Work-related Violence in Government Schools

Department records 

According to the department, recorded OHS incidents involving school staff grew an average 27.2 per cent each year over the last 10 years. 

Figure 1 shows that in the same period, the department’s recorded incidents of work-related violence resulting from student behaviour grew from 2,279 in 2014–15 to 11,858 in 2023–24, an average 46.7 per cent each year. 

When adjusted for the increase in staff numbers over this period, this is a 31.4 per cent increase from 4.0 to 15.5 incidents per 100 full-time equivalent staff.

Figure 1: Recorded incidents of work-related violence resulting from student behaviour in government schools between 2014–15 and 2023–24, according to the department

Source: Department of Education.

The rates of incidents of work-related violence differ between school types. When interpreting the incident report data, it is important to consider the complexities around student behaviour, supports and interventions in specialist schools. In 2023, the rates of incidents per 100 full-time equivalent staff were:

• 75.06 in specialist schools
• 12.16 in primary schools
• 11.15 in combined schools
• 3.32 in secondary schools.

But we found the department’s numbers are an under-estimate, because schools do not always record incidents or record them accurately.

Recording incidents

When an incident happens, the department requires school staff to record it in eduSafe Plus.

eduSafe Plus is the online portal for recording all school-based incidents that impact school operations, not just OHS incidents (which includes work-related violence resulting from student behaviour).

Records in eduSafe Plus include: 

• incidents that impact school operations, such as burst water mains
• OHS incidents, such as trips and falls.

The department uses eduSafe Plus’s incident category field to identify the different school-based incident categories and incident numbers in each category.

School staff can record incidents in eduSafe Plus under either the broad operational category or the more specific work-related violence category.

But the department does not require school staff to include a category when recording incidents.

Under-recording

Under-recording happens when staff do not record work-related violence incidents resulting from student behaviour in eduSafe Plus.

The department recognises that under-recording is an ongoing compliance issue and takes steps to address it.

Addressing under-recording

After the department implemented eduSafe Plus in 2021, it rolled out information campaigns and eduSafe Plus training to help schools meet OHS incident recording compliance requirements.

The department says this is why incident numbers are growing. But it did not show evidence that its information and training activities caused the increase.

The department also produces quarterly and yearly reports on schools’ incident recording. These reports categorise schools as having high, low or no incidents recorded in eduSafe Plus.

The department expects regional leadership staff to engage with schools to identify issues driving under-recording and provide support if needed.

But the department does not provide guidance on how that engagement should be done. It does not have a process to analyse regional leadership staff’s findings and lessons learned.

The department cannot be confident that its information campaigns, training and other engagement activities are addressing under-recording.

Internal department reports

The department uses eduSafe Plus data in a range of its reports. It uses eduSafe Plus categories to decide which incidents it includes in OHS reports to its executive leadership.

One key report is the OHS and Workers Compensation Biannual Performance Update (OHS update report). The department provides the OHS update report to its executive board every 6 months and to other governance bodies at more frequent intervals.

The OHS update report includes OHS incident numbers as a key OHS metric, with work-related violence reported as a separate sub-category in the total number. But not all eduSafe Plus records are included in this report.

Excluded incidents

The department does not include uncategorised incident records or operational incidents in the OHS update report.

Incidents that involve contractors were also excluded for reporting purposes.

Incidents involving sexual harassment, bullying and psychological harm are sometimes, but not always, included in the OHS update reports.

Although sexual harassment, bullying and psychological harm are work-related violence, they are reported under different incident categories such as sexual harassment or ‘other psychological factors’.

Figure 2 shows how records excluded in eduSafe Plus reduce incident numbers in the department’s OHS update report.

Figure 2: Incident records excluded from the OHS update report between 2014–15 and 2023–24

Source: VAGO, based on Department of Education data.

Under-reporting

Between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2024, the department reported 56,261 incidents of work-related violence resulting from student behaviour.

But we found up to 11,093 more incidents that should appear in the OHS update report:

• 6,904 eduSafe Plus records were excluded because they were not categorised as OHS incidents.
• 3,242 OHS records were excluded because they were not categorised as work-related violence. 
• 947 eduSafe Plus records were excluded because they involved contractors.

This means the department under-reported incidents by 16.5 per cent over the 10-year period.

Of the 11,093 excluded records, 5,014 incidents (45.2 per cent) happened in 2023–24 alone. 

