A second roundtable focused on violence prevention will be held next year, building on the work already undertaken to prevent violence and bullying in schools.

The first roundtable was held in 2022, engaging the non-government sector, experts, parents, staff and students.

This led to the development of the $6 million Safe and Supportive Learning Environments Plan of Action 2024-2026, which continues to deliver key support to schools, students and families.

Additionally, mobile phones were banned from high schools, 100 mental health and learning support specialists were introduced and $50 million was invested to introduce the new Tailored Learning program that supports students to remain engaged in and finish their schooling.

As a result, there have been significant improvements in student behaviour, including:

• An 80.5% decrease in issues related to social media in 2025 from 2023, and behaviour issues down by 60.3% (thanks to the mobile phone ban).
• A decline in critical incidents in secondary schools for the first time in 2024, with a 4.5% drop since 2019.
• A 7.3% reduction in suspensions and 20.8% reduction in exclusions in 2025 - according to term 2 data - compared with 2024.
• An increase in student’s connectedness to school and school belonging, according to the department’s Wellbeing Engagement Collection (WEC) data.

Next year’s roundtable will, again, bring students, education experts, associations, unions, SAPOL, external service providers and other stakeholders together to discuss future challenges, share progress on work since the 2022 roundtable, and work through delivering the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review recommendations.

The roundtable will inform the next stage of work to reduce violence and bullying in schools, with a focus on preventing and responding to violence in primary schools, which has increased since COVID.

There will also be a focus on preventing violence against staff, with data showing a rise in physical violence towards teachers across the past 4 years, with the vast majority of cases by primary school students:

2021 – 273 incidents

2022 – 359 incidents

2023 – 513 incidents

2024 – 662 incidents

In addition, the development of a new Work Health and Safety Strategy is underway to reduce violence against staff – which will be released in the first quarter of 2026.

More than $2 million has been invested into public education to tackle bullying over the past 5 years in a grassroots program to create safe spaces for students.

The latest round of funding will see $500,000 go to 38 schools across the state as part of the annual Bullying No Way: National Week of Action campaign, which will include projects like:

• Transforming a concrete courtyard at Mount Compass Area School into a colourful play space filled with games and activities for students.
• Creating two inclusive courtyards where school values are displayed, and students can play table tennis and other games at Reynella East College.
• Creating an outdoor yarning circle and connection space at Mimili Aṉangu School to support student wellbeing, emotional regulation and cultural connection.
• Establishing a native bush tucker garden sanctuary that will serve as a safe and calming space for students at East Adelaide School.

These projects are positively impacting students’ feelings of safety, with 86% of schools that have completed its 2024 projects reporting a reduction in peer-to-peer bullying.

Read more about funding for bullying and violence prevention projects in schools.