NT principals facing violence and mental health crisis as scores say they may leave the profession
Territory school leaders are at their limits, with nearly three-quarters reporting violence and over half saying they intend to quit. Find out the shocking realities of being a principal in NT schools.
Northern Territory
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More than half of NT school leaders are considering quitting the profession amid a violence and mental health crisis engulfing Territory schools.
The shocking reality facing school leaders across the country were laid bare in the annual Australian Catholic University (ACU) Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey, with the NT unfortunately leading the nation in some concerning areas.
More than 52 per cent of Territory principals and school leaders said they intended to leave the profession, with the survey finding a litany of reasons why.
The top three reasons given by school leaders across the country were the sheer quantity of work, lack of time to focus on teaching and learning, and student related issues.
“For the first time in my long teaching career I have considered leaving and feel that someone else would be a better fit for the school,” an unnamed government school principal said in the report.
Alarmingly, the 2024 survey data also found an increase in threats of violence and actual violence against school leaders, with 73.7 per cent of NT respondents reporting they were subjected to physical violence.
This is significantly higher than the survey average of 49.6 per cent of respondents Australia-wide.
One unnamed principal said he had “seen the decline in support and care for staff, especially in remote settings”.
“Most worrying” and “alarmingly”, in the eyes of the report’s authors Professors Theresa Dicke and Herbert Marsh, was the Territory’s instances of ‘Red Flag emails’ — 68.4 per cent — the highest in the nation by 17 percentage points.
Red Flag emails were sent by the researchers, indicating they believed that school leader was at risk of serious mental health concerns.
NT Principals’ Association (NTPA) president Carolyn Edwards said the data was a clear sign more had to be done to support Territory school leaders.
“The data is clear — workload demands, violence, and mental health challenges continue to escalate for school leaders across the Northern Territory,” Ms Edwards said.
“We simply cannot ignore what the data trends have been telling us for well over a decade now.
“We desperately need additional support and resources from the government to address these critical issues before more dedicated educational leaders leave the profession.”
The Department of Education responded swiftly, announcing three initiatives in response to the alarming findings.
“We value all our principals and teachers in NT and have boosted resources to improve educator safety and wellbeing,” Department of Education chief executive Susan Bowden said.
The initiatives are a safety and wellbeing program, regional staff safety and wellbeing officers and a new campaign.
Ms Edwards said the NTPA “supports the initiatives offered by the Department”.
Education Minister Jo Hersey said “everyone deserves to be safe in their work environment”.
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Originally published as NT principals facing violence and mental health crisis as scores say they may leave the profession
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