Resources, not headlines, needed to address violence

by Bob Lipscombe and Maree O'Halloran

The distress and suffering of teachers subject to violence or constant abuse and harassment from students is one of the most serious issues facing this union.

The solutions are complex and always require more resources in one form or another. Salacious media stories with league tables showing violent schools do not provide a solution. They are not intended to help teachers; they are intended to sell newspapers.

On February 22, the Daily Telegraph ran a story on page 4 with the headline "Secret horror: teacher assaults". The story contained information about a violence audit conducted by Federation in August 2003.

Schools that took part in the 2003 audit faxed the audit forms directly to the Department of Education and Training (DET) as well as to Federation. It was the proper course of action for the employer to be notified of all problems so that they could be addressed. Federation conducted the audit to gauge the level of violence against teachers. The union believed that the figures published by the DET greatly understated the problem. Hence the Department could avoid its occupational health and safety responsibilities as an employer. The audit provided clear evidence that this was the case. Federation has used the results of the audit to argue for:

• more special classes for emotionally-disturbed and behaviour-disordered students
• more teachers' aides
• smaller class sizes
• changed enrolment procedures to assist in the identification of potentially violent students
• stronger suspension and expulsion procedures.

Federation did not put out a media release giving details of the schools involved in the violence audit because nothing would have been gained by doing so, but Federation has campaigned with the violence audit results.

Statistics from the violence audit were presented to a meeting with senior officers of the DET. At that meeting, the Department of Education and Training was invited to send DET people to examine all of the material forwarded to Federation. The offer remains open but to date no one from the DET has taken up the offer.

Meetings regarding violence and the need for a proper DET response have been held repeatedly with the Department since the audit. Issues addressed have included the need for additional teaching and other staff and the establishment of additional specialist education settings for students with violent behaviour.

A number of betterments have been achieved since the audit (for example, more comprehensive risk assessments, changed enrolment procedures to assist in identification of potentially violent students, full time aides in all special classes for students with violent behaviour, and strengthened suspension and expulsion procedures).

Federation tabled the results of the violence audit in the Industrial Relations Commission.

The union presented the results of the violence audit to the General Manager of WorkCover, John Blackwell, at a meeting specifically requested by Federation to discuss the issue of violence in schools and the inadequate response of DET to this issue. This was followed with a written submission to Schoolsafe, a WorkCover review of DET's occupational health and safety policies and practices. In this submission, Federation once again provided the statistics obtained through the violence audit.

Federation conducted a number of investigations arising out of the violence audit, and has provided assistance to schools to address occupational health and safety concerns related to violent behaviour.

The union has initiated legal action against DET over violent incidents, with the first matter due to be heard towards the middle of this year. Legal action on this matter commenced in December 2003.

Maree O'Halloran is the President and Bob Lipscombe is a Vice President.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005