Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll today released the statutory review into the School Community Safety Order Scheme, which was introduced in 2022.

The state’s scheme gives principals broader rights to manage problematic behaviour from parents than their interstate counterparts.

While in other states and territories, principals have the authority to order people to leave school premises and ban them from returning, no regime gives them the power to make orders banning people from communicating with the school in certain ways or approaching members of staff while off-campus.

At present, Victorian principals in government, independent and Catholic schools can also limit the engagement of aggressive adults with their staff, including on school-related online platforms, with ‘built in protections’ to support students whose parents or carers are subject to an order.

The review found principals generally appreciated the range of powers available under the current scheme and backed it as an ‘important tool’ that ought to remain in place, but they said the safeguards are ‘excessively restrictive’ and are a barrier to issuing orders.

Indeed the review found there was limited use of the scheme in its first two years of operation, with a total of just 24 orders made.

“While the scheme was designed as a measure of last resort, it is possible that there are circumstances in which it would be appropriate for a school principal to make an order but they have chosen not to do so,” it said.

“Some stakeholders have had a mixed or negative experience with making an order, and believe that the scheme is too complex, that procedural protections are weighed too heavily in favour of persons subject to [the safety orders], that the workload involved in making and maintaining an order is too high, and that the enforcement mechanisms are not effective.”

Other stakeholders reported that simply warning a parent that they could issue an order could be enough to stop their challenging behaviour, meaning the scheme could be effective even without actually issuing an order.

Yet overall, principals saw the scheme as being “toothless” due to weak enforcement.

The enforcement threshold should be lowered, the review urged, so parents understand deliberate breaches will lead to action and that ‘authorised persons’, usually the school principal, are not expected to engage in any further dialogue after an order has been breached.

The Government says the importance of the scheme has been highlighted via real incidents experienced by schools, including one parent who had a 12-month order issued against them for aggression directed at a student who was not their child.

Another school used the scheme to issue an immediate 14-day order – extended to nine months – against a parent who engaged in ‘unacceptable’ aggression towards school staff.

“When teachers and school staff feel protected and supported, they can focus their energy on what matters most – giving our students the best possible education and helping them reach their full potential,” Carroll said.

“All Victorians deserve to be safe at work, and we have clear expectations of how adults should behave and show respect within our school communities.”

Carroll added that the majority of parents and carers work well with schools to resolve any concerns.

“ …however harmful behaviour affects our students and their education – that is why we are taking further action.”

Concerns were also raised about attacks being made against school staff on social media. Greater clarity is needed for school leaders here, the review found.

Principals could potentially be given powers to ban parents from writing Google reviews and from participating on community Facebook pages where the school is a significant topic of conversation, but there is ‘complexity and risk’ in doing so, the review flagged.

Justin Mullaly, president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union, told ABC News that principals’ powers to ban parents from school grounds should extend to posts on non-school-controlled social media, such as parent WhatsApp groups. 

“At the moment, the safety orders provide for school social media accounts, but there’s other activity on social media,” he told the outlet.

“There’s no ability to put in place these orders because they’re not on school accounts.”

He added that aggressive incidents involving parents had been increasing over time.

Research has shown that Australian teachers and school leaders are at significant risk of violence and aggression in the workplace.

According to 2022 Teachers’ Perception of their Work Survey by Monash University, 24.5 per cent reported feeling unsafe at work, up from 18.9 per cent in 2019.

Poor behaviour from parents was found to be a significant factor, with the survey noting “issues that related to parents and families were noted in approximately a quarter of the comments, with these teachers mentioning issues including ‘verbal abuse’, ‘hostility’, ‘threatening behaviour’ and ‘aggression’”.

The Victorian Government says it will begin working to strengthen the scheme, with consultation on how best to implement the recommendations starting today via an online survey for principals, teachers and parents to share their views.