School leaders and educators across Australia are grappling with immense challenges, many of which hold serious implications for the future of the sector. Ideagen's 2025 education risk report, set to be released later this month, provides a comprehensive analysis of these challenges, offering actionable insights for schools, policymakers and compliance professionals.
This year’s report explores the top risk areas identified by educators, including human resources, health and safety, financial constraints and child safety. Alarmingly, 53.2% of school leaders are considering stepping away from their roles due to rising workloads, increasing violence and mental health struggles.
With 51% of schools lacking robust digital security systems and instances of occupational violence escalating, it’s clear that schools are under unprecedented pressure to adapt and respond. The report also highlights emerging issues such as increasing school refusals, linked to rising rates of student anxiety and depression, emphasising the need for targeted interventions.
Key challenges include:
- Staffing crises: long-term staff shortages, workforce retention difficulties and workload-related burnout
- Physical and digital safety: rising instances of violence toward staff and students, combined with insufficient cybersecurity measures
- Mental health priorities: deteriorating wellbeing among school leaders, educators and students
Why this report matters
The 2025 education risk report doesn’t merely outline risks, it serves as a guide for tackling them head-on. Whether addressing physical safety concerns, implementing processes for better staff retention or preparing schools for cybersecurity threats, the report presents targeted strategies to help leaders safeguard their communities.
The findings bring to light the urgent need for workplace reforms, systemic support and innovative leadership models to support Australian schools in navigating these risks.
A sneak peek into the report
As a cursory review, we've provided a sneak preview into the report, including insights from Australian Catholic University's (ACU) latest Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey and the extreme pressures being placed on school leaders.
For further insights, explore last year’s Education Risk Report. This foundational report delves into key challenges that continue to shape this year’s findings.
Education risk report preview: principals and school leaders under extreme job pressures
ACU released its latest Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey on 31 March 2025 (ACU Survey). This comprehensive study, involving 2,182 school leaders, highlights significant challenges faced by Australian principals, with the top five sources of stress reported to be heavy workloads, lack of time to focus on teaching and learning, student-related issues, mental health of staff and mental health of students.
Key findings from the ACU Survey revealed:
- Rising violence: instances of physical violence against principals have surged by 81.6% since 2011, with 49.6% of respondents reporting such experiences in 2024. Threats of violence have also reached record levels, with 54.5% of school leaders affected. Notably, 95.5% of these violent incidents were perpetrated by students, while 63.7% of threats originated from parents or caregivers
- Mental health concerns: the mental wellbeing of school leaders is deteriorating, with 9.3% exhibiting severe anxiety and 7.1% experiencing severe depression, rates significantly higher than those in the general population
- Intentions to leave: more than half (53.2%) of the surveyed school leaders are considering leaving their positions. This figure escalates to 82.3% among those with low job satisfaction
- Workload stress: the top two sources of stress identified were heavy workloads and insufficient time to focus on teaching and learning
Ideagen’s 2024 education risk report also revealed the rising impact of occupational violence and other human resource issues that were greatly affecting school staff and leaders:
“Many more schools are being greatly impacted by instances of occupational violence with 17% of schools being ‘greatly impacted’ by this issue. This is up 7% from last year.
Almost half of all respondents are being greatly impacted by staff shortages, workload concerns, increased cases of stress and burnout and difficulties in attracting and retaining staff. The percentage being greatly impacted has increased by around 10% from the 2023 results in all these areas.”
One of the key findings by the ACU in the ACU survey is that increasing job satisfaction for principals is key to retention. In an interview, Associate Professor Theresa Dicke, co-lead investigator of the ACU Survey, said: “One of the most striking findings this year is just how clearly job satisfaction predicts outcomes for school leaders.
Those who report higher satisfaction levels are significantly less likely to consider quitting and they also fare much better in terms of mental health, resilience and overall workplace wellbeing.”
Associate Professor Dicke said this suggests that focusing on improving the conditions that drive job satisfaction, like reducing excessive workload, improving system-level support and fostering positive relationships with governance bodies, can make a meaningful difference in retaining experienced leaders.
The ACU survey made the following key recommendations to address the increased pressure on school principals and leaders:
- Urging government and employers to address heavy workloads (the leading cause of stress) by providing autonomy, resources, support and intensifying efforts to reduce administrative burdens
- Prioritise wellbeing support for school leaders
- Consider alternate school leadership models such as co-principalship
- Address inappropriate behaviour from parents/caregivers towards leaders and staff to maintain a safe and conducive learning environment by implementing mechanisms such as the Victorian School Community Safety Order
Take proactive steps to support your school
To ensure you’re equipped for what lies ahead, make the 2025 education risk report your go-to resource. Be among the first to access the report and subscribe to School Governance for regular updates, insights and actionable strategies.
Access additional resources to help your school navigate ongoing governance, risk and compliance obligations.
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