• Section 1 - Purpose
• Section 2 - Authority
• Section 3 - Scope
• Section 4 - Schedule

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This document outlines the conditions under which controlled entities can create and publish instructions or guidelines as part of an RMIT Group policy. 

Section 2 - Authority

(2) Authority for this document is established by the Policy Governance Policy.

Section 3 - Scope

(3) This Schedule applies to RMIT’s controlled entities – RMIT Europe, RMIT Online, RMIT UP and RMIT Vietnam.

(4) This Schedule is for instructions and guidelines that are to be registered as part of an RMIT Group level policy suite. Such instructions and guidelines:

1. need to apply to a significant function for the controlled entity, e.g. student administration or support, or
2. apply to the majority of staff at the controlled entiy, and
3. are not lower level documents created to assist a team with their work tasks, for example, how to use a team database.

Section 4 - Schedule

(5) Occasionally it may be necessary for an instruction or guideline to be created for a controlled entity when processes to operationalise an RMIT Group policy must vary from those for RMIT University. For example, this may be due to different:

1. labour laws at RMIT’s international locations
2. legislation specific to the programs being offered
3. enterprise agreements for staff at a controlled entity
4. organisational structures, facilities or technology.

(6) To ensure the documentation for a policy suite is complete and transparent, an instruction or guideline created by a controlled entity, that meets the requirements in clause 8, is listed in the relevant RMIT Group policy as one of its subordinate documents. A hyperlink to the document on the controlled entity site must be placed in the policy.

(7) For quality and assurance purposes, only instructions or guidelines that meet the scope of this Schedule and the governance requirements detailed below can be included as part of a policy suite.

(8) For an instruction or guideline to be listed as part of a policy suite, the development or review of the document must have included the following elements, at a minimum:

1. engagement with relevant teams across the controlled entity to ensure the needs of all relevant stakeholders are covered and the document can be effectively implemented
2. consultation with RMIT’s subject matter expert to ensure legislative and regulatory requirements are met
3. advice to the relevant RMIT Group policy author that the creation or review of the instruction or guideline is commencing
4. use of the official RMIT policy document template for controlled entity instructions or guidelines
5. quality check by Central Policy
6. approval by the head of the controlled entity or their delegate
7. preparation of an implementation and communication plan to maximise compliance.

(9) Instructions or guidelines for controlled entities are published on a site for the controlled entity (intranet or SharePoint) that is accessible to all staff from across the RMIT Group. Each local document must list their parent policy and include a hyperlink to it.

(10) In rare cases, a policy owner or Central Policy may determine that a controlled entity document should be published in full on the RMIT Group Policy Register. These documents must be listed on the controlled entity’s policy site with a link to the one published on the Policy Register for version management purposes. 

(11) The template for instructions and guidelines includes a table of metadata that enables the legitimacy of documents to be identifiable and to assist in the management of the document’s lifecycle. The table contains data similar to the Status and Details tab for an RMIT Group policy document, such as:

1. approval date
2. effective date (i.e. the date the document comes into effect, which is usually the publication date)
3. the date by which the document must have undergone a review for accuracy and effectiveness
4. document author, their role and organisational unit
5. approval authority (the person with delegated authority to approve instructions and guidelines)
6. area responsible for implementation and enquiries
7. location of published document (Policy Register or controlled entity policy site)
8. version table showing the documents version history
9. access control (for rare cases where there are limits on who can view the document).

(12) Policy document authors at controlled entities may transition their existing policy documents to instructions or guidelines without the need to wait for the next cyclical review of the document. Central Policy can advise and assist with transitioning these documents to the new format and category.

(13) If in doubt about whether to list an instruction or guideline as part of an RMIT Group level policy, contact Central Policy.