Education – The Conversation

Don’t dismiss kids’ sadness or anger. How to minimise family conflict over the social media ban

2025-11-03T19:08:40Z

In just over a month Australia’s social media ban will begin.

From December 10, those under 16 will only be able to see publicly available content on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube. They will not be able to have their own accounts.

For example, they could look up Taylor Swift’s latest music video on YouTube, but they would not be able to post their own content.

There are no penalties for children who access an account on an age-restricted platform, or for their parents. Platforms face fines of up to A$49.5 million if they don’t take reasonable steps to implement the ban.

While the changes have been welcomed by some safety experts and parent advocates, eSafety acknowledges, “many parents and carers are worried about how under 16s will react to no longer having access to social media accounts”.

If you have a child or teen who loves social media, how can you help approach this change, while minimising conflict in your family?

Social media is already a source of conflict

My research shows young people’s social and digital media use is already a major source of conflict for families.

A lot of the tension comes from parents not understanding the important role digital media plays in young people’s lives, and young people reacting to “unfair” restrictions imposed by parents.

So conflict around screen time rules and parents’ social media restrictions is common. Young people can put a lot of pressure on their parents for devices or access to certain platforms to fit in with their peers (“but all my friends have it”).

One of the federal government’s rationales for the social media ban is to help parents manage this situation – because people are already finding it hard.

So, potentially, some families may find relief in being able to say “this is just what the government says, this is the law”.

Uncertainty ahead

But we still don’t really know what’s going to happen come December 10. Some of the criticism of the ban has been that young people will find a way around it, such as by using a VPN (which can mask location and identity). Experts are also concerned about the reliability and privacy implications of age verification technology,

Meanwhile, some parents may also help their children circumvent the restrictions.

If a lot of parents in a friendship group are helping their children get around the ban, this could in turn create pressures on other parents and lead to conflict or resentment in families.

Parents need to remember there is no blanket right or wrong answer. All families and kids are different and its important to make decisions based on your family values and your child’s maturity.

Acknowledge it’s hard

Either way, if young people are used to social media and suddenly it’s gone, they might be really sad, annoyed or angry. And parents will have to manage the fall out.

We know young people can forge important connections with others over social media. It’s not just mindless scrolling, it’s a significant way to interact with peers. This is especially important for marginalised young people.

So young people will need to find other ways to connect – and parents should help their kids maintain their social connections.

It’s also important parents are not dismissive and acknowledge this may be a difficult time and transition.

Young people tend to respond much better to rules and regulations when they are given a clear rationale and a clear reason.

For example,

I know it’s hard. It’s out of my hands, this is a decision made by the government. We may not like it, but this is the way it is. Can I help you find another way to connect with your friends or participate in these communities?

You may also want to note how time away from social media, where young people may be doomscrolling or exposed to cyberbullying, can be healthy.

Don’t assume kids are now ‘safe’

One risk of the ban is parents will now think kids are “safe” online. We know children are likely to find other spaces online – and if they don’t, their friends will. And the ban only covers certain platforms.

Parents needs to keep talking to their children about what they see and do online

Parents also need to keep providing opportunities for children to develop critical digital literacy skills – this means they can assess what they are reading and seeing and not just taking it on face value. Children also need help to navigate social relationships online as they grow up.

This means children under 16 need ongoing opportunities to explore online spaces with support and guidance. This doesn’t necessarily mean parents monitor everything their children do online. But they should show an interest in their children’s activities, and be available to help navigate any risks and tricky situations.

Catherine Page Jeffery receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

How common is sexually abusive behaviour between children? How should daycare centres respond?

2025-10-31T05:24:35Z

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Parents have spoken about harrowing cases of their young children being abused by other children in daycare centres, as part of an ABC investigation into the New South Wales sector.

How common is sexually abusive behaviour between children?

Why does it happen? And what can daycare centres do about it?

What does the data say?

There is no national data to track these incidents in childcare centres.

The national childcare regulator reports on the number of “serious incidents”. But there is a lack of detail around what these involve and they don’t even necessarily include child abuse.

States and territories also report on “reportable conduct allegations” (claims of abuse of children) in early childhood. But there are inconsistent standards, expectations and enforcement mechanisms across jurisdictions.

The best data we have about all forms of child sexual abuse is from the 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study. As part of the study, a nationally representative sample 8,503 Australians aged 16 and older were asked about their experiences of child maltreatment, including child sexual abuse.

Overall, 28.5% of the group reported they had experienced child sexual abuse. The interviewer then asked who did this to them. As a proportion of the population, here’s what they said about abuse from other young people:

10% of Australians reported child sexual abuse from other known children or adolescents (not romantic partners)
2.5% reported sexual abuse from adolescent romantic partners
1.4% reported sexual abuse from an unknown adolescent
1.6% reported sexual abuse from a sibling.

As the study relied on adults recalling childhood experiences, it may mean it’s an under-representation of cases, particularly very early in childhood.

We need a lot more data about what’s going in the early years.

Is the problem getting worse?

Nevertheless, the Australian Child Maltreatment Study study suggests sexual abuse between peers is becoming more common.

Those aged 16-24 were more likely to have been sexually abused by a peer (18.2%) than by an adult (11.7%). Older age groups were more likely to have been abused by adults. For example, of those aged 25-44, 14.1% reported having experienced child sexual abuse by another young person, compared to 17.9% by an adult.

This pattern suggests we have made some progress in reducing the rates of adult perpetrated child sexual abuse, but sexual abuse between peers is increasing.

Why is this happening?

We can understand this at both an individual and situational level.

If a child is engaging in harmful or abusive sexual behaviours, this may be because they have been exposed to sexual abuse, violence in the home, pornography, or other trauma. They may be reenacting or processing something they have seen or experienced.

But there are also situational factors that enable this behaviour, such as a lack of supervision. We know this is an issue in childcare centres if there are low staff numbers, educators are overworked or there is a lack of adequate training.

How can centres respond?

Research tells us we need to create safe environments for little (and bigger) kids. On top of adequate supervision, this means:

everyone, from kids to educators and parents, understands body safety (what is appropriate touching? What are healthy boundaries?)
everyone is able to recognise if something is not right
everyone feels safe to talk to someone if they need to
trusted adults take incidents or concerns seriously.

This then means, even if a child is at risk of harming a peer or inappropriate touching – there is little chance they will have the opportunity to do so. And there is a culture to support healthy interactions between kids.

It should not matter who is in the room or the playground, every child deserves to feel and be safe.

How should childcare centres talk about bodies?

Children are naturally interested in their bodies and other people’s bodies. This is part of growing up and learning about their world.

If curious children do something inappropriate, good quality childcare centres will deal with these episodes calmly, as they arise. For example, a child might say:

I felt yuck because Sam asked me to pull down my pants.

Educators should respond in a kind, empathetic way and not shame anyone involved.

They can use the situation to explain we don’t ask our friends to do this. And just because someone asks us to do something to or with our bodies, it does not mean we have to say yes. We often think of consent education being the job of high schools, but this education needs to start much earlier.

Educators can also model this. For example, with little children, they should let them know they will be changing their nappy. For example,

You need a nappy change because you’ve done a wee. Do you want Alex or Kim to do it?

This teaches children a safe adult only touches your genitals for the purposes of care or hygiene, and always with communication and respect.

These micro-level practices build up over time. Ideally, they can also help show parents what is healthy and safe behaviour.

We should not demonise little kids

Lastly, we should not demonise children who engage in harmful sexual behaviour. Most children do not go on to offend later in life.

What they need is support, guidance and supervision, not stigma or exclusion. While schools or childcare centres sometimes isolate children who have harmed others, exclusion rarely addresses the root cause and can make the problem worse.

Instead, we need to create opportunities for positive, healthy relationships and help children experience safe and appropriate forms of touch. For example, high-fives, hand-holding and hugs within clear boundaries and supportive adult supervision.

Abusive behaviours between children are deeply distressing, but are also preventable. By ensuring strong supervision, body safety education from early years, and responding to children with empathy rather than fear, we can protect kids.

Daryl Higgins receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council (as one of the Chief Investigators on the Australian Child Maltreatment Study), Australian government and state/territory government departments.

Gabrielle worked with the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) team as part of her PhD candidature. She has also previously worked for Bravehearts in various roles, including for the Turning Corners program, which provides support to young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviours.

7 ways to teach little kids about body safety before they can talk

2025-10-30T19:09:09Z

Johner Images/ Getty Images

Families with young children are yet again reeling after this week’s Four Corners investigation into abuse in the early childhood sector.

The program identified almost 150 childcare workers who had been convicted, charged, or accused of sexual abuse and inappropriate conduct.

System-wide changes are needed to improve standards and safety in the early childhood sector. But parents may also be wondering what they can do in the home to teach their kids about body safety.

There is increasing awareness of how to talk to children about body safety. This includes teaching kids that adults should not ask them to keep secrets and to tell a trusted adult if something feels wrong.

But what about babies and younger children who have not yet learned to talk?

According to Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, children under two can understand language and even communicate before they develop speech. It is never too early to teach them about body autonomy, normalise safety, and model trustworthiness in relationships.

How can parents and caregivers do this?

1. Use the correct words

When you’re talking to a child about their body, you may want to use “baby talk”.

But it is important to use the correct anatomical words for their genitals, the same way that we teach them about other parts of the body.

This reduces shame and normalises body boundaries. It also ensures children grow up being able to describe any experiences clearly if there is a problem.

2. Narrate what you are doing

We teach older children that people should not touch their penis, vagina, or bottom.

But obviously for younger children, parents and carers need to touch their genital areas at nappy changes.

When changing a nappy, you can talk to little children in straightforward language and narrate what you’re doing in simple and easy steps. This is so they understand what a “normal” nappy change looks like.

For example,

I’m going to pick you up now. We need to change your nappy. We change your nappy when it’s dirty. First, I’m going to get a new nappy out of the drawer. Now I’m going to take off your pants. Remember, we only touch your bottom when we need to clean it.

3. Would you like to go to Tickletown?

You can normalise consent around touching from the beginning.

For example, teach consent around tickling. Practice using language that invites them to respond: “Would you like to go to Tickletown? Would you like me to tickle you?”

Then teach and demonstrate “yes/no” or “happy/sad” with a smile/frown, or thumbs up/thumbs down.

As they get older this can develop into having a safe word or modelling safe touch and unsafe touch.

4. Respect ‘push-away’ body language

Even very young children can send clear messages when they don’t want to be touched or held.

Where possible, respect their “push-away” body language such as pushing back, turning away, wriggling to get down, or arching their back. This teaches them they have autonomy of their bodies.

You can say things like: “Do you want to be put down? Your body belongs to you”.

5. Don’t force affection

Family and friends may be eager to hug or kiss your child, especially if they don’t see them often.

Resist the temptation to force your child to hug or kiss adults (“go on, give Grandad a kiss”) – even if it is a special occasion or visit. This teaches children about body boundaries and lets them know they can make decisions about their own bodies

6. What if a child doesn’t want a nappy change?

The “my body, my rules” message can be complicated when a child does not want a bath or when they don’t feel like having their nappy changed.

If you meet resistance during these times, calmly explain and narrate what you are doing and why. It will help form a foundation for them to understand healthy and necessary touching and recognise if someone is touching them inappropriately.

For example,

we need to have a bath to wash off all the dirt from the park. Let’s put some soap on your feet where they went in the sandpit.

7. Recognise nonverbal signs of distress

Preverbal children communicate through gestures and behaviour. Parents can learn to recognise nonverbal cues that might indicate signs of general distress.

In preverbal children such signs might include increased meltdowns or tantrums, withdrawal, unexplained genital pain or redness, changes in appetite, regression in toileting or sleeping, sudden fear or dislike of people or places, and even sudden mood changes or changes in personality.

Learning these signs can improve parent-child interactions and make it easier to recognise early signs of abuse.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, you can call 1800 Respect on 1800 737 732, Lifeline on 131 114, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts (counselling and support for survivors of child sexual abuse) on 1800 272.

Danielle Arlanda Harris receives funding from the Queensland Family and Child Commission and the Australian Research Council.

Are you finishing Year 12? Here’s how to avoid a post-school slump

2025-10-29T18:33:22Z

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The period immediately after completing Year 12 can feel unexpectedly anticlimactic.

You have been building up to the end of school for years, then there is the intensity and pressure of exams and festivities of formals and graduation ceremonies. And then suddenly, it’s all over.

Irrespective of how much you enjoyed school, it can be a vulnerable time. The familiar structure of school is gone and the next chapter is murky.

Now, you may face weeks or months of waiting, for exam results or to start study or work. Perhaps there is the (exciting but perhaps terrifying) limbo of a gap year.

Any kind of transition – even a positive one – can be stressful.

You can’t remove the uncertainty. But here are some research-informed strategies to help support you as you navigate the next chapter.

Reflect and debrief

It can be useful to reflect on Year 12. You’ve just completed something major, what did you learn about yourself? This is a life skill that is transferable across a range of contexts and research shows it facilitates self discovery.

Ask yourself what worked, what surprised you, what values or strengths did you discover?

For example, if you’ve applied to do a science degree, but the thing you loved most about Year 12 was your art major work, do you need reconsider your uni preferences? Remember many degrees offer broadening units (units outside your major) which allow you to explore other interests as well.

Make a flexible plan

You may already have a plan for what you do next. Or maybe you don’t. This period is a good time to think through your options, away from the stress and focus of exams.

There are many pathways after school, from TAFE, traineeships, short courses as well as university.

You also don’t need to map out your whole life. You could just include some small, manageable milestones. For example, “this week I’ll research options,” “by the end of the month I’ll have a shortlist of what I want to do next year”.

‘Active’ waiting

Rather than sitting around passively, waiting for “the next stage”, think of something different to do with your time.

This could include some paid work, volunteering or a project – such as starting a new sport, or joining a local community group. There are groups as diverse as tree planting through to visiting your local aged care home.

This is a time where you can explore a field of interest, gaining work, or volunteer experience or developing a new skill like obtaining a barista or responsible service of alcohol licence.

These can also widen your social circle and help you start to see what life outside school looks like.

Maintain some routines

While you need a break after all the work, it’s good for your mental health to continue with some routines.

This includes getting enough sleep and regular exercise.

Monitor wellbeing

Are you OK? This is a stressful time.

Watch for signs of demotivation, persistent anxiety, withdrawal from friends or things you usually like to do, or feeling hopeless. These can be early indicators of mental health strain.

Seek help from a trusted adult or your GP if you are worried – and don’t wait to speak up.

A note for parents

For any parents reading, this can also be a tricky time. Legally, your child may now be an adult or just about to become one.

Research tells us 17- and 18-year-olds do not develop in a linear way. This means they may be ready for some challenges and thrown by others.

So it becomes difficult to know when to provide support and when to pull back and even let young people make their own mistakes. Each young person is different. Some may know exactly what they want and others may need more exploration time. Research shows imposing pressure or controlling too tightly tends to backfire.

For parents it can help to:

stay emotionally present. Parental warmth and connection remain crucial even as the child seeks independence. So listen and validate uncertainty but resist the urge to “have all the answers”
understand the role shift. You’re becoming more of an adviser, rather than a director in your child’s life. Ask questions and listen carefully to their answers. Their experience will differ to yours, so try to avoid leaping in with your own stories
negotiate new boundaries. Maybe you paid their phone bill while they were at school, but this will change once they get a job. Talk this through. Clarity helps avoid resentment
monitor wellbeing. Is your child overly stressed or depressed? Do they need help from a health professional? If they are transitioning out of youth mental health services, ensure there’s appropriate handover to adult services or a GP.

If this article has raised issues for you or someone you know, contact Kids Helpline (for ages 5–25 and parents): 1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au.

Sarah Jefferson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Is Halloween too scary for kids?

2025-10-28T18:57:40Z

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It is easy to see Halloween as an inappropriate time for children. With its mixture of bloody costumes and scary themes, it can often feel like it is luring kids into topics they are not ready to grapple with.

However, since the time of fairy tales, the gothic and the macabre have held a fascination for children.

Why?

If it’s good for Snow White …

Some of the most classic children’s stories are scary and, at times, brutal. They involve wolves eating grandmothers, witches trying to eat kids, kids pushing witches into ovens and stepmothers trying to poison their step daughters or use them as slaves.

It is horrible stuff. But it is important to remember these stories give children a safe space to negotiate and learn resilience. Child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim argues

Fairy tales intimate that a rewarding, good life is within one’s reach despite adversity – but only if one does not shy away from the hazardous struggles.

Studies by psychologists suggest fairy tales also show children they can cope with challenges in their own lives, because their fears can be managed and overcome. As English fantasy writer G.K. Chesterton said:

The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.

What about gore?

In the 1880s, many of the children of the Victorian British slums grew up reading the famed “Penny Dreadfuls” – cheap, sensational, serialised novels. These were stories including bloody characters such as Sweeney Todd, as well as wild adventures, while readers were waiting to hear the true news about the exploits of Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel.

These tales, like violent video games are demonised today, were seen as corrupting young people.

These stories gave working class children a gateway into literacy. Alfred Cox, an ironworker’s son who became a doctor and prominent member of the British Medical Association, explained “far from leading me into a life of crime, [Penny Dreadfuls] made me look for something better”.

Labour Party politician John Paton described reading these Penny Dreadfuls during his childhood in Aberdeen as “good healthy stuff for an imaginative boy”.

We can compare these stories to modern tales such as Harry Potter. By inviting children into amazing new worlds where there are fearful creatures and events, they helped to develop a love of reading.

‘Scary’ is also funny

While it’s easy to be shocked by a child dressing up as a zombie, these kinds of things are a regular feature of mainstream kids’ entertainment today.

For example, zombies lose heads, arms and legs all the time in the 2012 movie, Hotel Transylvania – and for laughs. And the Count from Sesame Street is inspired from Bela Lugosi’s classic portrayal of Dracula.

Is Halloween too scary for kids?

So, while Halloween is “scary”, we can see it as scary in a way that kids can control, enjoy and even learn from.

They are already exposed to other scary things in the books, shows and movies they consume. And this can help them navigate other (real) scary things in their lives.

They can also choose which scary thing to dress up as. After all, what could be braver than showing the scary monster they’re an outfit to be worn and cast off when the child feels like it?

What are adults watching?

While it’s easy to tut-tut at children for their fascination for gore and horror, it’s not that different from adults. Cast a glance at streaming or podcast rankings and they are full of gore, true crime and horror.

Perhaps before we begin to fret about the fascination children have with the gory, we should look at whether our own is truly healthy.

Matthew Thompson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

A UK hack shows Australia needs to be very careful about its CCTV trial for daycare centres

2025-10-27T19:02:24Z

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It has been a horror year for early childhood education and care in Australia, amid ongoing reports and allegations of abuse in the sector.

On Monday, a new ABC investigation identified almost 150 childcare workers have been convicted, charged, or accused of sexual abuse and inappropriate conduct.

As part of its push to improve safety in early childhood centres, the federal government is about to trial CCTV in hundreds services.

But a recent data hack of a London-based nursery chain (known as daycare in Australia) shows how vulnerable sensitive information about children and their families can be.

Before surveillance becomes an accepted part of early childhood education and care, we need to ask, what are the risks of having CCTV around kids?

A cautionary UK tale

In late September, hackers breached the online records of a UK nursery chain. The BBC reports they stole photos, names and addresses of about 8,000 children. They also took contact details of parents.

The perpetrators threatened to publish details unless a ransom was paid and then published some photos to the dark web. They since deleted them and two teenagers were arrested earlier this month.

While the case didn’t involve CCTV, it demonstrates how vulnerable early childhood services can be when they are entrusted with children and families’ personal data.

Many early childhood services use third-party online management platforms. If these are compromised, even the most careful local efforts may not prevent a breach.

Why Australia wants CCTV for daycare

In response to the recent reports and allegations of sexual abuse in Australian daycare centres, the federal government announced a trial of CCTV cameras in up to 300 centres.

Large providers such as Goodstart and G8 have already begun rolling out CCTV in their centres amid growing regulatory and public pressure to strengthen child safety.

CCTV has been promoted by government and large providers as a way to strengthen oversight and deter harm. Cameras are billed as being able to:

deter intruders or capture evidence in rare but serious cases of abuse or neglect
help resolve disputes, protect staff from false allegations, and provide material for training and reflection.
help families feel more comfortable knowing surveillance is in place, believing it makes services more transparent.

But there are also risks

The Australian childcare regulator recently released guidelines to store images and videos securely.

Installing and maintaining cameras, secure servers and encrypted storage systems is expensive. It could be difficult for smaller or rural services to meet these costs.

Along with the sensitive information being hacked there are also other risks and issues around CCTV.

Young children cannot meaningfully consent to being filmed, yet CCTV is potentially recording their play, routines and interactions in ways they cannot control.

This sits uneasily with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which upholds their right to privacy and to be heard in decisions that affect them.

Current Australian privacy law does not recognise children as a distinct group, but changes are underway. By 2026, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner will introduce a Children’s Online Privacy Code, including principles such as “best interests of the child” and clearer consent standards.

How this potentially aligns (or clashes) with the early childhood education sector’s plans for CCTV is not yet clear.

CCTV alone is not the answer

There is a significant danger is assuming CCTV alone can keep children safe.

Research shows effective staff training and open communication with families are the key ways to keep children safe. Child-to-staff ratios are also crucial.

This is because genuine safety comes from a positive culture of care, where educators are supported to notice children’s needs, speak up about concerns, and work with families to promote wellbeing.

Tensions may also arise when families assume they have a right to access CCTV footage – for example, after incidents where a child is hurt – yet in many cases they do not due to privacy and regulatory frameworks.

What’s also missing is robust research. We know very little about how surveillance affects children’s behaviour, how educators’ teach and care for children, or parent–staff relationships in Australian early learning settings.

What should happen next?

