Teachers demand police-like protections amid surge in classroom violence

Teachers in Queensland are calling for enhanced legal protections, advocating to be classified as public officers, a status currently afforded to police and paramedics. This change, they argue, would significantly increase penalties for assaulting educators, doubling the maximum prison sentence from seven to 14 years.

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In the end it cost me my marriage, [and] cost me my health.

The Queensland Teachers' Union (QTU) is spearheading the push, emphasizing that assaults on teachers would receive greater attention if they occurred outside the classroom. QTU president Cresta Richardson stated that such actions might be met with more severe government responses if they were subject to adult crime laws.

This demand comes amid a staggering rise in reported violence and aggression in Queensland classrooms. Statistics reveal a dramatic escalation from 776 incidents in 2021 to 20,833 in 2025. The severity of these incidents has also increased, with the number of hospitalizations resulting from assaults rising from one in 2021 to eight in 2025.

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That took me a long time to recover [from], probably about three months to recover from just the anxiety in your head.

Former teacher Allan Zirbel, who left the profession a decade ago, shared a harrowing account of the personal cost of classroom violence. He described suffering an angina attack and undergoing major heart surgery, which he believes were linked to the stress from incidents, including a student smashing equipment and physical assaults. Zirbel spent three months recovering from anxiety alone, ultimately leaving teaching due to the toll on his health and marriage.

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If that was a kid on the street doing that [assault] under the government's rules of adult time and adult crime, there might certainly be more extreme approaches from a government.

Bethany Bala, another educator with 13 years of mainstream teaching experience, recently transitioned to an alternate provider. She attributes the rise in student aggression, even among young children, to excessive curriculum demands. Bala observes that students struggling with the workload often resort to anger, violence, and aggression as their primary response.

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Prep kids that are yelling and screaming and kicking teachers or support teachers who are just trying to keep them safe or keep other children safe in the classroom.