Page 4141 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 24 October 2018

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(i) acknowledges significant prior work to improve occupational violence management in schools, including $7.67 million of initiative; and

(ii) reinforces the Government’s ongoing program of work in response to occupational violence, including $2.375 million of initiatives; and

(c) the enforceable undertaking details three strategies as part of the Education Directorate’s ongoing program of work, including:

(i) continue to implement the occupational violence policy and management plan;

(ii) share the ACT’s experience and learnings with other Australian education systems; and

(iii) work with parents to build a shared understanding of occupational violence in schools, its impact and how to minimise and respond to it; and

(d) the enforceable undertaking includes a requirement for audit and public reporting on its implementation, and compliance monitoring by WorkSafe ACT; and

(3) calls on the ACT Government to:

(a) reaffirm its commitment to the safety and wellbeing of staff across the ACT education system;

(b) report on progress implementation of the strategies in the enforceable undertaking in the Education Directorate Annual Report, as required by the undertaking; and

I hope the amendment provides some more detail and information on what the ACT government is doing to address this difficult issue in our schools. We have not been sitting around waiting to read about it in the Canberra Times; we have been working proactively for a number of years now on how we resolve working alongside the Australian Education Union, with WorkSafe and our school communities, to ensure that together we move towards a significant culture change in our schools where occupational violence is unacceptable and we maintain the inclusive nature of our schools. I commend to the Assembly the amendment to Ms Lee’s motion.

MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (10.49): Yesterday in this place we discussed the value and importance of our teachers, and everything that was said in that debate is again relevant to this discussion today. As I said yesterday, the Greens recognise that to get the best possible education our children need the best possible teachers and great leadership from our principals. We also recognise that modern schools are increasingly complex environments and we must ensure that our teachers feel supported to effectively teach children and young people with diverse needs, including students experiencing a disability or a learning difficulty, gifted and talented students, and students at risk.

That is why the outcomes of the recent WorkSafe ACT investigation into occupational violence in ACT public schools are so concerning and must be taken

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