National Safe Schools Framework
The National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF) was endorsed by the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) in July 2003. The Australian Government developed two supporting documents to assist with the implementation of the NSSF, the Resource Pack for jurisdictions; and the Implementation Manual for schools.
The NSSF was developed in response to concerns from parents and the wider community and their expectations that Australian education authorities take every possible measure to ensure the physical and emotional safety of students. While state and territory jurisdictions had already undertaken considerable work in this area, a national approach was sought to provide consistent messages, especially to parents, on how schools deal with violence and respond to bullying, and the help that is available if a young person is being bullied or harassed or threatened at school.
The NSSF consists of a set of nationally agreed principles for safe and supportive school environments and includes appropriate responses that schools can adopt to address the issues of bullying, harassment, violence, and child abuse and neglect. It emphasises the need to develop and implement policies and programs through processes engaging the whole school community, for teachers to have appropriate training in positive student management, and the need for schools to respond proactively to incidents of victimisation or abuse.
Since the inception of the NSSF, there have been significant developments in technology, which have seen the scope of bullying activities widen. This includes the use of technology such as mobile phones and the internet to bully victims both inside and outside of school hours (known as cyber-bullying). Changes in legislation at both the national and state and territory level have also necessitated the updating of the NSSF. The Government is currently undertaking this process (see The National Safe Schools Framework Review).
For publications relating to the National Safe Schools Framework please visit DEEWR publications website.