CCTV may play a role in strengthening safety in early childhood education services, but we need to be very careful about it. Some considerations include:

specific roles for cameras, not blanket surveillance. For example, only for entry/exit monitoring, incident investigation, reflective practice, where educators review footage to better understand and improve their interactions
strong safeguards. This includes encryption, strict access controls, limited retention periods and routine audits
transparency and consultation. This means parents and staff should be fully informed and engaged in decisions about surveillance and data storage
national standards. This requires a consistent regulatory framework to avoid a patchwork of different state rules.

For governments and large organisations, the appeal of CCTV often lies in grand gestures that signal action and accountability, even if the benefits for children are less certain.

But if we are going to use CCTV it should be there to support, not substitute, trusted relationships, good training and highly skilled educators. These are all elements which research shows truly keep children safe.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

A rushed new maths curriculum doesn’t add up. The right answer is more time

2025-10-26T23:25:03Z

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If the recent news of a new mathematics and statistics curriculum for years 0–10 felt familiar, that’s because it was.

In term four last year, the Ministry of Education released a previous new maths (and English) curriculum for Years 0–8, to be implemented from term one this year.

Schools must use the latest new curriculum from term one next year. This will be the third curriculum for primary and intermediate schools in less than three years.

Despite claims that the most recent curriculum is only an “update”, the changes are bigger than teachers might have expected.

The new curriculum is more difficult and more full. There is now a longer list of maths procedures and vocabulary to be memorised at each year of school.

For example, year 3 children should learn there are 366 days in a leap year and that leap years happen every four years. Year 5 students should know what acute, obtuse and reflex angles are.

Some concepts have been moved into earlier years. Year 6 children will learn calculations with rational numbers (such as “75% is 24, find the whole amount”), whereas previously this would have been taught at year 8. (If you’re wondering, the whole amount is 32.)

Cubes and cube roots have been moved a year earlier. A lot of statistics, a traditional area of strength for New Zealand in international tests, has been stripped out.

Much of the “effective maths teaching” material about clearly explaining concepts and planning for challenging problem solving has been removed. Also gone are the “teaching considerations” that helped guide teachers on appropriate ways to teach the content.

The maths children should learn was previously broken up into what they needed to “understand, know and do” – the UKD model. But this has changed to “knowledge” and “practices”.

In short, there are new things to teach, things to teach in different years, and the whole curriculum is harder and structured differently. It is effectively a new curriculum.

Not just a document

Most teachers now have about eight school weeks to plan for the changes, alongside teaching, planning, marking, reporting, pastoral support and extracurricular activities.

For busy schools heading into the end of the school year, the timeline is unrealistic, some say a “nightmare”.

For secondary teachers, who will be making changes in years 9 and 10, this is the first major curriculum change since 2007.

Primary and intermediate teachers, who have worked hard this year getting up to speed with a new curriculum that will soon expire, might legitimately ask why they bothered.

A curriculum change is a big deal in a school, something that normally happens once in a decade or more. A curriculum is not just a document, it is used every day for planning, teaching and assessment. Any change requires more lead time than this.

When England launched a new National Curriculum in 2013, teachers had it 12 months ahead of implementation. Singapore, a country whose education system Education Minister Erica Stanford paints as exemplary, gave teachers two years to prepare for the secondary maths curriculum change in 2020.

Expecting teachers to prepare for major curriculum changes in eight weeks is not only unnecessarily rushed and stressful – it is also a risk to children’s learning.

Time to slow down

Term one next year also marks the implementation of the new “student monitoring, assessment and reporting tool” (SMART) which teachers have not yet seen.

Children in Years 3–10 will take maths tests twice a year and will be described as emerging, developing, consolidating, proficient or exceeding. Children in the top three categories (during the year) or top two categories (at the end of year) are “on track”.

For the rest, the curriculum says “teachers will need to adjust classroom practice, develop individualised responses, or trigger additional learning support”.

The original curriculum rewrite shifted the goalposts – only 22% of year 8 students would be at the “expectation” level, compared with 42% previously – and this curriculum shifts those goalposts further.

The inevitably poorer results from testing against a more challenging curriculum risk damaging children’s self confidence, disappointing parents and placing blame on teachers.

Test results may improve in later years, compared to those produced in the first year of assessment against a harder curriculum that will take time to embed. But that will not necessarily be evidence the change was justified.

Pausing this latest curriculum change for at least 12 months would give time for adequate consultation and preparation. That would be more consistent with the change processes of education systems internationally.

According to a recent report from the Education Review Office, teachers have mostly demonstrated professionalism in their conscientious adoption of the previous curriculum.

In our view, the most recent changes will severely test that goodwill.

David Pomeroy receives funding from the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI).

Lisa Darragh receives funding from the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative, and has previously received funding from the Royal Society Te Apārangi Fast start Marsden grant.

Foreign spies are trying to steal Australian research. We should be doing more to stop them

2025-10-26T18:27:25Z

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When we think of spies, we may go to images of people in trench coats and dark glasses, trying to steal government papers. Or someone trying to tap the phone of a senior official.

The reality of course can be much more sophisticated. One emerging area of concern is how countries protect their university research from foreign interference. And how we safely do research with other countries – a vital way to ensure Australia’s work is cutting edge.

This week, research security experts including myself will meet in Brussels to talk about how to conduct free and open research in the face of growing security risks around the world.

What does Australia need to do to better protect its university research?

What is research security?

Research security means protecting research and development (R&D) from foreign government interference or unauthorised access. It is especially important in our universities, where the freedom to publish, collaborate, and work together is seen as a virtue.

Australia’s universities face escalating, deliberate efforts to steal commercially or militarily valuable research, repress views critical of foreign regimes, and database hacking.

As my July 2025 report found, adversaries are no longer just stealing data or cultivating informal relationships. We’re seeing deliberate efforts to insert malicious insiders, target researchers and exploit data and cyber vulnerabilities.

ASIO head Mike Burgess has stressed there is an incredible danger facing our academic community from spies and secret agents.

In 2024, Burgess warned of an “A-team” of spies targeting academia:

leading Australian academics and political figures were invited to a conference in an overseas country, with the organisers covering all expenses […]. A few weeks after the conference wrapped up, one of the academics started giving the A-team information about Australia’s national security and defence priorities.

But Australia can’t just stop collaborating with foreign nations. Some are far more scientifically advanced than we are, and we risk cutting ourselves off from developments in the latest technology.

In other cases, we might be unfairly discriminating against researchers from other countries.

The international research landscape is changing

Since January, US President Donald Trump has slashed university funding, banned foreign students and orchestrated a campaign of lawsuits and investigations into campus activities.

This has a huge flow-on effect to Australia, as we have tied ourselves strongly to the US for science and technology funding.

So Australia is looking to the EU as a more reliable and sustainable funding partner.

It has reactivated talks to join the €100 billion (A$179 billion) Horizon Europe fund. Australia abandoned its original attempt in 2023 citing “potential cost of contributions to projects”.

Horizon Europe isn’t just a massive pot of money for Australian researchers. It’s also a way to bring Australia closer to the EU on other initiatives, like the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance, which ensures scientific developments are pursued for the safety, security and benefits for all people.

Yet if Australia wants to join Horizon Europe, it will need to prove it takes research security as seriously as other EU nations. In April 2024, Australia and the EU agreed to strengthen research security and

measures to protect critical technology and to counter foreign interference in research and innovation.

Australia does not have an adequate policy

But Australia does not have a proper national policy on research security. It also does not have a proper guide for our 43 universities in how they should approach it or what the minimum standards are.

The guidelines we have for “countering foreign interference” are entirely voluntary, and not centrally monitored for compliance in any way.

A 2022 federal parliamentary report detailed a litany of attempts by foreign agents to get access to our universities. It made 27 recommendations about improving that situation. To date, the federal government has not yet acted on about three quarters of these.

These included a recommendation to ban involvement in “talent recruitment programs”, where academics are offered vast sums of money or other benefits to duplicate their research in countries like China.

The EU approach

Australia’s approach is in stark contrast to the EU, which has made research security a priority.

In May 2024, the European Commission directed all 27 member states to adopt laws and policies to “work together to safeguard sensitive knowledge from being misused”.

Germany has since adopted “security ethics committees” – modelled on human and animal ethics committees – to scrutinise potential projects for dangerous or high-risk research.

The Netherlands, Denmark and United Kingdom all set up government contact points to help academics answer questions about research security practices.

It will take more than just policies

Australia needs clearer, stronger national policies for research security. But if we are going to take this seriously, we need more than just policy guidance.

To properly scrutinise and set up research, universities need time, support and information. This also means they need more funding.

In some universities there might be one person responsible for research security, and this may not be their sole job.

So we also need funding to give academics a way to identify and manage risks in research and support information sharing across institutions.

Through these measures we will be able to demonstrate to the world we are doing research securely – and it is safe to fund and work with Australia.

Brendan Walker-Munro has completed paid consultancies for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor. In addition, he has received funding for some of this work from the Social Cyber Institute under an Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership grant.

There is little evidence AI chatbots are ‘bullying kids’ – but this doesn’t mean these tools are safe

2025-10-22T19:09:37Z

Over the weekend, Education Minister Jason Clare sounded the alarm about “AI chatbots bullying kids”.

As he told reporters in a press conference to launch a new anti-bullying review,

AI chatbots are now bullying kids […] humiliating them, hurting them, telling them they’re losers, telling them to kill themselves.

This sounds terrifying. However, evidence it is happening is less available.

Clare had recently emerged from a briefing of education ministers from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. While eSafety is worried about chatbots, it is not suggesting there is a widespread issue.

The anti-bullying review itself, by clinical psychologist Charlotte Keating and suicide prevention expert Jo Robinson, did not make recommendations about or mention of AI chatbots.

What does the evidence say about chatbots bullying kids? And what risks do these tools currently pose for kids online?

Bullying online

There’s no question human-led bullying online is serious and pervasive. The internet long ago extended cruelty beyond the school gate and into bedrooms, group chats, and endless notifications.

“Cyberbullying” reports to the eSafety Commissioner have surged by more than 450% in the past five years. A 2025 eSafety survey also showed 53% of Australian children aged 10–17 had experienced bullying online.

Now with new generative AI apps and similar AI functions embedded into common messaging platforms without customer consent (such as Meta’s Messenger), it’s reasonable for policymakers to ask what fresh dangers machine-generated content might bring.

eSafety concerns

An eSafety spokesperson told The Conversation it has been concerned about chatbots for “a while now” and has heard anecdotal reports of children spending up to five hours a day talking to bots, “at times sexually”.

eSafety added it was aware there had been a proliferation of chatbot apps and many were free, accessible, and even targeted to kids.

We’ve also seen recent reports of where AI chatbots have allegedly encouraged suicidal ideation and self-harm in conversations with kids with tragic consequences.

Last month, Inman Grant registered enforceable industry codes around companion chatbots – those designed to replicate personal relationships.

These stipulate companion chatbooks will need to have appropriate measures to prevent children accessing harmful material. As well as sexual content, this includes content featuring explicit violence, suicidal ideation, self-harm and disordered eating.

High-profile cases

There have been some tragic, high-profile cases in which AI has been implicated in the deaths of young people.

