A fresh start: Health and Safety Officer rollout aiming to create safer classrooms

By EducationHQ News Team
Published July 3, 2025

The Queensland Government says it is delivering “a fresh start” for the state’s education system with the rollout of almost 140 Workplace Health and Safety Officers to assist in dealing with occupational violence in the classroom and reduce red tape for teachers.

Queensland Minister for Education John-Paul Langbroek says the new officers will “help to restore safety in the classrooms, while giving teachers more time to focus on lifting literacy and numeracy results”.

Officers will support a small number of schools using a cluster model allowing them, the Government said, to work directly with principals to identify risks, develop strategies and implement supports that stamp out violence.

In a statement, the Government said the initiative will result in teachers being relieved of “burdensome administrative tasks” that it said take away from teaching time including safety assessments, hazard responses, and incident investigations.

The new roles were piloted across 33 public schools in 2024 and an additional $57 million investment will allow it to expand to a further 300+ schools.

Queensland Minister for Education John-Paul Langbroek said the rollout would help deliver on the Government’s election commitment to cut red tape for teachers by 25 percent over the next four years.

“… everyone deserves to work in a safe and supportive environment,” Langbroek said.

“These new officers will help to restore safety in the classrooms, while giving teachers more time to focus on lifting literacy and numeracy results.

“We know principals involved in the pilot program reported improved school safety and staff wellbeing. We’re listening to their feedback and boosting the number of Officers to increase support for our teachers.

Langbroek said the funding was part of “the historic Bilateral Agreement we secured to fully-fund state schools”.

“We’re absolutely committed to supporting teachers and delivering a world-class education to students,” he said.

The Government said the expansion “helps to reverse a decade of failures under the former Labor Government which caused occupational violence and teacher WorkCover claims to skyrocket, while student attendance and education standards declined”.

More than $80 million was paid to schoolteachers, and staff for physical and psychological injuries across the state in the 2023-24 financial year, with 960 claims lodged with WorkCover Queensland.

Behaviour and classroom safety will also be boosted, the Government said, by its $222.1 million More Teachers, Better Education Plan, “which includes additional teacher aides and behaviour specialists to prevent and respond to bullying, increase support for students, and create safer school environments”.