ACT principals report highest rates of violence in Australia

Results showed 57 per cent of ACT principals reported being a victim of physical violence by parents and students.

This was significantly higher than every other jurisdiction except the Northern Territory at 55 per cent.

Meanwhile, 55 per cent of ACT principals reported suffering threats of violence, the second highest rate after Tasmania at 57 per cent.

The longitudinal study by Australian Catholic University and Deakin University surveyed 2248 principals across all states and territories.

The 2020 results paint a picture of mounting workloads and increasing stress as principals navigated the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Co-chief investigator for the survey and ACU Institute for Positive Psychology and Education Professor Herb Marsh said while overall offensive behaviours reduced last year due to less face-to-face contact with parents, it was surprising ACT principals suffered such high rates of violence.

"One would have expected that ACT probably would have been lower than many of them. So for me, it was surprising that they were among the highest," Prof Mash said.

The report authors recommended an independent taskforce be established to fully investigate offensive behaviours in schools.

They also recommended online meetings be held with parents to reduce conflict and make it more convenient for them to engage with teachers and school leaders.

Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia chief executive Beth Blackwood said it would take more than a taskforce to change violent behaviour.

"It's not just an issue with schools, it is a societal issue with regard to civility and with regard to respect for other individuals," Ms Blackwood said.

"And so, yes, I think working parties are important but what's even more important is that some actions follow from those working parties."

READ MORE:

Ms Blackwood said legislation could be a way to impose sanctions for people who resorted to violence and assault as a means of resolving conflict.

The survey showed 97 per cent of principals worked overtime and almost 70 per cent worked more than 56 hours a week during the school term and 25 hours a week during the holidays.

Prof Marsh said over the 10 years of the survey, principals' workloads were increasing without any increase to support services.

"There's more and more demands being placed on principals as many of the activities and resources that were at the state and federal level are being given to principals and they're not getting added resources and support staff to assist them and taking care of these increased demands," he said.

He said the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 restrictions added to the pressures school leaders faced.

However, Ms Blackwood said principals rose to the challenge last year and as a result, parents had a greater understanding and respect for educators.

"I think we saw growing confidence in leaders and teachers generally across the 2020 year," she said.

"Despite the additional workload there was greater respect for the teaching profession because there was more transparency."

She said more study was needed to find out the cause of the increasing mental health concerns in students and staff that were adding to the workload of school principals.

"Despite the concerns that this report raises, you will see that the level of satisfaction in the role is higher than for other professions. So that's why our school leaders remain in those roles, because they love what they're doing."

The research was funded by the Australian Research Council and several principals' organisations.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: