Labor is strengthening School Community Safety Orders to better protect staff and school communities.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll today announced legislation to strengthen and simplify the School Community Safety Order Scheme.

It’s about making every school a safe place to learn and work, with consequences when those expectations are not met.

It allows principals to ban adults from school grounds, related places or from contacting school staff.

It also makes it easier to act against harmful behaviour on social media, messaging and other online platforms.

These reforms recognise that abuse doesn’t stop at the school gate.

The changes follow an independent statutory review and targeted consultation with the school sector and community.

Feedback was clear – staff want stronger protections especially against online abuse.

Reforms will also simplify how and when immediate orders can be issued, cutting red tape and making the Scheme easier to use.

Further changes will streamline the system making it more effective for principals while maintaining fairness for those subject to orders.

Introduced in 2022, the Scheme is a last resort tool to manage the risk posed by a small minority of adults who engage in harmful, threatening or abusive behaviour.

School Community Safety Orders will remain a last resort, used only when other options have failed or are not appropriate.

Labor is backing teachers and school staff with record investment in safe and respectful workplaces, including $63.8 million for employee mental health and wellbeing support.