00:01Principals across all schools in NSW could soon have additional powers to ban adults
00:07from school grounds for abusive or threatening behaviour, particularly amid a rise in online
00:14abuse of school staff, teachers describing the proposed changes as a line in the sand.
00:20Under the proposed amendments to the NSW Education Act, which would apply to all government,
00:25Catholic and independent schools across the state, school leadership would be able to
00:29issue a school community safety order to any adult who engages in threatening or abusive
00:35behaviour or harassment towards students, staff or other community members on school grounds
00:41or at a school related activity like an excursion.
00:44The proposed amendments would also cover abusive or threatening communication through carriage
00:50services like school controlled social media, phone or email exchanges.
00:54The order could restrict a person from entering school grounds or coming within 25 metres of
01:00a site used by the school for 14 days and up to 8 months if the behaviour continues.
01:06Failure to comply could see an application for a protection order filed through the NSW
01:11courts, which if breached could see a fine of up to $5,500.
01:17Denise Loss from the NSW Secondary Principals Council says she's seen a concerning rise in online
01:23harassment and abuse of school staff, particularly by parents.
01:27She says these proposed changes should hopefully ease the burden on teachers.
01:32The proposal comes amid a concerning rise in violence against school staff, with data from
01:37the Australian Catholic University showing an 80% increase in violence against teachers
01:42since 2011.
01:44In 2024, more than half of the 2000 NSW principals recorded for the study said they'd experienced violence
01:52violence at work, with one in five saying that violence came from a parent.
01:56The proposed bill is expected to be debated this week in the NSW Parliament.
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