Every year, the Australian Catholic University (ACU)surveys principal wellbeing, and it’s often sobering reading. But the latest Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey (2022) is shocking. It says principals are grappling with “the highest rates of burnout, sleeping troubles, stress, and depression in a decade”, Will Brodie writes.
It reveals that one in two school leaders are at risk of serious mental health concerns including burnout and stress. Even more alarmingly, it reports that school principals are 11 times more likely to be subjected to physical violence than the average Australian, and nearly half have reported being assaulted by parents or students.
IEU-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke called for “urgent interventions” from government and employers to address this crisis.
“The number of principals looking to retire has tripled in the last three years for the same reasons as our teachers – workload and a lack of time to focus on their core duties as a school leader.
“This is compounded by the national shortage of teachers unwilling to work under the current workload regime.
“We don’t have a teacher shortage – we have a shortage of teachers willing to work under oppressive workloads.
“Like teachers, our school leaders are forced to do too much work unrelated to their core duties, severely impacting their health and wellbeing.”
Mr Burke said immediate action by school employers and government was needed to address workload in schools.
“Meaningful reform must be put in place to tackle the unnecessary paperwork, red tape and obsession with data which are sucking the life out of our profession.”
In Queensland, school employers are now legally responsible for complying with the Managing the Risk of Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice, which came into effect from 1 April this year.
“The new Code will also provide practical, enforceable minimum standards a school must follow to comply with its duties to ensure psychological health and safety of its employees,” Burke said.
Similar regulations are appearing in other states. They will mean the mental health of workers must be considered more seriously by management.
The survey reveals why that change is essential.
Red flag alerts
It revealed that ‘red flag’ alerts jumped by 18.7 percentage points last year – a 64.26 per cent increase.
Red flag alerts mean school leaders are at risk of “self-harm, occupational health problems or serious impact on their quality of life”.
Principals work an average of 56 hours a week and their job satisfaction and trust in management is at the lowest levels ever recorded by the survey.
IEU Victoria Tasmania Principal’s Officer Noel Dillon said many principals are targeted by parents in online forums and have no right of reply.
“Parents are threatening legal action against principals for any action against their child. Principals are frustrated that their hands are tied and they’re unable to deal with inappropriate behaviours without threat from parents or their legal teams.”
“Abusive, attacking and often threatening” emails are sent to principals at all hours.
And inappropriate and aggressive student behaviour has increased since pandemic lockdowns stopped.
As Dan McMahon, president of the Queensland Catholic Secondary Principals’ Association told the Catholic Leader, “There are more angry people in society”.
“This may have been exacerbated by experiences of COVID-19. It is not uncommon for parents to ‘vent’ at school personnel.”
In the 2022 survey, parents were the highest ranked source of bullying at 19 per cent. Conflicts and quarrels were reported by 60 per cent of participants, mostly with parents (36 per cent).
Gossip and slander was reported by 50 per cent of participants, with parents the main source (31 per cent).
Enough is enough
ACU Investigator and former principal Dr Paul Kidson said, “Enough is enough. Our research shows abuse and intimidation towards principals and the associated health risks suffered by school leaders continues to grow and it must stop”.
“Such a significant shift in red flag warnings in a short space of time suggests the situation is more serious than first thought. For the past 12 years we have looked at trends and this year they are stark – the scale and the rate has intensified, and we are seeing a severe escalation in stress levels.”
In NSW, school violence is such a concern Emeritus Professor Donna Cross was appointed the state’s first Chief Behaviour Advisor in March. Assaults in the state’s schools had jumped by 50 per cent since 2013 and the escalation of bad behaviour in schools led to the review of controversial policy introduced in 2022 which restricted the length and number of suspensions schools could issue – which was criticised for undermining teacher authority.
In April, a federal inquiry began hearings to examine increasing disruption in Australian school classrooms. It was informed in part by an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study from 2018 that revealed Australia ranked 69 out of 76 worldwide for unruly classrooms.