Over 15 years of research tracking the occupational health of school leaders, parents and caregivers have emerged as a significant and worsening source of threatening behaviour directed at teachers and principals.
In 2025, they were identified as a source in almost two-thirds of reported threats of violence against school leaders. In 2011, that figure sat below 25%, according to the Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey conducted by Australian Catholic University (ACU).
Nearly nine in ten cases of cyberbullying of school principals that year also came from parents and caregivers.
The 2025 ACU survey found that approximately 53% of principals intend to leave the role. Nearly half — 49.6% — reported having experienced physical violence at work. Those figures are consistent with the wider picture of school principal wellbeing in dramatic decline across Australia documented in recent years.
For teachers, the picture is no less confronting. Research from UNSW Sydney found that nine in ten Australian teachers are experiencing moderate to extremely severe stress. Rates of depression and anxiety run at three times the national norm. Abusive and aggressive communication from parents is part of that burden.
What's driving the increase in abuse?
In an article published in The Conversation, Carolyn Wade, a Lecturer at Griffith University's School of Education, and Paul Kidson, Associate Professor in Educational Leadership at the Australian Catholic University, point out that research has identified a more consumer-oriented relationship with schools.
"For school leaders, this can mean expectations of immediate responses, challenges to professional decisions, demands for individualised outcomes, and complaints being escalated when families are dissatisfied with a school’s response," Wade and Kidson wrote.
"Digital communication has made it easier for families and schools to communicate. It has also changed the speed, reach and consequences of these interactions."
A February 2026 study led by Monash University, in collaboration with Deakin University and the University of Sydney, drew on 298 critical incident testimonies from 256 school principals nationally. It found that principals are increasingly expected to manage threats and community conflict without adequate funding or system support.
What governments are doing
In their article, Wade and Kidson wrote that Victoria and South Australia have introduced legislation giving principals the power to ban abusive parents from school grounds.
Wade and Kidson point out that laws or codes of conduct only establish boundaries, restrict access and provide recourse when behaviour becomes unsafe.
"They cannot create respectful behaviour or rebuild trust once a relationship has deteriorated," Wade and Kidson wrote.
"This is why legislation should be understood as protection, rather than prevention. If a principal needs to stop a parent entering school grounds or contacting staff, the relationship is already in serious difficulty."
What schools and systems need to do
The Australian Secondary Principals' Association (ASPA) 2026 policy briefing on priorities for secondary school leaders identifies principal health and wellbeing as a central concern.
The ASPA is calling for a dedicated national strategy, with allocated funding and measurable outcomes. It also calls for principals to have access to the same professional supervision available to counsellors and psychologists. Researchers say that kind of structured support is essential for leaders routinely managing critical incidents and community trauma.
On the ground, the evidence points to several practical steps.
Wade and Kidson wrote that school leaders and teachers need better preparation to manage difficult conversations with parents, recognise when conflict is escalating, and know when to seek further support.
"They also need organisational backing, so they are not left managing a situation alone until it becomes untenable," they wrote. "This includes clear escalation process and senior or system-level support when interactions become persistent, unreasonable or abusive."
The best schools for teachers in Australia in 2026 demonstrate what structured workplace protection looks like in practice: protected time, genuine wellbeing investment, and cultures where staff feel supported. These conditions reduce attrition and build institutional resilience that no code of conduct can replicate.
Schools are workplaces. The people who work in them are entitled to safety and dignity. Meeting that standard requires sustained, systemic action — not individual schools managing crisis after crisis on their own.