Originally published by the Australian Institute of Health & Safety
Nearly 43 per cent of school principals triggered a “red flag” email in 2023, indicating serious psychosocial risks, potential for self-harm or serious impact on their quality of life, according to a recent research report.
It also found that 54 per cent of principals reported being subjected to threats of violence (up from 49 per cent in 2022), 48 per cent reported being subjected to physical violence (up from 44 per cent in 2022) and bullying levels also rose to 38 per cent (up from 34 per cent in 2022).
The most recent Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey, which was conducted by the Australian Catholic University (ACU), also found that principals were concerned about the welfare of staff and students.
Their top five concerns for staff were burnout, stress, anxiety, depression, and alcohol and/or drug use, while anxiety, school refusal, depression, stress, and self-harm were leading causes of concern for their students.
ACU investigator and former principal, Dr Paul Kidson, said the numbers represented a substantial increase, which pointed to a worrying trend supported by the other findings.
“It is a drastic increase when you look at the whole picture,” Kidson said.
“Principals’ workloads, stress caused by issues including the national teacher shortage across public, Catholic, and independent schools, and demands outside the classroom have escalated to unsustainable levels.
“We are now seeing the cumulative impact of this on principals’ health and wellbeing, and we are very concerned about the increasing steepness of those trends as they are heading in a very distressing direction.
“This data shows serious dashboard warning lights flashing all over the place. These are warning signs that we have not seen so acutely before, and we have almost 2500 people saying the same thing.”
The survey found that sheer quantity of work remains the highest source of stress for school leaders, and lack of time to focus on teaching and learning remains the second highest source of stress.
Mental health issues of staff and students were in the top five sources of stress for 2023, moving up into third and fourth as teacher shortages has moved down slightly to sixth.
IPPE co-lead investigator and leading school wellbeing expert Associate Professor Theresa Dicke said the impact of wide-ranging stressors on school leaders, including ongoing teacher shortages, was becoming acute.
“The fact that these stressors remain the same as in 2021 indicates the level of importance in addressing these concerns,” she said.
“We need to progress and implement effective solutions that support and empower principals in their vital roles.
“We have seen how education experts and political leaders can work collaboratively on solutions to the teacher shortage, and now we need to support our principals by heeding their serious and valid concerns.”
