Since its inception in Victoria in 2010, the Safe Schools program was Australia’s most controversial anti-bullying campaign. While grounded in good intentions and empirical evidence, critics of the program viewed it as a form of social engineering, a radical form ...
More »Expulsion ‘fast track’ in Victorian opposition’s anti-bullying plan draws ire
Three strikes and bullies are out, if principals say so. That’s one of the tenets of Victorian leader of the opposition Matthew Guy’s answer to school bullying across the state. Guy’s office said the $15.3 million plan – which the ...
More »Opinion: Why the Safe Schools program was doomed to fail
While parents, educators and policy makers fought over the politics and practices of the Safe Schools program, few assessed whether the program was educationally sound for the NSW Education system - that is, suitable for use in educational settings that ...
More »For gender inclusivity, let students disagree
We've all likely heard the statistics: gay, bisexual, intersex or transgender people comprise only up to 11 per cent of the Australian population, yet they are three times as likely to experience depression. One survey found almost 1 in 2 ...
More »USYD professor says he’s debunked Safe Schools Coalition
A University of Sydney child protection and family law expert claimed he's debunked “academically irresponsible” assertions about sexual identity and LGBTI students made by the Safe Schools Coalition. Professor Patrick Parkinson has published a non-peer reviewed paper criticising the Safe Schools Coalition, on the ...
More »Labor pledges $6m commitment to Safe Schools
A Labor government would commit to financing the Safe Schools Coalition by allocating an additional $6 million to the program, in contrast to the government’s decision to cut off the scheme’s funding when its current budget allocation expires next year. A ...
More »Talking Eds: BubDesk, EduTECH, soft skills and Roz Ward
In the second episode of APN Educational Media's new Week in Review podcast, now titled Talking Eds, new editor Patrick Avenell is joined by James Wells from Education Review and Campus Review and Loren Smith from Early Learning Review to dissect ...
More »