Tasmanian public school staff will receive new training and support under a plan to tackle classroom violence, with the state government pledging to shift its focus from reacting to incidents to preventing them.
Education Minister Jo Palmer released the three-year Violence in Schools Action Plan on Tuesday, two days before many students return for the new school year.
“Violence has no place anywhere in our community. It has no place in our family homes, it has no place on our streets and it certainly has no place in our schools,” she said.
“We want our school staff and our educators to be safe and we also want them to feel really safe when they head back into the classroom and into our schools.”
Under the plan, student learning and support hubs will be set up at two primary schools with high numbers of complex-needs students, while 20 schools will receive targeted support focused on staff safety.
Teacher assistants across all government schools will also be funded to undertake training in de-escalation techniques and trauma-informed practice – a key demand from education stakeholders.
Palmer said teacher assistants “do a lot of the heavy lifting” when working with students affected by trauma or disability.
“By really boosting and upskilling our teacher assistants … we are giving our schools the very best opportunity to stop any incidents of abuse or violence before they actually begin,” she said.
The minister said the plan was shaped by teachers who shared their experiences of classroom violence.
In 2024, there were 1,363 reported incidents in Tasmanian schools and colleges of physical violence between staff and students and between students themselves.
“This is not a framework, it’s not a strategy,” she said. “This is an action plan.”
Labor leader Josh Willie said this amounted to seven serious incidents a day when someone is physically assaulted with an object or weapon or has been kicked, punched, bitten, spat-upon or grabbed.
“While embattled Education Minister Jo Palmer’s attempts to finally respond to Tasmania’s school violence crisis are welcome, her track record shows she can’t be trusted to deliver change after two years asleep at the wheel of the portfolio,” he said.
Tasmanian Principals Association president Mat Grining said the package represented “the most significant steps we’ve seen” towards addressing what he described as a broader societal problem.
“There can be occasions where unacceptable and on occasions violent behaviour may disrupt the teaching and learning and the operation of a school,” he said.
Grining pointed to community tensions and “dysregulated adults or young people” bringing challenges into schools as key drivers of violence.
He said improved data systems would allow principals to better track incidents and identify where support is needed.
Other measures include flexible learning options for senior students, automatic wellbeing check-ins for staff following incidents, clearer police protocols and better information sharing when students with violent histories change schools.
The plan will be overseen by a departmental working group, with annual progress reports to monitor its impact.