In the United States, the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine allege that OpenAI’s ChatGPT “encouraged” their son to take his own life earlier this year.

Media reporting suggests Adam spent long periods talking to a chatbot while in distress, and the system’s safety filters failed to recognise or properly respond to his suicidal ideation.

In 2024, 14-year-old US teenager Sewell Setzer took his own life after forming a deep emotional attachment to a chatbot over months on the character.ai website, who asked him if he had ever considered suicide.

While awful, these cases do not demonstrate a trend of chatbots autonomously bullying children.

At present, no peer-reviewed research documents widespread instances of AI systems initiating bullying behaviour toward children, let alone driving them to suicide.

What’s really going on?

There are still many reasons to be concerned about AI chatbots.

A University of Cambridge study shows children often treat these bots as quasi-human companions, which can make them emotionally vulnerable when the technology responds coldly or inappropriately.

There is also a concern about AI “sychophancy” – or the tendency of a chatbot to agree with whoever is chatting to them, regardless of spiralling factual inaccuracy, inappropriateness, or absurdity.

Young people using chatbots for companionship or creative play may also come across unsettling content through poor model training (the hidden guides that influence what the bot will say) or their own attempts at adversarial prompting.

These are serious design and governance issues. But it is difficult to see them as bullying, which involves repeated acts intended to harm to a person, and so far, can only be assigned to a human (like copyright or murder charges).

The human perpetrators behind AI cruelty

Meanwhile, some of the most disturbing uses of AI tools by young people involve human perpetrators using generative systems to harass others.

This includes fabricating nude deepfakes or cloning voices for humiliation or fraud. Here, AI acts as an enabler of new forms of human cruelty, but not as an autonomous aggressor.

Inappropriate content – that happens to be made with AI – also finds children through familiar social media algorithms. These can steer kids from content such as Paw Patrol to the deeply grotesque in zero clicks.

What now?

We will need careful design and protections around chatbots that simulate empathy, surveil personal detail, and invite the kind of psychological entanglement that could make the vulnerable feel targeted, betrayed or unknowingly manipulated.

Beyond this, we also need broader, ongoing debates about how governments, tech companies and communities should sensibly respond as AI technologies advance in our world.

You can report online harm or abuse to the eSafety Commissioner.

If this article has raised issues for you or someone you know, help is available 24/7:

- Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au

- Kids Helpline (ages 5–25 and parents): 1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au

- Suicide Call Back Service (ages 15+): 1300 659 467 or suicidecallbackservice.org.au

- 13YARN (First Nations support): 13 92 76 or 13yarn.org.au.

Luke Heemsbergen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

There are new plans to fix how universities will run. But will they work?

2025-10-21T06:14:37Z

Australian universities enrol more than 1.4 million students per year and employ more than 130,000 staff. They receive substantial public funding – about A$22 billion each year.

They have also demonstrated substantial governance failings – or problems with the way they are run. As Education Minister Jason Clare has noted:

If you don’t think there are challenges in university governance, you’ve been living under a rock.

Two recent reports aim to tackle the problems with university governance. What did they find? And will this fix the issues?

What’s wrong with university governance?

One review is an interim report from a Labor-chaired Senate inquiry into university governance, handed down last month. The other is a federal government-comissioned “expert council” report, chaired by Melinda Cilento, who is also head of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. This was released on Saturday.

Both reports highlight serious concerns with the way Australian universities are run. The issues include:

widespread underpayment of staff
poor student experiences in some universities
allegations of staff being bullied
a lack of transparency around university decision-making
excessive use of consultants
concerns about excessive salaries for vice-chancellors.

Both reports also identify a gap between universities’ perceptions of the quality of their governance and the experiences described by staff and students.

How can university governance be improved?

While the two reports identify similar problems, they differ in their approach to reform.

The Senate report makes a series of recommendations it believes should be compulsory for all universities.

These include publicly disclosing details of spending on consultants, having a minimum proportion of members with public administration and higher education expertise on governing bodies, and requiring meaningful consultation with staff and students around major changes.

In contrast, the expert council proposes a series of principles universities should adopt. If they don’t, they need to explain why. Essentially, this makes them voluntary.

The principles include that the governing body of a university should:

have an effective, transparent process for appointing the vice-chancellor
undertake appropriate checks before appointing a vice-chancellor or senior manager
have a written policy on conflicts of interest
ensure there are policies for important risks to be appropriately managed and regulatory obligations to be met.

The university should also:

operate lawfully, ethically and in a manner that’s consistent with its public purpose
structure its workforce and pay fairly and responsibly.

Will voluntary principles be effective?

At the weekend, Clare announced the government will require universities to report on their compliance with the principles every year. They will report to the tertiary education regulator on an “if not, why not” basis.

But will this be enough? It is difficult to understand why at least some of the principles, such as those listed above, are not mandatory. As the expert council noted in its report, universities did not always engage adequately with its review process.

[…] many of the submissions received from universities failed to engage proactively and genuinely in addressing areas of weakness [or] in identifying scope for improvement in governance practices and outcomes.

In a further development, the federal government will also ask the remuneration tribunal to help set a framework for vice-chancellors’ pay. In line with the Senate report, the government will require university councils to publish:

outcomes of meetings and decisions taken
consultancy spending, its purpose, value and justification
vice-chancellors’ external roles
annual remuneration reports in line with requirements for public companies
information about the membership of university councils, including members with public and higher education sector experience.

Disclosure of this type of information can better inform stakeholders’ understanding of universities. It can also improve university decision-making by subjecting decisions to greater scrutiny.

But we also need to see an improved culture within universities. This means the views of staff, students and other key stakeholders are welcomed and valued, and transparency and accountability are viewed as priorities.

This is important for rebuilding trust. As the expert council observed, it is

hard not to conclude that a lack of transparency and openness has played a key role in the observed erosion of trust within and towards universities.

Ian Ramsay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Our research shows how screening students for psychopathic and narcissistic traits could help prevent cyberbullying

2025-10-20T19:09:19Z

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The federal government has just released an expert review to try and prevent bullying in schools. One of the greatest areas of concern is cyberbullying, which is alarmingly common among young people.

As federal Education Minister Jason Clare said over the weekend,

[…] now it’s just not happening in the playground, it’s not push and shove in the ground or stealing lunch money, it’s so much more insidious than that, and it happens day and night, and everybody can see it.

The eSafety Commission says cyberbullying has increased by more than 450% in the past five years. Of these incidents, 46% related to children 13 and younger. A 2025 eSafety survey also showed 53% of Australian children aged 10–17 had experienced cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying and cybertrolling often occur anonymously, allowing perpetrators to hide behind fake profiles and act with impunity. The impacts can be devastating for victims’ mental health and social lives.

One common way to try and stop this is simply to limit young people’s time online. But our peer-reviewed research suggests we need to factor in the role young people’s personalities play in cyberbullying and cybertrolling.

What is the difference between cyberbullying and cybertrolling?

Cyberbullying refers to ongoing, targeted acts of harm via digital platforms. It is often intended to intimidate or emotionally damage an individual.

Cybertrolling involves provocative or disruptive online behaviour aimed at provoking conflict. It can leave victims feeling powerless or humiliated.

The key difference is cyberbullying is typically ongoing and involves a power imbalance. Cybertrolling is more likely to be opportunistic, impersonal, and driven by provocation.

What role does personality play?

One way parents and schools try to reduce exposure to or involvement in harmful online behaviours by limiting screen time. This suggests young people cyberbully or troll mainly because they have the opportunity to do so. Other reasons could be that people bully or troll because they are unhappy with their lives.

While these may be partly true, what if there are other factors at play?

In our research, we were interested to further understand the role of personality in cyberbullying and cybertrolling. We were particularly interested to understand the role of what’s known as the “dark tetrad”. This is a well-established psychological framework for understanding antisocial behaviour.

It involves four interrelated personality traits:

Machiavellianism (manipulative)
narcissism (entitled and self-centred)
psychopathy (impulsive and lacking empathy)
sadism (enjoyment from causing others pain).

Our research

In 2021, we surveyed 189 Australians aged 16–19 who were active social media users. Participants were recruited online through social media posts and university research platforms, such as Facebook.

Using an online survey, participants completed questionnaires to examine whether they had dark tetrad traits and whether they had experienced cyberbullying and cybertrolling (either as perpetrators or targets). We also asked about their life satisfaction and how much time they typically spend online.

We wanted to examine whether personality traits could explain antisocial online behaviour beyond external factors such as screen time or wellbeing and life satisfaction.

In turn, we wanted to identify if someone was likely to bully or troll online.

Our findings

Using statistical analysis, we found narcissism, sadism and psychopathy traits were consistently linked with both cyberbullying and cybertrolling in our study group.

In other words, teens with higher levels of aggressive and thrill-seeking traits and/or pleasure-seeking from the suffering of others were more likely to bully or troll others online.

There was no relationship with Machiavellianism or having a manipulative personality. This suggests while manipulation may occur in offline contexts, it may not directly motivate online aggression.

These effects remained significant even when we accounted for how much time participants spent online and their life satisfaction.

This means those high in these dark traits were also still likely to cyberbully or troll even if they were happy with their lives overall. Meanwhile, spending more time on the internet did not make people more likely to bully or troll.

What does this mean?

Our findings challenge common assumptions that online harm is driven mainly by time spent online or unhappiness.

While digital literacy, adult supervision and wellbeing promotion are still important, these may not be enough to prevent online harm.

We also need to recognise the role personality plays.

What can we do?

Our findings also suggest we may be able to take more pre-emptive action against cyberbullying.

If schools can identify young people showing persistent callous or manipulative traits, early social-emotional support could reduce risk before harmful patterns take hold.

Just as we teach physical safety online, we should also teach psychological safety, helping young people understand empathy, recognise the impact of their actions, and build healthier relationships.

Young people at risk could be identified through school wellbeing or pastoral-care programs that monitor persistent traits like callousness. Schools could also make use of teacher or counsellor observations supported by validated personality checklists.

At the same time, we do not want to unhelpfully label some teens as “bad”. Instead, we emphasise the need for early intervention that addresses social and emotional development.

Why claims of ‘transformational’ school reading improvement are premature

2025-10-20T02:10:48Z

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The government has made some bold claims for its school reading policies – including that early results have been “transformational”. But we should be careful about rushing to judgement this early.

Following the release of a Ministry of Education report on phonics checks over the first three terms of this school year, Education Minister Erica Stanford said the results showed “a significant boost in reading success” and that “in less than a year we are reversing the decades of decline in student achievement”.

The claims are based on results from an assessment of children’s ability to decode a series of real and made-up (pseudo) words that look and sound like words but aren’t (“blork”, for example). According to the report, the results “show significant increases in student achievement”.

To understand what the data is really telling us, however, we first need to take a step back and consider whether the ability to read individual words (or pseudo words) can be considered “reading” at all.

The ‘simple view of reading’

This question is particularly significant, as it is connected to the rationale for implementing structured approaches to literacy, based on what is known as the “simple view of reading”.

