The Australian Education Union (AEU) Victorian Branch has welcomed the state government’s moves to strengthen School Community Safety Orders, giving schools greater power to protect staff from harmful and abusive adult behaviour.
The proposed legislation would give principals and the Department of Education more capacity to handle damaging behaviour towards employees, including on social media and messaging platforms.
“Sadly, there are too many instances of physical and psychological harm against teachers, principals and education support staff perpetrated by some parents or carers and other members of school communities. This can take a huge toll on the health and wellbeing of school employees,” said AEU Victorian Branch President Mr Justin Mullaly.
“Everyone deserves to be safe at work. We cannot retain the public school workforce we need for the future if they don’t have safe workplaces and safe work-related online spaces.
“While School Community Safety Orders are only one of a range of measures, they are an important way to keep public school staff safe when they need to be used.”
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Mr Ben Carroll today announced legislation to strengthen and simplify the School Community Safety Order Scheme on 12 June 2026.
The state government said it’s about making every school a safe place to learn and work, with consequences when those expectations are not met.
It would allow principals to ban adults from school grounds, related places or from contacting school staff.
It would also makes it easier to act against harmful behaviour on social media, messaging and other online platforms.
“We’re backing our teachers and school leaders with stronger powers to keep their communities safe. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and at school – and we have zero tolerance for abuse, including online,” Mr Carrool said.
The changes follow an independent statutory review and targeted consultation with the school sector and community.
Feedback showed that staff wanted stronger protections especially against online abuse.
Reforms will also simplify how and when immediate orders can be issued, cutting red tape and making the Scheme easier to use.
Further changes will streamline the system making it more effective for principals while maintaining fairness for those subject to orders.
Firs introduced in 2022, the scheme is considered “a last resort tool” to manage the risk posed by a small minority of adults who engage in harmful, threatening or abusive behaviour.
