By Robyn Grace
Owen Holleran never planned to retire. But it’s been three years since the former principal last worked and he doubts he’ll ever set foot in a school again.
In his decades-long career, Holleran dealt with family break-ups, custody fights, criminal activities, drug use, harassment, subpoenas, sexual assault and a community member’s attempted suicide.
Former school principal Owen Holleran says he’s suffering from post-traumatic stress after decades in the sector.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Now, he’s one of a growing number of principals hounded from the schoolyard by the burden of the job’s increasingly complex responsibilities.
Some education experts believe principals could be eligible to launch legal claims for moral injury, a psychological condition once reserved for soldiers in war zones.
Meanwhile, workers’ compensation has been cut in Victoria from 130 weeks to 13 for people suffering stress and burnout – two of the key complaints from principals.
Holleran said school leaders had become first responders for a rising number of societal issues, with little support from agencies or the Department of Education.
“It’s time for real support for principals,” he said. “Otherwise, there will be no applicants in the future.”
The Australian Catholic University’s annual national survey of more than 2000 principals showed levels of violence, bullying, teasing, conflict, sexual harassment and slander had all risen in the past five years.
Overwhelming workloads and violence had a flow-on effect on health, with surveyed school leaders showing higher rates of anxiety and depression than the general population. More still reported mental health concerns including burnout, stress and trouble sleeping.
More than half (56.04 per cent) agreed or strongly agreed they intended to quit – particularly those with more than 15 years’ experience.
ACU investigator and former school leader Dr Paul Kidson said education experts were beginning to discuss the potential for principals to claim moral injury, which was first identified in US military personnel asked to carry out tasks in war zones that transgressed their own beliefs or values.
“I suspect that the conversation is going to emerge with even more claims, as it did in the US Army,” he said.
Kidson said any cuts to workers’ compensation would lead to further disillusionment for principals, who were deeply committed but running out of capacity to do their jobs without harm to their wellbeing.
“We know that these people want to do this job,” he said. “That’s because they keep turning up, even under these circumstances. But if we assume that they’re going to continue to do that, we are kidding ourselves.”
Holleran trained at Geelong Teachers College in 1967. He was head teacher and principal of seven schools in rural Victoria and a relief teacher and consultant at many more.
He loved his job. But there were years of pressure, then the death of a friend and colleague in a car accident, and then the pandemic. In 2021, he burst into tears at a set of traffic lights and never went back.
“I am bloody good at my job,” he said. “I had planned to work forever in some capacity. But I have had over two years of my life ruined. I have a psychiatric diagnosis of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] with the recommendation that I should not return to my current position or anything similar.
”It is almost three years since I stopped work. Apart from the odd conversation that I have initiated, there has not been a single call from anyone in the education department asking simply, ‘How are you?’”
In 2021, Owen Holleran burst into tears at a set of traffic lights. He hasn’t been back to work since.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Holleran has no doubt he was put in positions that could constitute moral injury. He spent 130 weeks on WorkCover, the maximum allowed before changes this year.
WorkSafe Victoria accepted 1689 injury claims from the school sector last year, including 446 for mental injury. This was an increase of 76 mental injury claims from the previous year. The data does not specify how many were for stress and burnout.
Kidson said education ministers had agreed in March to address principal wellbeing, but the process was too slow. “There doesn’t appear yet to be the type of momentum shift that is equivalent to the scale of the need,” he said.
It’s difficult to tell how many claims of moral injury have been successful. The issue is normally part of a larger claim including other psychological issues such as depression and anxiety.
But the managing director of educational consultancy the Brown Collective, Stephen Brown, said the UK’s key wellbeing report for headteachers now identified moral injury as one of six common sources of stress for educators.
The Headrest 2023 report said school leaders were regularly faced with having to make decisions that went against deeply held beliefs and principles due to budget limitations, staff shortages or other constraints.
“They increasingly found themselves having to opt not for the best option but what they deemed the ‘least bad choice’,” the report said.
Brown said principals needed more support to deal with their increasingly complex roles.
“It’s a multi-headed Hydra,” he said. “Throwing money at it and just saying, ‘well, we’ve responded’ is not enough.”
Professor Jane Wilkinson is one of a team of researchers at Monash University conducting a national study of Australian public school principals’ emotional labour.
Eighteen months into the three-year project, the researchers have heard from principals dealing with suicides, murders and violence from students and parents. Wilkinson said principals were increasingly describing themselves as first responders to define the kinds of work they were doing every day.
Principals were working an average of 60 hours a week, and researchers had begun calling them the “hard hours”, not only due to the sheer volume but also the emotional intensity. Wilkinson said there was “clear evidence” of moral injury in the critical incidents.
Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said the new workers’ compensation laws would have a “seriously negative” impact on education staff.
“Prior to the changes there were barely enough prevention measures available to principals, teachers and education support staff, and procedures to prevent workers getting injured,” she said.
“Now, having slashed the safety net, the state government has no choice but to make stress and burnout prevention in public schools a top priority.”
A Department of Education spokesperson said the government had introduced dedicated health and wellbeing services for principals ranging from health checks to mentoring, flexible working arrangements and services to support administrative workload.
The 2024-25 budget allocated $63.8 million for improved mental health and wellbeing support for school staff, including principals.
There is currently no provision for compensation for moral injury under Victoria’s workplace laws.
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