The “simple view” argues that reading is a combination of decoding and language comprehension. It argues that if children are taught to lift words off the page, and they have good oral language skills, they will be able to understand and read well with practice.

The simple view of reading has itself been accused of being too simple. And we know large amounts of the variation in reading ability are not explained by the model. Yet it is still supported by those who favour the kinds of structured literacy approaches now being mandated in New Zealand schools.

Also, it has been shown that the parts of the brain that are active when people are reading individual (often pseudo) words are different to those parts activated by meaningful reading (such as an interesting story).

So, when looking at the phonics check data it would be a mistake to equate increased achievement in that specific measurement with increased achievement in actual reading.

In fact, a study in the United Kingdom showed greatly increased achievement on a similar phonics test did not result in significant improvements in later reading ability.

This is not to question the importance of decoding ability as a necessary skill for reading. But it should not be equated with reading itself. While we can celebrate an improvement in phonics results if there is one, we should be careful not to overreach when discussing its significance.

Inconclusive data

The minister highlighted the number of schools and thousands of children included in the data, and how representative of the population they are.

However, closer analysis of the report shows these are mostly not the same children; they are different children from different schools at each time point. This makes extrapolating evidence of progress difficult.

Within the thousands of children measured, there are only 516 for whom we have data at both the six-month and one-year points of their progress. We also don’t know their cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

We can look at the results of those children to consider change over time and whether progress is being made. But we are limited in how much we can say generally with such a small sample.

With those caveats, then, the data actually show that after six months of schooling there were 21.7% of children “exceeding expectations”. After one year this had fallen to 16.7%.

There were more children considered “proficient” in reading pseudo words after a year (22.7% compared with 18.6% after six months). But many of them had been exceeding expectations six months earlier.

The number of children meeting or exceeding expectations went from 40.3% after six months to 39.4% after one year. While this looks like a slight drop, we can’t really say that because of the small sample. We can say there was no real change.

After one year there are fewer “needing support”, which is good news. Again, with such a small sample of children from unknown backgrounds, that provides reason for cautious optimism at best.

There is also quite a bit of movement between the bands, both up and down, and not all students saw accelerated achievement in decoding ability. For the 516 children for whom we have clear data, “transformational” is perhaps not the right word.

John Milne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

A government review wants schools to respond to bullying complaints within 2 days. Is this fair? What else do we need?

2025-10-19T05:25:56Z

Over the weekend, the federal government released its rapid review into school bullying.

Authored by clinical psychologist Charlotte Keating and suicide prevention expert Jo Robinson, the review received more than 1,700 submissions from parents, students, teachers and school staff. The majority were from parents.

Amid ongoing community concerns about the devastating impacts of bullying, what does the review get right? Where are the weak spots?

And is a call for schools to respond to a complaint of bullying in two days reasonable?

What did the review find?

The review acknowledges bullying is not a single issue with a single fix. Bullying sits on a continuum of harmful behaviours that cuts across wellbeing, behaviour, attendance, engagement and family functioning.

It also notes students are not the only ones who bully. Sometimes staff and parents are the perpetrators.

The review calls for school cultures that prioritise empathy and kindness – two of the key priorities in our current national education declaration.

The review recommends clear policies and procedures around bullying, simple reporting pathways, and more training for teachers to help them manage their classrooms and deal with bullying.

Is it reasonable for schools to act within 2 days?

Many caregivers during the review said they felt nothing happened after reporting concerns to their child’s school. The first casualty of many bullying incidents is the relationship and trust between families and the school.

One of the most prominent recommendations is schools should respond within two school days to a complaint or incidence of bullying.

This requires schools to show they have provided immediate safety measures and started an unbiased investigation. It recognises more complex cases may take longer to resolve, but this initial action is essential.

Setting a predictable two-day clock signals harmful behaviour will be taken seriously and the school will keep people informed as the process unfolds. This is realistic for schools – noting complex cases will take longer to properly resolve.

As the review noted, schools that already do this well have a simple reporting pathway and communication templates. Time is provided for staff to see students outside of class and there are clear escalation routes if concerns are not resolved. There is visible early action so students feel protected and families know what will happen next.

What does the review get right?

The review is grounded in research evidence. It acknowledges the multifaceted nature of bullying, puts respectful relationships at the centre, and treats bullying as a whole school community issue. This is what current research suggests is the best way to approach this damaging issue.

It also calls for visible leadership and early action from the school, so trust does not erode while families wait for updates. It backs practical approaches to enable students to support peers and report concerns if they see something wrong.

Importantly, it allows schools to tailor how they work. This is especially important in rural and remote areas where staffing, services and community relationships differ.

Are there risks or weak spots?

There is a risk of a “policy pile-on”. Schools are already dealing with a crowded landscape of bullying guidelines and programs. Adding more without pruning or aligning could create confusion and unnecessary extra work for schools, who are already stretched and short on time.

The review notes how data collection could help research and further responses to bullying. But more work is needed here. Tracking and reporting only work if there are shared definitions, data collection infrastructures and clear privacy rules.

Meanwhile, the digital landscape is moving at a rapid pace. Schools also need more guidance on image-based abuse and deepfakes.

What’s missing?

We did not hear much about how bullying prevention interacts with existing approaches to students’ wellbeing, behaviour and attendance.

The review could have said more about the tensions between keeping students safe and making sure all students have access to education. Restorative justice approaches within schools, if done well, can help young people understand the impact of their actions.

Families of bullying victims may want to see a perpetrator “expelled” or “suspended”. But research shows this is a damaging approach.

More is needed to spell out what should happen when a matter moves beyond the classroom to school leadership and when it involves external agencies, such as police.

$10 million isn’t much

The government has announced A$10 million for a national awareness campaign and new resources for teachers, students and parents.

But awareness alone is not enough. Schools need time, coaching and systems that support teachers and professional staff to do the work. So the $10 million is a limited beginning.

More commitment is needed to encourage states and other school sectors to increase funding for dedicated wellbeing roles within schools, data capability, coaching and time for teachers, so any new expectations become routine.

Ultimately, the states and territories are responsible for schools, so let’s hope the joint commitment to address bullying – expressed by all education ministers on Friday – remains central to their planning and funding decisions.

9 ways to help your brain and boost your memory during exam season

2025-10-16T19:09:25Z

Tatsiana Volkova/Getty Images

It’s exam season in Australia. Year 12 students are sitting final exams, while university and younger school students also face end-of-year assessments.

No doubt, students will be spending time memorising notes and revising past lessons.

But memory during exams isn’t just related to how much you study, it’s also about how your brain functions under pressure.

So it’s important students spend this revision time effectively. Neuroscience offers practical strategies to build memory resilience and improve performance under pressure.

We now understand more than ever how stress, sleep, emotion and attention shape the way students learn and remember.

Why exams can hijack memory

Memory is a complex network that involves several brain areas, including:

the hippocampus, for long-term memory
the prefrontal cortex, for working memory or the temporary storage used to solve problems and make decisions
the amygdala, which processes emotion.

During exams, students rely heavily on working memory to hold and manipulate information, and on long-term memory to retrieve facts and concepts.

But stress activates the “hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis”, flooding the brain with the stress hormone cortisol.

While short bursts of stress can sharpen focus, chronic or acute stress impairs the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. This makes it harder to recall information and think clearly.

This is why students can “blank” during high-pressure moments such as exams.

What not to do (the ‘memory killers’)

Several common habits during exam season can sabotage memory. So try to avoid:

cramming: while it may feel productive, cramming relies on short-term memory and undermines long-term retention.
sleep deprivation: sleep is essential for memory consolidation. Without it, the brain struggles to transfer new learning into long-term storage.
multitasking and distraction: the brain’s working memory can only hold a small amount of information at any given time. Trying to juggle too many tasks – especially with phones or social media – is a recipe for forgetting. So keep your phone away from you when you’re studying.
high anxiety: emotional stress consumes brain resources, reducing working memory capacity. This can lead to poor recall and decision-making during exams.

What to do (the ‘memory boosters’)

Neuroscience-backed strategies can help students protect and enhance their memory during exam season. Try to include:

spaced repetition: this involves reviewing the same material repeatedly over time. This strengthens memory networks and is far more effective than last-minute cramming. If you can, aim for learning sessions at least one day apart, across at least a week. But more time is always better.
retrieval: test yourself – can you remember what you’ve been learning? This boosts recall and builds durable memory.
mindfulness and physical activity: both of these can reduce stress hormones and improve your brain function. Researchers have shown mindfulness exercises can reduce stress and mental wellbeing in university students. Research also suggests you should aim for 30 minutes of exercise about four hours after you do your learning. Exercise is thought to release brain chemicals that promote “plasticity”, the process by which neurons change and strengthen their connections to create memories.
sleep: aim for 7–9 hours of sleep per night to help your brain consolidate your learning.
eat well: your diet can also support brain health and overall mental and physical wellbeing. Omega-3s, antioxidants and hydration all play a role in memory performance. So drink lots of water and ensure a healthy balanced diet.

Matthew Mundy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Why do kids want to talk about bums and poos all the time?

2025-10-15T02:09:14Z

Catherine Falls Commercial / Getty Images

If you spend time around little kids, you may notice one topic seems to be more interesting and hilarious than any other.

Children of all ages love to make comments and jokes about bums and poos (as the many popular books on the topic show).

Why do kids love “toilet talk” so much? And is it a problem?

What does Freud say?

One explanation lies in developmental psychology and Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychosexual development. He described five stages of psychosexual development, and argued the way a child progresses through these stages helps to shape their personality over time.

According to Freud, usually between about one and four years, children go through the “anal stage” where there is a focus on controlling bowel movements for toilet training. Freud has much to say about this stage, including the child’s struggle to resolve the conflict to either hold onto the poo or let it out, which is influenced by how parents manage toilet training.

While Freud’s work has been the subject of much debate over many years, he reminds us that, as children learn this new skill of control, their interest in all things poo and bums can increase.

It’s a fascinating business

This time also coincides with children’s increasing awareness of their different body parts and how they work.

New bodily experiences can be fascinating, and with new language skills, there can be much joy in talking about them, over and over again.

Isn’t it funny, for example, to see how your body makes different noises when it is full or bloated?

Farting, while universal, is also socially taboo. It is also this psychological tension that makes it a source of laughter as children are learning what is socially acceptable and what is not.

It gets a reaction

Research also suggests primary school-aged children like to be provocative about these topics – seeing what sort of a reaction they get when they joke about bums and poo.

Parents of primary school kids will no doubt agree.

Kids can find these jokes hysterical, and work out that if they continue, they will often make others laugh too. How funny is it when mum or dad are trying to be serious but then break into giggles?

This in and of itself is reinforcing, and can also provide important moments of family connection, bonding and health.

Funny poo talk can provide opportunities for parents to talk with children about the importance of good food choices and gut health (to help, you could try reading There’s a Zoo in My Poo by Felice Jacka and Rob Craw.)

True, sometimes (even a lot of times) children might push the boundary too far. This is when some gentle reminders are needed about what is okay for the room as well as modelling appropriate chit chat.

For example, “we don’t talk about poo while we’re eating” or “we don’t make fart jokes in front of people we just met.”

