Malinauskas Government introduces new laws targeting abusive, violent parents at school
Tough new laws for SA schools have been introduced to parliament as the government puts badly behaved parents on notice.
Education
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Penalties for abusive or violent parents in school settings would be significantly increased under proposed new legislation to better protect teachers.
The new legislation, introduced in parliament on Thursday, will provide principals, preschool directors and other education leaders the ability to ban parents and others who pose a risk to the safety, wellbeing or disrupt learning of staff and children on school premises.
Parents can be issued a direction to leave or a barring notice to prevent them coming within 25m of the boundary of a school, preschool or service.
A barring notice will protect staff from any type of vexatious communication outside of work, including via any online platforms, as well as prevent abuse and threatening behaviour during off-site activities such as at camps or excursions.
The maximum period for which a person may be barred will increase from three months to six months, and the maximum penalty for offences will increase from $2500 to $7500.
Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing survey data from March showed parents and carers were the top source of issues reported by principals.
Reported incidents involved bullying (57.9 per cent), cyber-bullying (88.5 per cent), gossip and slander (65.1 per cent) and sexual harassment (39 per cent).
Premier Peter Malinauskas said everyone had the right to feel safe at work, in particular educators.
“Educators and the wider community expect schools and preschools to be safe and supportive learning environments where there is no place for violence or intimidating and threatening behaviour,” he said.
This legislation change is in response to the significant rise in parental abuse incidents, with a 200 per cent increase in parental bans in public schools over the past five years.
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