‘No place for it’: Schools get millions to fix bad behaviour in classrooms

Queensland state schools will get $44 million of new funding to address behaviour issues, Premier David Crisafulli announced on Monday, with the money to start to flow as soon as next week.

The funding was twice what was promised during the election campaign, with the premier adding that individual principals could decide how to best to use it in their classrooms.

“Teachers deserve the right to be able to go to school and teach in a safe environment, and students deserve the right to be at school and not have a projectile thrown at them while they’re trying to learn,” Crisafulli said.

David Crisafulli and Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek made the announcement at Sunnybank State School in Brisbane’s south.Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt

He said the funds would be a significant and direct boost to “stamp out” bullying in schools.

“I would suspect that within the next 24 hours schools will find out what their allocation is, certainly by the end of this week, and money will flow within about a week,” he said.

“It might be bringing in some new specialists into the schools, things like behavioral management teachers, occupational therapists, speech therapists … or it might mean training existing people to develop a skill set in that area.”

The Premier said the issue had been put in the “too hard” basket, with teachers and parents becoming increasingly frustrated about the lack of action when it came to addressing behaviour.

“Schools are no place for bad behaviour and … more support in the classroom means the focus can go back on teaching,” he said.

Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the funding would be distributed on a per-capita basis.

“Small schools with [a] very small enrolment are going to get a base level of about $1000, but for other schools, it averages out at about $35,000 per school,” Langbroek said.

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Cresta Richardson said the announcement was welcome but “well short of the resourcing Queensland state schools need”.

“Behaviour and bullying are among a range of serious issues needing additional attention, resources and funding in Queensland state schools,” she said.

“These issues can’t be addressed effectively without the support of the broader community, parents and caregivers.”

Richardson said better funding from state and federal governments was “the first step” to reducing strain on state schools.

“Occupational violence and aggression, the chronic teacher shortage, unmanageable workload, compliance and red tape are all areas requiring vision and urgent attention to solve,” she said.

According to the government, more than $80 million was paid to school teachers and staff for physical and psychological injuries across the state in the 2023-24 financial year, with 960 claims lodged with WorkCover Queensland.

Queensland Association of State School Principals president Pat Murphy said he was “delighted” the government was taking behaviour so seriously.

“It sends a real signal to our community and our teachers that government is serious about behaviour in schools,” he said.

Murphy said principals welcomed the flexibility to allocate funds as needed for their individual schools, and hoped future announcements would follow a similar model. A focus on curriculum would help keep students engaged and increase attendance and good behaviour, he added.

The state government made changes in January that it promised would cut time spent on paperwork for “students needs management”, routine purchases and recruitment.

Separate to the “behaviour boost” funding, the LNP has promised to spend $40 million for two schools for high-risk teen offenders on youth justice orders and four early intervention schools to target younger children deemed at risk of becoming youth offenders.

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