Schools are workplaces as much as they are places of learning and teaching. There is mounting evidence of the incidence of occupational violence in schools and the measurable impact of that violence on the wellbeing of school leaders. In the Australian context, research such as that of Associate Professor Philip Riley, Australian Catholic University, through the Australian Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey (
https://www.principalhealth.org/au/index.php), provides a seven-year longitudinal view of this issue.
The Australian Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey has run nationally across all eight Australian school jurisdictions every year since 2011. Since the project began, approximately 50% of Australia’s 10,000 principals have taken part. Many have completed multiple surveys. Anecdotal evidence suggests many incidents of violence involving workers in schools are going unreported because of the normalisation of violence towards school workers. While there is a research gap in respect of education support workers and teachers, the compelling nature of the evidence available for school leaders necessitates inclusive action for all workers in schools.
As an additional consideration, occupational violence in the school context, by its very nature, is gendered violence. Women make up more than 70% of our school workforce. National and international attention on the issues of violence against women and girls, whatever the circumstances, has recently propelled this issue to greater prominence.
State governments as employers of workers in state (public) schools in Australia, have a legislated responsibility to provide safe and healthy working environments. Confronted by the evidence, Australian teacher unions, in cooperation with those governments, have been pursuing a variety of solutions to provide appropriate protections for school leaders, and all workers in schools, from all forms of violence perpetrated by parents, students and others.
This presentation will focus on both the processes of designing solutions and some of the outcomes targeted at preventing violence in schools as a workplace while delivering practical support and timely assistance to employees whose wellbeing has been compromised by experiences of occupational violence.
