ACT public schools are reporting an increasing number of incidents involving parents and community members harassing, verbally abusing or threatening staff, with about three reports a day in 2025.
The Australian Education Union ACT branch and ACT Parents say families' frustration at a gap between expected school services and actual resourcing is resulting in more aggressive behaviour on campuses.
Data from the ACT Education Directorate shows public schools dealt with an average of 155 occupational violence incidents from parents or other individuals per school term, or about 15 a week, in 2025.
The 2025 figure marks an increase from an average of 125 incidents per term in 2024, and 149 in 2023.
Currently, schools have already recorded 245 occupational violence reports involving parents and other individuals from the start of the 2026 school year to June 24.
Australian Education Union ACT branch secretary Patrick Judge said the incidents often involved parents repeatedly harassing staff, verbally abusing teachers or making threats of physical violence.
"Our understanding is a lot of violent incidents at schools, where we do have a parent or community member coming and behaving unreasonably, are caused by that gap between what the ACT government claims its service offering is and what it's actually resourcing," he said.
"At the same time, though, there are people who just engage in completely inappropriate and unreasonable behaviour, as they do in any part of our community."
The Education Directorate has taken out eight workplace protection orders on behalf of staff members since 2023, with one still active.
Mr Judge said he had heard from union representatives in other industries that staff were also experiencing an escalation of inappropriate behaviour.
"Our schools are always a microcosm of the society that we live in," he said.
ACT Parents executive officer Veronica Elliott agreed that the continuing under-resourcing of public schools was straining teacher-parent relationships.
"We regularly hear from parents who spend weeks or months trying to access supports for their child, particularly students with disability or additional learning needs. By the time many families reach a principal's office, they are often already exhausted and frustrated," she said.
"The recently released Public School Resourcing Review confirms what parents have been telling us for years: many schools are not currently supported or resourced to deliver the standard of public education that families quite reasonably expect. When there is a growing gap between community expectations and what schools are able to deliver, frustration inevitably increases."
ACT Parents has previously called for an advocacy service to help families navigate the education system and resolve issues before conflicts arise.
An Education Directorate spokesperson said complex and challenging behaviours were present in all aspects of society, including schools.
Occupational violence in schools is the most significant risk to staff, according to the directorate's last five annual reports.
"The Education Directorate has policies and procedures in place to help schools appropriately address incidents and to respond to complex and challenging behaviours. We have a strong reporting culture," the spokesperson said.
"The Education Directorate continues to implement the Safety and Wellbeing Strategy. This work includes the review into the prevention and management of occupational violence in ACT public schools.
"The Education Directorate launched an occupational violence prevention campaign in February 2024 across ACT public schools ... materials from this campaign continue to be used in our schools and on our social media channels."
Multiple public school teachers previously told The Canberra Times student behaviour had significantly deteriorated in recent years, and they were dealing with children physically attacking them, swearing or throwing objects such as chairs every day.
