A new survey has found around 40 per cent of Australian school principals have been subjected to violence at work. 

Experts from the Australian Catholic University (ACU) and Deakin University have surveyed the wellbeing of 2,248 school leaders.

They found that more than 40 per cent of Australian principals have been threatened with violence and 38 per cent were subjected to physical violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite many students learning from home. 

Additionally, three of 10 respondents said they had triggered “red flag emails”; setting off a a system that identifies those at risk of self-harm, health problems or serious quality-of-life impacts.

The Australian Principal Occupational, Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey has now been running for a deace, and shows a steady increase in bullying, physical violence, threats of violence, slander, sexual and verbal harassment of principals.

Also, 97 per cent of principals say they are having to work overtime, with almost 70 per cent doing over 56 hours a week during the term and 25 hours a week during holidays.

Principals are increasingly reporting burnout, stress, sleeping troubles and depressive symptoms each year. 

ACU investigator Professor Phil Parker says it is extremely worrying.

“We're seeing violence directed at principals at a rate of close to 10 times that of the general population,” he said.

“Even though there were school closures ... the schools were open for parts of the population.”

The experts say the survey shows the need for a taskforce to investigate violence and offensive behaviour in schools. Other recommendations include a reduction in job demands or an increase in resources to help principals cope with workloads.

The authors say federal, state and territory governments could help by maintaining a single education budget with transparent funding. They also call for strategies and policies to be systematically researched before being implemented.