Camps and Off-Campus Activities
The School Camp Checklist for Type 1 Diabetes supports schools to:
- Identify and manage elevated risks associated with excursions and camps
- Implement additional controls to protect students and staff
- Demonstrate compliance with workplace safety requirements in off-site environments
5. Training of School Employees – Accreditation Gap
Completion of the T1D Learning Centre “Diabetes At School” modules must be complemented by practical training and competency assessment delivered by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) where higher-risk tasks are required.
At present:
- There is currently no nationally recognised qualification or unit of competency that specifically addresses the management of Type 1 Diabetes in school settings. Diabetes Australia has confirmed that its “Diabetes in Schools” program does not confer any formal qualification, authorisation, or accredited competency, and therefore cannot meet the requirements for vocational credentialing or workplace competency assurance.
- Medical teams and parents cannot authorise, assess, or credential staff competency
- This gap presents a systemic workplace safety risk
APS continues to advocate for the development of an accredited pathway to protect:
- Students with Type 1 Diabetes
- School staff exposed to foreseeable medical risk
- Education authorities and employers subject to statutory safety obligations
APS continues to work with governments and regulators to ensure children with Type 1 diabetes can attend school safely, inclusively, and with dignity, while ensuring schools meet their obligations as both education providers and workplaces.
Dr Peter Goss FRACP
Chair, Diabetes, Australian Paediatric Society
Updated for 2026