Record-high numbers of students are being restrained or secluded at Victoria’s state schools, as data shows nearly 2700 children were subjected to the methods last year.
The 2023 figure represents a 46 per cent increase on the previous year – when 1844 students were restrained or put in seclusion – according to the Education Department, which began publicly releasing the data in 2019.
The department did not reveal details of individual cases or answer questions about why there was a significant increase in 2023.
The reasons recorded for using physical restraint included preventing a student from self-harming, damaging property or fleeing school with a risk of physical harm.
Restraint involves using physical force to restrict a child’s movement and stop them from carrying out dangerous acts towards other students, staff or themselves. Seclusion involves confining students to a space that can include a small room.
“Physical restraint and seclusion are only permitted in exceptional circumstances where it is necessary to protect the safety of a student, member of staff, or another person,” an Education Department spokesman said.
The department’s figures show more primary school children were restrained or secluded compared with those in high school.
RMIT education lecturer Dr Elise Waghorn said she was shocked at the number of incidents reported last year.
While the data did not specify whether the affected students had disabilities or additional needs, Waghorn, who specialises in early childhood and primary school, said she would take an “educated guess” that such students were overrepresented in those who had been restrained or secluded.
“Children with additional needs have less self-regulation, so the chances of them lashing out and being physical … are higher,” she said.
Teachers are more likely to be on alert around students with disabilities and may be quick to restrain or seclude them because of the potential for their behaviour to escalate quickly.
Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan said the rise of the use of restraint and seclusion in state schools was deeply concerning, particularly given the findings and recommendations of the disability royal commission last year.
She said the Victorian Senior Practitioner, who works to protect the rights of people with disabilities, prohibited the seclusion of children in a disability services context.
“It is not clear to me why the practice is still permitted in schools,” Buchanan said.
Liana Buchanan, Victoria’s Commissioner for Children and Young People.Credit: Justin McManus
“The increase in restraint and seclusion shows that children with disabilities and those with significant trauma histories need more in-school supports, and that schools need more resources to respond to these children’s needs and behaviours without resorting to harmful practices.”
Waghorn said teachers should be trained to recognise behavioural warning signs before resorting to physical restraint.
She said “every behaviour is a reaction to a need”, and children may act up when they are tired, bored or have additional needs.
“We need to be able to upskill and help [teachers] with professional development … to see these warning signs to prevent these actions.
“[Teachers] are the adult in the situation, and they need to be the calm in the storm.”
But Waghorn said recording the data on restraint and seclusion in schools was an important step.
“As horrible as it is to see those figures, they need to be seen,” she said.
The Australian Education Union, which represents state school teachers in Victoria, declined to comment.
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