ACT Police were called to five critical incidents in ACT government schools between January and May, according to documents released under freedom of information laws. The incidents involved ‘weapons/blades and other sharp instruments’ and ‘violent/serious physical assault’ where victims included both students and staff.

Police were involved in each of the incidents and two of them resulted in injuries. Details of the critical incidents were scant and the documents were heavily censored to protect the privacy of students involved.

The Australian Education Union warned this could give parents a skewed perception of the public system because private schools are not obliged to provide similar data. The Association of Independent Schools of the ACT confirmed it did not collect data on critical incidents.

The information did not include any critical incidents that may have happened in private schools. “Any reporting of critical incidents in government schools should come with an important disclaimer: that similar information is not provided by private school,” Union ACT branch secretary Mr Glenn Fowler said.

“Schools are part of the community, and are not entirely insulated from unsavoury or, in rare occasions, dangerous activity. No school is immune, whether it is public or private.”