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🇦🇺 Australia /Crime & Justice

Queensland teacher aides report record violence from students

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Hundreds of Queensland state school staff, primarily teacher aides, have reported being punched, spat on, and bitten by students and parents since April.
  • The United Workers Union states that occupational violence against school staff is at a record high, with a quadrupling of incidents in the past three years.
  • The Queensland government is investing in behavioral support staff and an occupational violence plan, emphasizing a zero-tolerance approach to school safety.

Teacher aides and school cleaners in Queensland are experiencing unprecedented levels of occupational violence, with hundreds of complaints detailing incidents of being punched, spat on, and bitten by students and parents. The United Workers Union reports that since April, approximately 400 staff members have come forward with these experiences, highlighting a significant rise in aggressive behavior within state schools.

Teacher aides and school cleaners across Queensland in our state schools are experiencing record levels of occupational violence.

— Errin RobertsThe United Workers Union's education coordinator described the situation faced by school staff.

Errin Roberts, the union's education coordinator, emphasized that staff feel unsupported and unsafe. "Our members love supporting students, but they need the resources, the training and the support to do that safely," she stated. Data presented to the state parliament reveals a stark increase, with violent and aggressive incidents reported by Queensland school-based staff quadrupling in the last three years to over 20,000 last year.

Our members love supporting students, but they need the resources, the training and the support to do that safely.

— Errin RobertsErrin Roberts explained the union's position on the need for better support for staff dealing with violence.

Professor Theresa Dicke, who researches health and safety in the education system, noted that such incidents have become more intense and frequent across Australia over the past 15 years, suggesting it has become an accepted part of the job in some contexts. While the Queensland government has allocated $57 million to place more behavioral support staff in classrooms and is finalizing an occupational violence plan, Police Minister Dan Purdie affirmed that schools remain overwhelmingly safe, ruling out additional police officers on campus.

There's differences in different jurisdictions but an increase, we see everywhere.

— Professor Theresa DickeProfessor Theresa Dicke commented on the trend of increasing incidents in educational systems.

Despite these measures, the union insists that the reported incidents are merely the tip of the iceberg, pointing to broader school safety issues. The government maintains a zero-tolerance approach, with Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek stating that every effort is being made to strengthen safety measures for both staff and students.

It's become part of the job, so to speak.

— Professor Theresa DickeProfessor Theresa Dicke described how frequent incidents have become normalized in some educational settings.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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