School counsellor pay packets need to be boosted: Gallop report

School counsellors need to be paid as much as head teachers to help improve the mental health outcomes of NSW students.

School counsellors should be paid between $15,000 and $20,000 more each year to attract more mental health professionals to the education system, according to an inquiry commissioned by the NSW Teachers Federation.

The first examination of the teaching profession in 17 years conducted by former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop found a critical shortage of school counsellors in public schools and recommended the best way to recruit more was to pay them better.

School counsellors are paid between $72,263 and $107,779 but the report recommended more experienced counsellors should be able to earn at least $124,038 in line with head teachers.

Senior psychologists who manage a team of school counsellors currently earn $124,038 but the report suggests they should be paid $144,822 in line with deputy principals.

“The mental distress issue is a major issue in NSW and it is not going away,” Dr Gallop said.

“I don’t think we can afford not to improve the school counselling system in NSW.”

More money necessary to attract school counsellors.

School counsellors have warned they do not have enough time to help students with anxiety or depression because their workload is consumed by paperwork, assessing learning and behavioural disorders and treating students with thoughts of suicide and self-harm.

There is currently one school counsellor for every 760 students.

The Sunday Telegraph’s Can We Talk campaign has called for at least one school counsellor for every 500 students, which has been supported by the NSW Teachers Federation, NSW P&C Federation, leading mental health experts and parents of school-aged suicide victims.

The coroner first recommended the 1:500 ratio in 2010 after the suicide of 14-year-old bullying victim Alex Wildman, and as recently as March 2018 the state government gave in-principle support to the target but never made it policy.

The Gallop Inquiry called on the government to implement the 1:500 counsellor to student ratio by 2023.

“I went to Punchbowl Boys High School, where the motto was ‘deed not words’,” NSW Teachers Federation Angelo Gavrielatos said.

Geoff Gallop said there was a critical shortage of counsellors in public schools. Picture: Stewart Allen

“Our students and their growing mental health issues are being ignored by government and no amount of well intentions will suffice.

“Without more school psychologists, the government is neglecting our most desperate students.”

As of late last year there were more than 100 public schools in NSW with only a single counsellor responsible for more than 1000 students.

However, the government has resisted meeting the 1:500 counsellor to student ratio and is instead sticking by an election pledge to have one full-time counsellor and one student support officer in every public high school.

“The NSW Government understands the importance of mental health and wellbeing support in our schools,” Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said.

“We are on track with our election commitment to have one full time counsellor and one student support officer in every public high school in NSW.”

In response to The Sunday Telegraph’s Can We Talk campaign, the government has made it mandatory for teachers from all public, private and Catholic schools to be taught mental health as part of their on-the-job training.

The new mental health training will not increase teachers’ workload or burden of care, but it will better equip them to listen to struggling students, refer them on to appropriate care and help avoid more tragedies.