Children might also need gentle reminding that they don’t use these words to put down other people, such as “you are a bumhead” or “poo face”.

What can parents do?

It’s important for parents to use correct terminology for body parts and bodily functions.

Taking a matter-of-fact approach shows kids this is just a normal, natural part of life. For example, “when you poo it is your body’s way of getting rid of all the things that it does not need – it is really healthy to poo every day”.

It also helps prepare children for transition out of this phase of fascination with bums, usually around the age of eight.

This approach can also be helpful if your child experiences constipation or has problems with soiling. Parents need to be able to talk openly and honestly about poo, and what worries the child might have that could be affecting their bowel movements.

Parents also need to show confidence and comfort in talking about these topics as they are a precursor for other topics, such as puberty and sex.

What is most important is parents and other trusted adults provide a space for children to feel comfortable with their bodies and talk about anything they might not understand.

And, of course, to have the opportunity to learn when bums and poo talk works for a laugh, and when it might need to be left in the toilet!

Catherine E. Wood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Year 12 are about to start their final exams. Here’s how to keep calm and stay positive

2025-10-12T19:14:10Z

Klaus Vedfelt/ Getty Images

Thousands of Year 12 students across Australia are getting ready to sit their final exams.

Students may be feeling a lot of things right now – from heightened pressure to excitement it will all be over soon. Families may be seeking strategies to help their young people to feel confident and stay calm.

Here are some research-backed strategies to help.

Reframe the narrative

Students, schools and the media often talk about Year 12 exams as the culmination of schooling. This may not be helpful to everyone, as not everyone will receive the results they want.

Stress tends to increase throughout the final year of school.

Although a moderate level of stress is normal, and some pressure may even be useful, too much worry about exams can affect performance and overall wellbeing.

Remember, one exam is not the whole story of your ATAR or your future.

It is healthier to think about the bigger picture. Education isn’t just about exams. They are one part of a bigger journey that includes the relationships you’ve formed with peers and teachers, all the things you learned and all the experiences you’ve had.

Students have already achieved a great deal in 13 years of school – regardless of what happens in their exams or ATAR.

What is ‘success’?

In our 2021 study, colleagues and I looked at how different ideas of “success” relate to young people’s wellbeing.

A review of existing studies suggests teenagers who focus on their connections to others and their personal growth may have greater wellbeing than those who focus on “extrinsic” goals or external approval.

Families can help students by emphasising the importance of life beyond the classroom.

You’ve got options!

Keep in mind, your future does not hinge on this result.

There are more alternative pathways into university or further study than ever before. This can include going to TAFE or non-ATAR entry schemes for university.

Reminding yourself – or your child – about these options may help to reduce stress.

Have a clear plan for your exams

As you near the end of your study revision period, think about your plan for certain exams.

You will likely already have done practice exams and revision questions, so you know what format to expect.

Remind yourself when you get into the exam room to take your time to read the instructions carefully and be aware of sections where there is a choice. Pay attention to the weighting of questions as this can help you to plan the time well.

And remind yourself to stop and understand the “command terms”. These are words that tell you what to do in a question, like “analyse”, “compare” or “discuss”.

What if something goes wrong?

You may come out of an exam feeling like you didn’t do your best or something didn’t go to plan. This is very common!

So having a strategy to manage when things do not go well can be important –especially when the setbacks happen early in the exam schedule.

Research tells us planning and persistence are key components of “academic buoyancy”, or students’ resilience in the face of a setback.

This means you should revisit your plan for the next exam, whether it is tomorrow or next week. Plan your timing and approach. Look at any feedback you received on the practice exams, or advice you have received from teachers. Feeling prepared for the next exam will increase your confidence.

Remember, resilience is not just an individual trait: it comes from relationships and contexts too.

You don’t have to handle setbacks alone. In fact, it’s better if you ask for help.

Talking with a trusted friend, teacher, family member or counsellor can put things into perspective or help reframe your approach for the next exam.

Keep some balance in your life

In among your revision and preparation, don’t forget to look after your health.

Get plenty of sleep, eat well, take breaks and spend time in nature – these will all help you maintain focus and wellbeing.

Steven Lewis receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Kylie Trask-Kerr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

We tracked 72,000 NSW public school students over a decade and found 19% had been suspended or expelled

2025-10-09T04:10:52Z

Moore Media/ Getty Images

Suspending or expelling a student is the most serious disciplinary measure available to schools.

Research tells us it can have a negative impact on a students’ learning, their connection to school and mental health.

Students who have been suspended are also more likely to go on to have contact with the criminal justice system due to lack of adult supervision, association with older antisocial peers, and negative impacts on essential skills like reading.

This is why student discipline policies and procedures say they should only be used as a last resort.

But how are schools using these measures?

In a new study, we tracked New South Wales public school students over a decade. We found many students were repeatedly suspended. We also found disadvantaged students were more likely to be suspended or expelled.

Our research

Our research used data from the NSW Child Development Study to track suspensions and expulsions among a group of almost 72,000 students who attended public schools in New South Wales. This represented almost one fifth of all Australian school students at the time.

It provides the first, large-scale analysis of suspension and expulsion data over a ten year period, following the same students from Year 3 to Year 12, from 2012 to 2021.

Almost 1 in 5 students were suspended during their school career

According to the NSW Department of Education, about 4% of students in the state’s public schools are suspended or expelled in any calendar year.

But these figures understate the true scale of the practice, because they do not capture the accumulation of suspensions and expulsions by the same students over more than one year.

Instead of looking at exclusions in a single year, we studied students over ten years. This showed 19% of the 72,000 students in our group were suspended or expelled at least once between Year 3 and Year 12.

In most cases, students were suspended. Less than 1% were expelled.

As noted in other Australian research, the use of suspensions/expulsions escalates in junior high school (Years 7-10). Our data also shows this pattern, with more than two-thirds (71%) of suspensions/expulsions happening during these pivotal years of school.

Why are students suspended or expelled?

Most suspensions were given for “aggressive behaviour” (52%) and “continued disobedience” (31%).

More serious categories, like “physical violence” and “persistent and serious misbehaviour” accounted for 10% and 12% of suspensions/expulsions respectively.

Illegal behaviours (involving things like weapons and drugs) contributed less than 5% of suspensions/expulsions.

Things build over time

About 40% of students who were suspended received just one suspension. But about 60% of students were suspended or expelled multiple times.

As shown in the chart below, almost half (45%) of all suspensions/expulsions went to just 13% of students who were suspended/expelled nine times or more. The highest number of suspensions/expulsions among these individuals was 54.

The earlier students were suspended/expelled, the more likely they were to be suspended/expelled again.

One in two students (54%) who were first suspended/expelled during primary school had repeat suspensions/expulsions. Only two in five students (40%) first suspended/expelled during high school had repeat suspensions/expulsions.

Children disappear from the system

A sharp drop in suspensions of students in Years 11 and 12 has been noted in previous research.

However, our research suggests there is a relationship between being suspended/expelled and leaving school early.

As shown in the chart below, by Year 12, almost half (48%) of the students who had received at least one suspension in the previous ten years were no longer enrolled in a NSW public school.

Which students are being suspended the most?

Our research shows students who are already disadvantaged are more likely to be suspended from school.

Students living in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, students with unemployed parents, those living in regional, remote, and very remote areas, were all significantly over-represented in the data.

These effects became more pronounced as the number of repeat suspensions rose. For example, children of unemployed parents were almost three times as likely as their peers to experience a single suspension/expulsion, but around ten times as likely to experience 16 or more suspensions or expulsions.

Boys were also much more likely to be suspended/expelled than girls. They were about twice as likely as girls to be suspended/expelled once, but around ten times as likely to be suspended/expelled 16 times or more.

In our previous study in this sample, we found other vulnerable students, such as those with emotional and behavioural disability or maltreated children, are also overrepresented in the data.

What does this mean?

Our findings suggest there are two different issues at play.

First, schools are turning to the “last resort” of suspending or expelling students for behaviours that can and should be managed within the school using tried and tested approaches that aim to educate a student, rather than punish or push them out.

The problem with turning to the last resort too early is students become desensitised to being suspended and schools have nothing left in the toolkit when behaviours escalate. This pattern becomes clear when children are followed over time.

Some students need more support

The second issue is some students need far more intensive academic, emotional, and behavioural support. These students are concentrated in schools serving disadvantaged communities.

System-wide improvements in behaviour management will help address low-level behaviours. But this will not help some students with disability or those who have experienced trauma who may require intensive support and educational adjustments. This is particularly so if these students are concentrated in certain schools or areas.

Here, we can learn from public school systems in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, where a comprehensive approach to supporting students’ academic, social-emotional and behavioural development has been introduced. School suspensions have been reduced and school safety, student engagement and achievement have increased.

The NSW student behaviour policy on suspensions and expulsions was revised in 2024 to place some limitations on the use of suspension and expulsion in public schools. Further research will be needed to examine the effect of that change.

However, school suspension and expulsion rates like those identified by this study are an indication some schools need more help to support the students in their local communities.

Kristin R. Laurens received funding for this research from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and the Medical Research Future Fund.

Lauren M. Piltz receives funding from the Australian government Research Training Programme Stipend scholarship, administered by the Queensland University of Technology.

Linda J. Graham receives funding from the Queensland government's Education Horizon scheme.

‘I was 170th on their list’. What are the health impacts for families who can’t access daycare?

2025-10-08T19:10:00Z

Thomas Barwick/ Getty Images

Imagine living in a town where three or more families are competing for a single early learning place. This is the reality for many families in regional, rural and remote Australia. Experts call these areas “childcare deserts”.

A 2024 study found about 24% of Australians live in a childcare desert. This rises to 43% of those in regional areas and more than 80% in remote areas.

When we talk about access to early education, we often – understandably – focus on its beneficial impact on children’s development. But what about the impact on families with young children? And, in particular, parents’ health?

In our new research, we found a lack of access to early education can also touch many parts of family health and wellbeing.

Our research

Our research uses data from a previous study designed by parent advocacy group, The Parenthood.

In 2022 and 2023, The Parenthood spoke to 155 parents in childcare deserts to understand their experiences. Participants came from all around the country, with the majority from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

In our study, we re-analysed this data, with a focus on the World Health Organization’s “determinants of health”. These are different factors that shape our health – and include where we live, gender, our income and education level, and our relationships with friends and family.

We used The Parenthood’s data as it was a rich source of parents’ stories. And we used the determinants of health as a comprehensive way to understand families’ health and wellbeing.

Income and social status

As the WHO explains, higher income and social status are linked to better health outcomes.

In our study, parents described how their income and sense of self were impacted when they struggled to pay early education fees, or find work to suit the available early education days.

Some had to “choose between paying the car repayments, rent, food or childcare” if they worked in low paying jobs. Others talked of the challenges of finding “any work based on our limited days in care”, meaning they couldn’t progress in their careers.

Many spoke of the grief of giving up careers they had spent time and money training for, knowing the community needed their essential work skills. This affected their identity, with one stating they felt “subjugated and valueless”.

