By Valentyna Jurkiw, Special Counsel, Katie Zheng, Law Graduate, and Sonya Parsons, Partner

Introduction

The Minns Labor Government recently introduced the Education Amendment (School Community Safety) Bill 2026 which, if passed, will mark a significant shift in how schools may lawfully respond to harmful or abusive behaviour directed at their staff, students and broader communities.

The Bill proposes to amend the NSW Education Act 1990 to provide schools with targeted measures to restrict unreasonable conduct and to enhance safety on school grounds, at school related places, and across digital school communication platforms.

These reforms respond to an increasingly complex risk environment for schools, where aggressive behaviour by parents and community members may manifest physically, verbally or through digital channels.  While the existing NSW Inclosed Lands Protection Act 1901 offers some assistance, it is not tailored to the modern needs of school operations. The Bill seeks to fill critical gaps by granting school authorities clearer and more flexible powers to deal with problematic conduct before it escalates.

New Framework for Managing Unreasonable Conduct

At present, the NSW Education Act imposes responsibility on principals and authorised school personnel to maintain the safety, welfare and orderly operations of the school, as does workplace health and safety legislation. However, it does not provide a direct mechanism to remove or restrict an adult who is engaging in threatening or abusive behaviour towards staff or students. Schools must instead rely on other legislation which is limited in scope and primarily focussed on physical trespass.

The Bill proposes to introduce express powers permitting an authorised person (such as a principal or another delegated school representative) to issue immediate or ongoing orders to adults aged 18 or over who engage in ’unreasonable behaviour’ or ’unreasonable communications’ towards members of the school community. Unreasonable communications includes publishing material about a person (such as in a WhatsApp group) or creating audio or visual representations of a person (such as deep fakes).

The proposed orders can be effected to:

• restrict a person from entering school grounds;
• restrict a person from coming within 25 metres of a school or other site while it is in use by the school, such as camps or sporting venues; or
• prohibit contact with staff online, including through the school’s social media platforms or by phone.

Crucially, these powers extend beyond the school’s physical boundaries to also encompass school-related venues and online communication channels.

The overarching test is an objective one; whether a reasonable person would consider the behaviour or communication to be unreasonable in the circumstances, including due to its nature, persistence, tone, aggressiveness or frequency.

Orders must consider circumstances such as the health of the relevant adult and where the relevant adult is a parent or carer of a student how the student may be affected. If the person is a parent or carer of a student, arrangements must be made to ensure appropriate communication and access between the adult and the school are maintained in relation to the student.

An immediate order takes effect from when it is made. It only has effect for up to 14 days. The Bill also provides for ongoing orders to manage sustained or escalating unreasonable conduct. An ongoing order takes effect immediately and may remain in place for up to 12 months with possible extensions if the school can demonstrate that grounds for the order continue to exist.

How will the Orders be Issued and Enforced?

An immediate order may be made orally or in writing reflecting the need for intervention in urgent situations.  An ongoing order must be made in writing and must be in the form prescribed by the legislation, including information about how the relevant adult may seek an internal review of the decision to make the order.

Once communicated, an immediate order or an ongoing order is legally operative without court approval. Non-compliance may give rise to further enforcement action, including an application by the Minister for Education’s delegate to the Local Court for a protection order.

What Gaps is the Bill Filling?

The new framework has been designed to operate alongside the Inclosed Lands Act. Schools may choose to exercise powers under both pieces of legislation, depending on the circumstances. An order could be issued under the Education Act while also referring the matter to police for trespass related action under the Inclosed Lands Act.

It is anticipated that schools will use the powers will use the powers as a proportionate tool to manage risk and maintain a safe learning environment for their communities. Immediate orders will assist in situations involving acute safety concerns or highly disruptive conduct while ongoing orders will support longer term management of persistent or repeated behaviour that undermines staff and student safety or wellbeing and orderly school operations.

Importantly the framework encourages schools to balance safety objectives with continued parental engagement, particularly where an affected adult is a parent or carer by requiring communication and access arrangements that ensure the student’s educational interests remain protected.

The Bill reflects a clear Government policy direction on school safety and is anticipated to be implemented following passage through Parliament subject to any refinements during debate.