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Opinion/Commentary

Record number of principals quit after facing violence

Multiracial male principal in blue jacket, white shirt and name tag around neck. He's standing outside hos school.
Image: JohnnyGreig, iStock

School principals in Australia are being pushed to breaking point.

According to The Australian, a recent survey of 2500 school leaders showed, at minimum, 44% of principals have said they’ve faced physical violence in 2022.

This is the highest rate recorded since the Australian Catholic University started the survey in 2011.

Principals are at high risk of violence — 11 times more than the general population.

In response, Federal Education Minister, Jason Clare stated:

You can see the impact of this in teachers and principals leaving the profession early, burnt out and worn out.

ACU investigator and former principal, Paul Kidson condemned violence towards teachers and principals. He also suggested a cut to unnecessary red tape and paper work.

Violence balloons since the pandemic

Male student pushing another male student into a school locker
Image: P. Wei, iStock

The pandemic has exacerbated rates of violence and mental illness among students. A female principal from Western Australia said:

I am now dealing with high levels of playground violence, high rates of severe mental health, violence against teachers and parents who can’t accept their child being reprimanded or punished when their child had engaged in violence in a school.

Mental health is collapsing

Brief trigger warning: self harm and suicide. If this is triggering, feel free to skip this section or stopvreading the post altogether.

Principals are seeing an alarming rate of collapsing mental health of students. Principals report high rates of anxiety, ‘school refusal’, vaping, self – harm and suicidal ideation.

The mental health of principals is also a concern. They face high rates of stress and burnout.

As a whole, society needs to respect teachers more

I have thought this for years. How can we expect students to respect teachers when society doesn’t?

The media constantly attack teachers over NAPLAN results. They are constantly accused of ‘indoctrination’. The Australian Education Union is constantly slammed when they protest for a higher pay for teachers.

Are teachers perfect? Of course not! No one is. But, I truly think we as a society need to get off teachers’ backs.

During the pandemic, there should have been less screaming at teachers and more appreciation. They were just following guidelines. Most were doing what they thought was right for their students.

Same story, different day

The media reports again and again on the struggles of teachers and early childhood educators. Yet, nothing changes.

First, mental health care needs to be free, at least for those with severe mental illnesses. Australia’s Better Access is inadequate.

Second, we need more school counsellors and/ or social workers. It’s clear that too many children aren’t getting the help they need.

Teacher shortage a concern

If nothing changes, there will be a teacher shortage. As a result, many students of all years, may miss out on fundamental learning and experiences. Many will miss out on developing an essential bond with their teacher.

Do we really want that? Do we want children to be lost in the crowd because of teacher shortages? Enough’s enough. Society needs to have higher regard for teachers.

Note to the State governments: you get off teachers ‘ backs! Cut the red tape! How often do you have to be told?! Teachers are there to teach and nurture their students. Not do endless paperwork.

If this post has brought up issues, you can contact:

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Categories
Opinion/Commentary

Hillsong rocked by more scandals. And no one is defending them

Image: Kokkai Ng, iStock

Content warning: this post briefly mentions sexual abuse. If this is triggering for you, please proceed with caution or skip it altogether.

Hillsong is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Again.

Last year, people accused Brian Houston of covering up sex crimes committed by his father Frank Houston.

One victim alleged that Houston told him “it’s your fault” when coming forward about being abused as a child. Houston stood down amid the allegations.

Last year, 60 Minutes Australia ran a story where a number of young women claimed they were sexually assaulteed while attending Hillsong College in Sydney.

American ex – student, Anna told 60 Minutes Australia that she was groped by a student administrator. When she came forward, and told Hillsong College’s leaders, she felt “unsupported”.

American ex – student, Anna, told 60 Minutes Australia that a student administrator groped her.

After Anna told her father — himself a pastor from Pennsylvania — a Penrith court charged the administrator with indecent assault.

Unfortnately, it didn’t end there. Hillsong ended up promoting him and giving his wife a leadership role. Anna was denied justice. Her father told 60 Minutes Australia they tried to keep his daughter quiet.

MP accuses Hillsong of financial misconduct

Tasmanian Independent MP, Andrew Wilkie, blew the whistle on Hillsong. He accuses them of breaching Australia’s charity and taxation laws. 

Canadian YouTuber and former pastor, Josh Barbour did two videos, breaking down the accusations.

Here’s the short of it: the documents show Hillsong made a number of ‘charities’ to avoid paying tax. Meanwhike, they were pocketing the money.

Bobbi and Brian Houston have also been accused of declaring ‘wages’, while pocketing the money themselves.

Christians should be furious. People who have given money to Hillsong through tithes, etc have been robbed! And you’ve probably heard sermons on Malachi 3:8 about  “robbing God” to guilt you into tithing to them!

Hillsong runs out of defenders

In the past, people and the media have been willing to defend Hillsong. Brian Houston couldn’t be responsible for what happens in New York. It’s just Christian persecution, etc, etc. 

Unexpectedly, Hillsong’s (former?) defenders are quiet. Andrew Bolt, Rita Panahi, etc, all silent. Sky News Australia’s Peta Credlin has just reported the facts about the latest allegations.

It looks like Hillsong have burnt all their bridges. They no longer have defenders in the mainstream media.

Since an Independent MP has blown the whistle, this puts the Australian Labor Party (ALP), in a tight spot. The ALP, along with the Coalition (LNP) have been allies with Hillsong.

In the early 2000’s, Hillsong, along with the Australian Christian Lobby, had influence over the parties’ legislative decisions. Former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison is a known practicing Pentecostal. 

Pentecostal churches have opposed anti – discrimination protections against LGBTQ+ people in faith schools. They campaigned against same – sex couples adopting. You get the idea. And, for a long time, both the Coalition and Labor bowed down to their demands.

Former Prime Ministers, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd openly opposed same – sex marriage and keeping their deal with churches like Hillsong. This is despite Gillard openly being an atheist. 


Lastly, Hillsong have been crumbling for years. It seems that Brian Houston has been arrogant one too many times. Now, there’s hell to pay!

If this post has raised any issues for you, you can contact:

Lifeline: 13 11 14

Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636. Alternatively, they have a webchat.