Many parents spoke of chronic stress of not being able to access an early learning place. As one parent noted:

This has had a direct and long-lasting impact on my work, our family budget and […] my mental health.

Another explained:

One daycare [said] I was 170th on their list […] This added pressure [after] my rough postpartum ride.

Education

As the WHO notes, low education levels are linked with poor health, more stress and lower self-confidence.

Our study found education for both parents and children were affected if they didn’t have access to early education.

Parents said they couldn’t attend “additional days” or “mandatory training” at work. Others said trying to study and completing large practical placement hours were “enormously challenging” or said studying was impossible. One parent reported even getting an hour’s break from caring to attend driving lessons was difficult.

Others spoke about how a lack of access to early education – and interacting with educators and other children – had an impact on their children’s development of critical skills such as speech. This also impacted their transition to school.

Social support networks

Greater support from families, friends and communities is also linked to better health outcomes. But if parents had to be home with children all the time, our study showed they missed out on the social and psychological benefits of work.

If they did manage to get back to work even for a day, they noted it provided positives, such as “space, clarity, purpose and, maybe most importantly, adult social interaction”.

Another acknowledged:

To get back into the workforce would be good for my social and emotional wellbeing.

Gender gaps

We know health can be impacted by gender issues, such as women’s financial dependence on men and power imbalances in relationships.

The gendered impact of childcare deserts was also obvious in the study – as many women were the primary carers. They talked about being left at home with a youngest child while the older (less needy) child accompanied their father on the farm. One woman explained:

I had to cease my career and become the primary carer. [That] affected me […] personally and professionally.

The differences in income between women and men were stark. As one woman noted:

My husband [is] the main financial provider for our home.

Another shared:

[I’m] more dependent on my partner than I would like.

What now?

Our study shows how the health of parents and children is at risk without access to early learning. In childcare deserts, families miss out on many supports.

As governments seek to expand access to services, these gaps in quality early education should be recognised and addressed.

As one parent noted, a lack of access to early education “costs” low-income families, women and children’s learning and development. “It perpetuates privilege” – privilege associated with where you live, the type and hours of the work you do and your gender.

The authors acknowledge the work of Maddy Butler for collecting the data, and co-investigator, Navjot Bhullar from the University of Canberra.

Marg Rogers receives funding from the Commonwealth Government for a Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Manna Institute.

Michelle Gossner receives funding from the Australian Rotary Health/Rotary District 9640 PhD Scholarship.

Margaret Sims does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Australian teachers are some of the highest users of AI in classrooms around the world – new survey

2025-10-07T06:00:17Z

Klaus Vedfelt/ Getty Images

Australian teachers are more likely to be using artificial intelligence than their counterparts around the world, according to a new international survey.

The OECD’s latest Teaching and Learning International Survey also shows Australian teachers are reporting high levels of stress and not enough training to manage student behaviour.

What is this survey? And what else does it tell us about Australian teachers?

What is the survey?

The Teaching and Learning Survey (also known as “TALIS”) is a large-scale survey of 280,000 teachers in 55 education systems around the world, including Australia.

Most of the teachers surveyed came from primary schools and lower secondary schools (typically up to Year 10 in Australia).

This is the fourth round of TALIS since it began in 2008 and the first since 2018.

Use of AI

Amid ongoing debate about the use of AI in education, many Australian teachers report they are using this emerging technology in their work.

About two thirds (66%) of lower secondary teachers reported using AI in the past year. This puts Australia as the fourth highest country within the OECD, and far above the OECD average of 36%.

Of Australian teachers who used AI, the most common purposes were brainstorming lesson plans and learning about and summarising content. This was happening for 71% of Australian teachers who used AI.

Australian teachers were unlikely to use AI to review data on student performance (9% of those who use AI, compared to 28% across the OECD) and to assess student work (15%, compared to 30% across the OECD).

These results suggest many Australian teachers are using AI to improve their approach to teaching. But their hesitancy to use it in certain situations suggests there is awareness of concerns around privacy (if student data is uploaded to large language models) and the need to keep using professional judgement (such as when assessing work).

Teacher stress

In Australia, these survey results also arrive at a time of continued concerns about teacher shortages, burnout and dissatisfaction.

Results show a marked increase in reported stress among Australian teachers, who reported the third highest levels of stress among all OECD countries, up from a ranking of 15th in 2018.

Among lower secondary teachers, Australia ranked highest among all countries where teachers reported experiencing stress frequently at work (34% in Australia compared to 19% across the OECD).

The top sources of stress were “too much administrative work,” “too much marking,” and “keeping up with curriculum changes”.

These results support research showing a drastic decrease in Australian teachers’ professional satisfaction since 2015, particularly in the first ten years of their careers.

Teacher education

In recent years, Australian policy makers have increasingly focused on teacher education programs – the university degrees that train teachers for the classroom. Following a 2023 report, teacher education programs are required to include topics such the brain and learning, teaching methods and classroom management.

Australian teachers in the TALIS survey appeared, on the whole, happy with their university education. Some 70% of respondents indicated that overall the quality of their teacher education was high, on par with 75% of teachers across the OECD.

While Australian teachers say their training provided sufficient curriculum knowledge, they were less positive about preparation for managing classroom behaviour.

According to my analysis of the survey data, approximately 50% of Australian teachers were positive about their behaviour training, compared to 63% across the OECD. This matches media reports of teachers struggling with poor student behaviour in their classrooms.

What now?

This survey provides high-quality data to understand our education system at a time of rapid change.

It suggests Australian teachers are global leaders in their use of AI. However, much work needs to be done to improve teachers’ wellbeing at work.

Sustaining the teaching profession and the quality of teachers’ work is a key national priority, more careful analysis of these results can help guide this work.

Robin Shields does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Our study followed Indigenous children for 15 years to understand what helps them thrive

2025-10-06T19:04:47Z

Our new report follows the lives of around 1,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the largest study of its kind. We wanted to understand what helps them thrive as they grow up.

For more than 15 years, the Footprints in Time study has looked at the experiences of Indigenous children growing up from early childhood. We are now able to track what this means for them later in life.

This provides powerful evidence that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are growing up strong and resilient in many aspects of life. Yet it also highlights systemic barriers that could hold them back.

Our study

Since 2008, Indigenous children, families and teachers have shared their stories and experiences each year as part of the Footprints in Time study. The information used in the latest report was collected between 2008 and 2021.

This study follows the development Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families living in cities, regional towns and remote communities across Australia. It seeks to identify what helps Indigenous children thrive.

The importance of culture

One of the clearest messages from the report is the centrality of culture to wellbeing.

By the time they reached school, three in four children (76%) had attended an Indigenous cultural event, about (54%) had learned arts such as painting or dance, and about half (51%) had engaged in practices like fishing or hunting.

Children who took part in these cultural activities consistently showed stronger social and emotional wellbeing than those who hadn’t. This included having a positive outlook, healthy body, strong relationships, higher confidence and greater resilience as they moved through school.

Opportunities to learn an Indigenous language

The report shows the opportunity to speak and learn an Indigenous language during early childhood and the first years of school, helps children have stronger social-emotional wellbeing. This includes stronger connections to identity and belonging into their teenage years.

In very remote areas, more than 70% of children spoke an Indigenous language, while fewer than 10% of children in cities did so.

In cities and regional centres, where cultural opportunities are fewer, parents and communities were worried children were missing out on these protective factors. So the issue is not whether children value culture, but whether systems make space for it.

The crucial role of families

Families and parents play an equally crucial role.

When parents reported high levels of wellbeing and resilience, their children were more likely to achieve in literacy and numeracy, to enjoy better health, and to experience fewer difficulties as teenagers.

Early cultural experiences, like connection to Country and speaking an Indigenous language, were also linked with stronger social and emotional wellbeing as children grow into middle childhood and adolescence.

So investing in families through financial support, cultural support, community services, and accessible health care is ultimately an investment in children’s futures.

A growing digital divide

The report also highlights one of the most pressing issues facing Indigenous young people today: digital inequality.

When asked in 2011 and 2013, only 37% of children in the study were using the internet at home. In major cities, just over half (56%) had access, but in very remote areas, only 8% had access.

Children who had internet access early in life went on to show stronger reading comprehension, better problem-solving skills, and more confidence with technology in adolescence. They were also more likely to use digital tools safely and effectively.

This matters because digital access was closely tied to income and education. Children from higher income households, or where parents had completed Year 12, were far more likely to be online. Those who stood to benefit most from digital learning opportunities were often the least likely to have access.

Early experiences set the stage

The findings show us how what happens before school has lasting impacts.

Children who attended preschool or playgroup, or whose parents engaged in early learning at home, had stronger vocabularies and self control when they started school.

When we looked at children who identified with their Mob (or Mobs) before starting school, compared to those who didn’t, we found they were more likely to have:

stronger social and emotional wellbeing during both middle childhood and adolescence
stronger connection to culture, Country, Ancestors and spirit as they grew into middle childhood and adolescence.

These children also consistently achieved higher literacy and numeracy results in Year 5, stayed more engaged in learning during adolescence, and demonstrated stronger planning and memory skills in later years.

This confirms what many parents and educators already know, investment in the early years pays off, not just in academic results but in confidence, resilience and wellbeing.

Listening to children

Perhaps the most moving part of the report is what children themselves say about “growing up strong”. This includes a series of poems about growing up strong as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young person, developed using direct quotes from parents and young people.

Being healthy and making good decisions.

Respect my Elders and culture.

Being resilient and persistent. Getting better at something.

You have learnt how to be a good person and be safe. Strong and brave

Children understand that kindness, persistence and cultural respect are the foundations of a good life. Our challenge is to ensure systems and structures reflect and support this wisdom.

Why this matters

Our report is not just about statistics. It shows what families, communities, and children are already doing to build strong futures.

It also shows where governments and education systems must do more, embedding culture and language in early learning, tackling racism in schools, supporting families, resourcing communities and bridging the digital divide.

Jessa Rogers receives funding from the Australian Research Council as a DECRA Fellow. She is the Managing Director of Baayi Consulting. The Early Childhood Report for Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) was produced with research funding provided by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

Kristin R. Laurens has received funding from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, and Medical Research Future Fund. The Early Childhood Report for Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) was produced with research funding provided by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

More and more Australian families are homeschooling. How can we make sure they do it well?

2025-10-05T19:17:49Z

Maskot/Getty Images

Across Australia, more families are choosing to homeschool.

According to NSW figures released late last month, homeschooling registrations in the state more than doubled between 2019 and 2024, from 5,907 to 12,762.

What is fuelling this growth and how do we support families to do it well?

How many people homeschool?

There are around 45,000 young people enrolled in homeschooling around the country. This compares to around 4.1 million school students around Australia in 2024.

The biggest growth has been in Queensland. As of August 2025 11,800 students were registered for homeschooling in Queensland. From 2021 to 2025, registrations in primary year levels grew by 110%. They grew by 167% in secondary year levels.

In Victoria, there are about 11,240 homeschoolers in 7,716 households a roughly 7% increase on 2023 numbers. As of 2023, there were around 6,500 homeschoolers in Western Australia, up from 3,720 prior to the pandemic.

