Laws to give schools greater powers to manage violent and abusive parents have been introduced in a state parliament.
The changes follow a sharp rise in the number of incidents of parental abuse, leading to a 200 per cent increase in parental bans in public schools over the past five years in South Australia.
The bill strengthens the ability of principals, preschool directors and other education leaders to ban parents and others who pose a threat to the safety or wellbeing of staff and students or who disrupt learning at schools and other education settings.
The laws will broaden the grounds on which a person can be barred and will allow a principal to bar a person coming within 25m of the boundary of a school, preschool or service.
Other responses, such as formal warning letters and reminders about expectations of respectful behaviour, have increased in public schools by more than 250 per cent.
Principals and teachers were being subjected to a growing level of harassment, SA Education Minister Blair Boyer said.
“This is completely unacceptable,” he said.
“I’ve have been disturbed by the stories I have heard about some of the behaviour teachers and principals are experiencing.”
Most people behave respectfully when communicating with staff, but educators say some parents and caregivers’ behaviour has worsened.
“I will not sit on my hands and do nothing," Mr Boyer said.
Parents and carers were the top source of issues reported by principals that involved bullying (57.9 per cent), cyberbullying (88.5 per cent), gossip and slander (65.1 per cent) and sexual harassment (39 per cent) in the latest Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing survey data report in March 2024.
Under the rules, a site leader can issue a direction to leave or a barring notice if they believe a person poses a risk to the safety or wellbeing of anyone at their site.
This will include anyone engaging in vexatious communication with, or about, a member of staff via any online platform, to ensure staff are protected when they are not at work.
A barring notice will be able to prohibit a person from communicating in any way with a member of staff.
Barring orders would protect from abuse or threatening behaviour at off-site activities, such as camps and excursions.
The maximum period for which a person may be barred will increase from three months to six months, and the maximum penalty for offences will increase from $2500 to $7500.
The provisions will apply to the public, Catholic and independent school sectors.
If a parent or carer is barred or directed to leave, their children are not prevented from attending their school or preschool.