When adjusted for the increase in staff numbers over the period, including the records shows incidents growing from 4.2 per 100 full-time equivalent staff in 2014–15 to 22 per 100 full-time equivalent staff in 2023–24.

Figure 3 shows excluded records increasing over time.

Impact of under-reporting

Under-reporting issues mean the department’s executive leadership does not have complete or consistent information about work-related violence resulting from student behaviour or trends over time. Without accurate data the department cannot be confident it is making evidence-based decisions.

Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act)

As the government school staff employer, the OHS Act requires the department to:

• provide and maintain a safe work environment
• eliminate risks to school staff health and safety
• keep records about school staff health and safety.

The OHS Act recognises that it is not always possible to eliminate a risk or hazard completely. This means the department's OHS obligations only go as far as doing what is reasonable in the circumstances.

Because the department must balance its OHS responsibilities with its obligation to provide children in Victoria with equal access to education, it focuses on student behaviour policies and interventions to manage risk. 

To meet OHS Act requirements, the department must review and update its response to work-related violence resulting from student behaviour as needed to achieve a safe working environment. 

The Secretary is ultimately responsible for this. The department’s executive board supports the Secretary by overseeing department-wide supports, systems, policies and assurance. 

The executive board is supported by various governance bodies that focus on specific aspects of OHS performance.

Department policies

The department has policies and procedures to guide staff managing OHS risks and incidents, in line with its OHS Act obligations. Some are specific to student behaviour and others are more general OHS policies.

Policy and procedure reviews

Policies and procedures in the OHSWM in schools policy are subject to a rolling review program. 

For example, the Work-Related Violence in Schools policy is currently undergoing a full review. The department says the review program is planned and that policies are reviewed based on priority.

But we have not seen evidence that planning for the review program is complete and comprehensive.

There are policies listed in the OHSWM in schools policy that are not included in the review program. There are also relevant policies that are being reviewed outside the review program, including MARSI.

We did not see enough evidence to verify that all policy reviews are coordinated or cover all relevant policies and procedures for work-related violence resulting from student behaviour. 

Without overall review coordination, policies may be missed or not reviewed according to their intended review processes.

Structured post-incident reviews

WorkSafe recommends employers complete structured reviews after work-related violence incidents, focusing on underlying causes and lessons learned for managing future incidents.

It is important the department reviews incidents so it knows how well its policies and procedures are working.

The department has mechanisms for reviewing incident responses, including informally sharing lessons learned within regional networks. But the review results are not generally shared outside the regions. 

There is no pathway for the department to identify patterns or common issues in the way schools are managing risks or incidents of work-related violences. This is a missed opportunity and does not follow WorkSafe's guidance. 

Recording and managing risks

The department has 2 templates for school staff to record student behaviour risks:

• Behaviour support plans can include preventative strategies to reduce triggers that lead to challenging student behaviour.
• Risk management plans for student behaviour that outline actions to ensure staff safety.

Training

The department provides training for staff to learn how to manage and de-escalate challenging student behaviour. The department makes modules available in its online eLearning system and uses an external provider to deliver protective intervention training face-to-face. Staff can access face-to-face training through an expression of interest.

The department says it is developing a new protective intervention training program that will focus on limiting personal injury and how to safely restrain students. The department told us it will then replace the current protective intervention training delivered through external providers.

Requests for support by recording incidents 

Incident recording in eduSafe Plus is a key step to trigger supports to schools after an incident.

Regional support teams receive incident notifications, work with other staff to triage the response, and reach out to principals depending on incident severity.

Regional support teams

The department encourages staff and principals to request help from regional support teams who provide resources and tools for managing student behaviour risks. 

Teams that help principals and school staff to manage OHS responsibilities and student behaviour include:

• Student Support Services, who provide support to students through an allied health professionals team
• the Employee Wellbeing Response Team, who provides advice on complex health, safety and wellbeing matters, for example, risks to staff from student behaviour
• the OHS services team, who respond to OHS questions and complex matters' referrals and ensure principals meet OHS requirements.

Student Support Services and the Employee Wellbeing Response teams work together to help schools develop and implement behaviour support and risk management plans.

Regional leadership staff

The department has staff who coordinate incident responses and provide guidance about managing risks. 

• The Health and Wellbeing Key Contact meets regularly with schools to identify trends in wellbeing needs and plan to improve outcomes and manage risk. 
• The Senior Education Improvement Leader (SEIL) coordinates multi-disciplinary teams and supports principals.