‘Teachers are just coping’: calls for new crime laws to apply in schools

The Allan Government’s crime crackdown will see those who threaten or assault workers in customer-facing roles face up to five years in jail.

Up to six months jail time awaits those who commit lower-level assaults, and for conduct that threatens and intimidates a worker, such as swearing or using other insulting language.

Both front-of-house and back-of-house staff will be protected under the new laws, as will cleaners or security staff who are in a workplace that has customers.

“There is a difference between the customer from hell and the customer who harms – retail workers know it and these laws nail it,” Premier Jacinta Allan said last week announcing the changes.  

“I worked at a supermarket and I know what it was like. Today, we stand with workers to say it should never be a part of your job, and you'll be protected…”

But some teachers have questioned why similar legislation has not been extended to shield those working in schools.

‘Do us next please, Jacinta’

Taking their concern to the Australian Teachers Reddit page, one educator lamented the situation.

“I'm not sure how no-one is seeing that our consequence-free schools can not[sic] be unrelated to youth crime but I would love to have some of the protections being promised for retail workers…”

Another reported that much of the abuse directed at school staff goes unreported to police or “earns the student an external suspension and maybe moved to another school, if that”.

The laws should be adopted nation-wide, another suggested, before adding “This SHOULD be introduced to protect educators and other staff at schools... but it probably never will be”.

One commenter urged for stronger consequences for low-level abusive behaviour in schools, “not just a giant response when they assault an adult”.

“I say this but at the same time I don’t think kids respect their parents anymore, they don’t respect each other,” they wrote.

“I don’t know if it’s like a crotchety ‘kids today’ kind of thing, but a lack of consequences for the small things is definitely leading to a disregard of consequences later.”

‘Part of the job’

Research from last year involving more than 8000 teachers revealed that 20 to 25 per cent felt unsafe in their schools.

Disturbing stories of violence directed at teachers emerged from the study, “both physical and psychological that many Australian teachers are managing as part of their everyday work”, researchers warned.

Key sources of safety concerns included student and parent behaviours, along with a lack of support at both the school and system level.

“It seems possible that teachers’ concerns are silenced through an expectation that violence, abuse and intimidation are ‘part of the job’ and that it is a teacher’s responsibility to manage such circumstances,” the research team flagged.

Could an ‘ethic of care’ in teachers’ work be concealing the true extent of violence and abuse they face in their roles?

One Victorian secondary teacher told EducationHQ that there seems to be an expectation in schools that dealing with violent and abusive behaviour from students is an expected and normal part of the job.

“And then, of course, it’s often on the teacher alone to follow up with the poor behaviour – the teacher is expected to follow through with all of the processes, without necessarily having the support from above,” they said.

It’s an incredibly complicated issue for schools to manage, the teacher suggested.

“A lot of severe behaviour comes from some of the students who have a disability inclusion profile. And I think that makes it very difficult for teachers then to deal with that behaviour, because those students have a diagnosis or have some sort of behavioural diagnosis that means that they behave in that way.”

School staff ought to have greater protections in the workplace, the teacher argued.

“I think a lot of the (violent and abusive) behaviour at school is sheltered by this idea that because they're in a school, they're in a safe place.

“And so therefore they're protected from outside laws and expectations.”

Schools are also very reluctant to involve the police in behavioural incidents on campus, preferring to manage things internally lest risk reputational harm, the teacher said.

“I think [most] teachers would refrain from involving the police. Schools would also, because it would bring a bad name, it would spread in the community news and in social media groups and parent groups.

“Having the community know that the police were called to the school, would be seen as a situation that you can't control, that it's out of hand.”

This breeds a culture when school leaders might try to downplay various behaviours to avoid any escalation, the educator added.

“I think that’s partly why there is a teaching shortage in Victoria, because teachers don't feel supported in dealing with these escalating behaviours.

“They haven't been given the resources to do this, to feel empowered, to actually stop these behaviours.

“A number of teachers are just coping. They're not proactive with behaviour because they're just coping.”

Govt’s ‘shared expectations’ rolled out

Last week the Victorian Government declared it was setting clear expectations on the values and behaviours expected in every public school, announcing a statement would be rolled out across the system.

Titled Respectful, Safe, Engaged: Shared expectations to support student behaviour, the document was developed in consultation with teachers, principals, parents and education experts.

Schools will be supported by a suite of online resources and supports spanning wellbeing, behaviour and safety, the Government said.

“I read that as more Edupay training modules we need to complete in our own time,” one teacher commented on Reddit.

Last week Victoria also announced “adult time for violent crime” laws, mirroring Queensland, which implemented the tough approach in 2024.

Children as young as 14 could be tried in adult courts, and possibly face life sentences under the changes. 

The state has been in the grip of surging crime rates, with criminal offences spiking by 15.7 per cent in the year to mid-2025, fuelled by thefts, home invasions and repeat youth offenders.

The latest crime statistics show around 1100 youths aged 10-17 were arrested a combined 7000 times, with Victoria Police declaring children were quickly turning to extreme violence.