More than 70 per cent of North Queensland school staff face violence in damning survey
Teacher aides across North Queensland schools say they are enduring daily violence as new data exposes a crisis in state school classrooms. DETAILS
More than 70 per cent of North Queensland teacher aides and school support staff have faced violence in the classroom – according to early figures in a new survey.
Early data from a survey being conducted by the United Workers Union shows the state’s school violence crisis is spiralling out of control, with frontline support workers bearing the brunt of a surge in physical and verbal aggression.
The figures paint a grim picture of Queensland schools where teacher aides and cleaners are routinely subjected to abuse.
In North Queensland, 79 per cent of teacher’s aides and school cleaners have experienced occupational violence at some point in their career, with 63 per cent experiencing violence this year.
These stats line up with the Queensland figures, showing the problem exists across the board, with no difference between regional and urban areas.
The union survey gathered responses from 736 staff across Queensland, including a sample from North Queensland schools.
One aide from a Townsville school, who did not wish to be named, said they experienced a student hitting “hard” and putting their “hands tight around” their neck.
“These are normal days for teacher aides unfortunately,” they said.
Another Townsville aide shared their experience of “daily verbal and physical attacks”, one in which a student screamed and threw things at them.
“They picked up a heavy teachers chair (on wheels) and threw it, hitting a row of tables
behind them,” they said.
“The student then returned to me and began hitting me repeatedly … the student continued to escalate in anger and screaming and punching me again.”
The teacher aide said the same thing occurred four times, with the student also pushing them and ripping their clothes.
The data comes amid growing calls for the state government to urgently overhaul safety protocols and increase security resources for schools.
United Workers Union Queensland secretary Gary Bullock said occupational violence in the state school system was a “serious issue” that they would be demanding the Crisafulli government urgently address in the new year.
“While UWU is in the early stages of collecting data on the issue, the stories that have been shared by our members are alarming,” he said.
“More than 650 teacher aides have reported being assaulted this year.
“No one should be subjected to violence or the threat of violence in their place of work.
“Teacher aides and school cleaners deserve to turn up to work, do their job, and feel safe doing it and that is currently not the case in Queensland schools.”
Shadow Education Minister Di Farmer said Queensland teachers and teacher aides don’t deserve to be “punching bags.
“Their trauma leaves lasting scars and can push them away from teaching forever,” she said.
She urged Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek to act and “do his job”.
Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said there was “absolutely no place” for violence towards teachers and teacher aides in classrooms.
“Teacher aides across Queensland do an extraordinary job and we want them to feel safe and valued,” he said.
“The Crisafulli Government is delivering a fresh start for education by investing $44m in behaviour boost funding, an occupational violence strategy that Labor let lapse and rolling out 140 Workplace Health and Safety Officers.”
“We make no apologies for tackling this issue head-on and we will continue to listen to teacher aides and principals.”
More Coverage
Originally published as More than 70 per cent of North Queensland school staff face violence in damning survey
