Schools will receive $51 million to relieve overworked principals of red tape and improve their mental health if Labor wins the state election.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pledge comes amid growing concerns about the mental health of Australian principals, with research consistently revealing high levels of stress and burnout in the profession.
The funding will employ expert staff who will help principals deal with time-consuming occupational health and safety tasks – which could include asbestos, fire safety and tripping hazard checks – and workers' compensation.
It will also be used to expand health and wellbeing initiatives being piloted this year. These include health checks, debriefing sessions with psychologists, a mentoring program and policy templates.
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said red tape was taking principals away from their important job of leading schools.
“We know how demanding and complex the day to day workload of our principals is,” he said.
“We want our principals leading our teachers and schools to get the best possible result for our kids and that is exactly what they will do,” he said.
He said a re-elected Labor government would also ensure that principals remained happy and healthy.
Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said many principals were spending more than 50 per cent of their time on administration and compliance.
"As a consequence they are not able to spend the time on educational leadership that they want to," she said.
Ms Peace welcomed the announcement, saying it would attract more people to the top job.
"When positions are advertised, people say 'I can see the stress of what my principal is under, I'm not sure if i want to do that'. We need to encourage people to be our future leaders."
Australian Principals Federation president Julie Podbury said the role of the principal was growing exponentially.
“Every time there is a new initiative a principal is responsible,” she said.
“The burden has become too much. Many people now say this job is undoable.”
She said the government and Education Department had recognised this challenge, and welcomed the announcement.
The proposed changes would come into effect from next year.
The focus on principal health and wellbeing follows the tragic death of Melbourne principal Dr Mark Thompson, who tooks his own life in 2014.
The latest Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey found that one in 10 principals had thought about self-harm in the past week or indicated that they had a very poor quality of life.
The nationwide survey also found that more than one in three principals had experienced physical violence in school, while 44 per cent had been threatened with violence.
