School principals reported a 48.2 percent jump in physical violence, mostly from students and parents.
Australian school principals are experiencing a record-high surge in physical attacks from students, driving many perilously close to the brink of self-harm.
A survey conducted by the Australian Catholic University (ACU) of 2,300 school principals found 48.2 percent experienced physical violence in 2023, up 76.5 percent from 2011.
Students perpetrated almost all (96.3 percent) of the attacks, followed by parents (65.6 percent).
“It is deeply concerning that offensive behaviour towards school leaders and teachers persist and appears to be on the rise,” ACU co-lead investigator Professor Herb Marsh said. Nearly all principals who were attacked (42.6 percent) triggered a “red flag” email, indicating they were at risk of self-harm, occupational health issues, or a significant impact on their quality of life.
One in five school leaders reported moderate to severe depression, particularly among early career leaders, with others facing risks of serious mental health issues such as anxiety, burnout, stress, and sleep problems.
Growing Teacher Shortage
The survey findings coincide with school principals intending to quit or retire early. Around 60 percent of those with six to ten years of experience want to exit the profession, and experienced school leaders with over 15 years of experience are at the forefront of the impending departure.
“Assuming only half of those who agreed or strongly agreed to quit acted on this response, there would be an exodus of more than 500 school leaders—the data strongly suggests this would be experienced school leaders,” Ms. Marsh said.
The upcoming departure would add to the existing shortage of teachers nationwide.
Education Minister Jason Clare recently
mentioned that while there are around 300,000 teachers currently working in our schools, there are an additional 100,000 registered teachers with qualifications who have chosen not to teach but maintain their registration.
Urgent Call for Action
Despite challenges, the survey revealed that some school leaders still exhibit strong dedication, commitment, and commendable resilience.Their grit was independent of state education department policies or other regulatory body policies, indicating that these entities’ formal policies or guidelines failed to aid their ability to cope.
Paul Kidson, ACU investigator, and former principal, called on education ministers to urgently take collective action to address the significant threats facing principals.
“We’ve had a national spotlight on teacher education and workloads, disruptions in the classroom, campaigns to boost the profession’s status, and a continued focus on students’ mental health and academic outcomes—all noble and necessary,” Mr. Kidson said.
However, he said, “Principals are being asked to do more with less.”
“It’s been over a decade since the Gonski Review, and we still do not have full funding based on student needs. It is naïve to think this does not translate into the increasing stress among school leaders today,” he explained.
The Australian government commissioned the Gonski Review in 2010 to comprehensively review school funding in the country.
Businessman David Gonski led the
review to address inequalities in school funding.
The review’s final report, released in 2011, recommended reforms to improve the quality and equity of education across the country.
A new funding model was proposed called the “Gonski model,” which advocated for needs-based funding to ensure that all students, regardless of their socio-economic background, receive the support they need to succeed in school.
However, leading school wellbeing expert Associate Professor Theresa Dicke said there is an urgency for education ministers to make a priority of responding to the data in this report.
She proposed a national summit to coordinate strategies and resources, warning that failure to address these issues could lead to a mass exodus of school leaders.
“Many of them will act on their intention to leave and it will make achieving important policy initiatives very unlikely,” she said.
Since 2011, this survey has aimed to understand and support the health and well-being of school leaders by providing personalised reports based on data collected from a large sample of participants.
This year’s report categorises data by different career stages and represents nearly a quarter of all Australian school leaders.