Why are people homeschooling?

Academic research and media interviews with parents suggest there are several reasons a family might choose to homeschool a child.

This includes bullying, school refusal and neurodivergence.

While numbers were growing before the pandemic, COVID provided a boost. Some families found their child was happier at home. They also reported finding the flexibility better suited their child, so returning to school didn’t appeal to them.

Significantly, the majority of families who choose it today did not want to homeschool before they felt it essential. Some parents report their child is receiving a better education and is much more comfortable learning at home.

How do families do it?

There are a variety of ways to homeschool.

Some families choose a highly structured “school at home” approach, which is the stereotypical whiteboard and textbook learning at the kitchen table.

Other families “unschool”, which is child-led, interest-based learning through living. The day might include cooking, gardening and going to a park to see friends. Or a day of volunteering at a wildlife park. Or, it might mean a trip to the museum and creating a video about Ancient Egypt.

Factors such as parents’ education, income, and belief in structure all influence the choice of approach.

But in the most structured of households, families report following the child’s interests as much as possible. They also tend to focus on social and emotional needs as much as academic work.

It is estimated teachers make up around 20% of the homeschooling population. But differences between homeschooling and school mean teaching skills are not necessary to homeschool. Parents focus on children’s interests, learning needs and goals to guide their approaches.

Homeschooling and the curriculum

Homeschoolers do have to meet learning goals from the Australian Curriculum in subjects such as maths, English, science and humanities.

But they do not have to follow a curriculum like students in the mainstream system. This is because the curriculum is designed to be implemented in schools and teach large groups of young people – homeschooling is more individualised.

Some families use the curriculum to guide their homeschooling approach, and may report against the levels in the curriculum to state authorities.

What about progress and development?

International large-scale, survey studies suggest homeschoolers do not suffer social issues compared to matched mainstream-educated peers.

Studies – such as this 2022 US paper also suggest they seem to do just as well overall academically as their peers at school, although they tend to perform less well in maths.

While this paper found methodological problems with current homeschooling studies, they also argue there is no evidence there are academic or social problems for the homeschooled cohort.

Other US Research shows homeschooled children are accepted into university and graduate at similar rates to mainstream students.

Families face some challenges

Homeschooling is not without its challenges. Mothers often quit work, or drop work hours, to manage the homeschooling.

Another issue is regulation. Some homeschoolers say managing the reporting requirements is daunting and stressful.

Reporting requirements vary with the state and territory. For example, in Queensland, families have to complete a report every 12 months showing progress in a high quality education. In New South Wales, education authorities make home visits where parents discuss their plans and activities.

Where a young person has neurodivergence, additional learning needs, or distress due to school experiences, reporting can be harder because families may struggle to show progress.

Our research shows bureaucrats may not understand the differences between homeschooling and mainstream school, nor recognise the depth of learning in homeschooling. Homeschoolers see the child as the most important part of the education process, whereas regulators tend to be more focused on curriculum.

Regulation has an impact

In previous research, we argued co-designing regulation with parents is better. It reflects the differences between school and homeschooling and the experiences of homeschooling families.

A September 2025 audit office report also showed current regulations are not working in New South Wales.

It found the system is unable to cope with the numbers of families moving from mainstream to homeschooling. The report states the wait time for registration is more than ten weeks (about one school term). Students are not allowed to leave school until this is complete, which can be distressing.

Other states have more effective approaches. For example, Tasmania and Queensland involve parents in homeschooling regulation which has been shown to improve compliance with registration.

Sometimes learning at home – either with family member or online through a school – is a better fit for a young person.

The challenge is to ensure policy, regulation and support catch up to families’ needs.

Chris Krogh was previously a member of the NSW Education Standards Authority Home Schooling Consultative Group.

David Roy was previously a member of the NSW Education Standards Authority Home Schooling Consultative Group (2016-2022).

Rebecca English does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

We teach kids to look after their bodies – here’s how to do the same for a healthy mind

2025-10-01T18:38:17Z

Jonas Mohamadi/ Pexels

Young people today are growing up in an increasingly complex world — and arguably suffering as a result.

Social media and smartphones provide constant distractions, while the rise of AI and misinformation mean nothing online is straightforward.

The pandemic has shown young people the world can be an unpredictable place, the housing crisis makes it hard to make a stable home, while climate change hangs over their future.

It’s no wonder the wellbeing and mental health of young adults has deteriorated across the globe.

Parents and educators teach kids to eat well, stay active, and look after their bodies from when they are little. But what about helping them maintain a healthy mind?

Start early

Prevention is key. Just as early eating habits often carry through to adulthood, we can set the stage for good mental health from birth.

Our brains are more “plastic” early in life, meaning they adapt to the world around them. As a result, childhood experiences shape the mind’s architecture for decades to come.

Stress and trauma can make our brains more vulnerable to poor mental health. But equally, positive early experiences are linked to adulthood wellbeing and cognitive health.

How can we approach mental health prevention for kids? Positive psychology – or the study of wellbeing – offers some clues. Here are three.

1. Prioritise real life relationships

Humans are social creatures and loneliness — which affects many young people — is a key risk factor for poor mental health.

When we connect in-person we “synchronise”. This means people’s behaviour and brains come into harmony, helping them to feel connected and treat each other well.

Interacting online disrupts this synchronisation.

So we need to help young people build good quality relationships in real life.

One of the keys to building good relationships is making time for them. This includes prioritising in-person activities that you enjoy doing together. For example, playing games or sports, taking a walk, or making a meal together.

2. Learn how to overcome challenges

Research also suggests “mastery” is important. This is the sense that we can learn new skills or take on challenges and overcome them. This helps people feel that their actions matter and that they have some control over their world.

Mastery is particularly fulfilling when we tackle something that is intrinsically motivating – where we value the activity in and of itself, not for any extrinsic reward, like winning or wages.

Intrinsic motivation is personal. It could be anything from the joy of playing sport with teammates (even when you lose) to satisfaction experienced in learning the piano.

So it’s important young people have opportunities to pursue things they are genuinely interested in and that challenge them along the way.

3. Create opportunities for positive emotions

All of this ties into a third essential ingredient for human wellbeing: positive emotions.

These range from awe to gratitude, joy and curiosity. They improve both our psychological and physical health.

We can’t have positive emotions all the time – life is inevitably up and down. And sometimes sad, bad or unlucky things happen. It’s important that we feel and express these emotions too.

But we can foster a greater balance of positive emotions by deliberately scheduling activities we enjoy and paying attention to how we feel. This does not have to be complicated or expensive. It may involve small things like pausing to appreciate a beautiful butterfly during a walk or noticing the taste of a yummy meal.

It’s like the food pyramid – but for a healthy mind

So, how do we get these ingredients into our children’s lives? Luckily we have a well-known framework to start from: the food pyramid.

The pyramid tells us we need a mix of things. Some of these things we need a lot of. Others things should only be occasional.

In terms of our mental wellbeing, we need a lot of social connection, every day and in large amounts. Social connection is the “vegetables” of a good mind diet, but more enjoyable!

We also need to consume a diverse range of high-quality information. This might include things like learning new skills or subjects at school, which can foster a sense of mastery and positive emotions like curiosity.

And of course, some things are harmful if consumed in excess. Social media, like sugar, should only be consumed occasionally and in small amounts. It may give us a “quick fix” by releasing the brain’s reward chemical, dopamine. But research suggests this may be addictive and lead to long-term harm.

Protect against junk information

In this age of misinformation, there is a lot of junk online. Research suggests misinformation can be harmful for mental health, causing heightened anxiety and stress.

Unfortunately, information doesn’t come with nutrition labels like our food does. But we can teach kids how to identify good quality information they can trust — sources that are fact-checked and reliable. For example, strategies like lateral reading (or searching for other good sources on the same subject) can help with thinking critically about the information we consume.

While we teach these ideas using the healthy “mind diet pyramid” idea, it is equally important adults model healthy information consumption for children — your mind may thank you too.

Amy Dawel receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

5 outside art projects to do in the school holidays – whatever the weather

2025-09-30T18:23:04Z

Cottonbro Studio/Pexels

School holidays can be stressful for families. Particularly when the enthusiasm of the first few days wears off and kids keep saying “I’m bored, I need the iPad” while refusing point blank to go and play outside.

We are environmental humanities researchers with a focus on education and visual arts. We have been looking at the benefits of creating art with the weather. This can entertain children of all ages, while supporting their creativity and connections with the wider world.

It may also provide some ideas to cope with the school holidays blues in a positive way. You don’t have to wait for a sunny day, either – you can make art in all kinds of weather.

Why make art with the weather?

Our research shows how playful activities can develop children’s understanding of nature and grow environmentally conscious citizens.

Creating art with – not about – weather is a multisensorial experience that immerses children in their local environment.

The activities we suggest produce exciting and unexpected artworks, which can encourage children to slow down and notice what is going on around them.

This can be a prompt not only for identifying how weather impacts their art, but also themselves and other things in the environment.

1. On a cloudy day

Find a nice spot outside, lie on your back and put a piece of A4 paper on your tummy. With a pencil or marker draw the clouds as they move across the sky.

This way of drawing helps you draw what you see, not what you think you see. “Blind contour drawing” (not looking at the paper) also develops hand eye coordination and drawing skills.

This also helps kids develop their conceptual understanding, by encouraging them to think beyond direct representations of objects or images. For example, a cloud may become a series of abstract lines rather than a fluffy thing.

2. On a windy, rainy day

Use water activated pencils (pencils that turn to paint when wet) to make marks on a piece of paper, this could be a drawing of the landscape as you see it. If you don’t have these pencils, you could use basic textas that are water soluble.

Leave the paper outside to be rained on and blown about. Let it dry and then work on it again, adding to the crinkles in the paper and marks made by dirt to create a different type of landscape. Australian Artist John Wolseley uses this technique to better understand “how we dwell and move within the landscape”.

3. On a sunny day

Put a piece of paper on a clipboard and go on a shadow hunt.

Look for interesting shadows cast by plants and place the paper under the shadow and simply trace around the shadows edge.

This shows the shapes of the shapes of leaves, petals and branches and helps develop observational skills.

4. On a still day

Give your eyes a break and connect to your other senses.

Close your eyes and draw what you hear. Listen carefully, how many sounds can you capture on a piece of paper?

Or you could explore what you feel in terms of texture. You can do this by touching something, such as the rough bark of a tree, and drawing with the other.

Or lay a piece of paper over an interesting texture and use a graphite stick on its side (or soft lead pencil) to make a rubbing. German artist Max Ernst used this approach to create his Histoire Naturelle in the 1920s. Like Ernst, you could tear or cut your drawings of textures and collage them together to create creatures, real or imagined.

5. On any kind of day

Make ephemeral drawings on the ground like Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy (you can see his work in the video below). Use sticks and leaves, feathers and stones anything else you find outside.

This is about using what is already available in the environment.

This activity also provides an opportunity to talk about the beasties that live in the leaf litter and dirt. Using a magnifying glass, kids can get to know the tiny critters that live there and reflect on the importance of not harming them and their homes (such as not stomping on them or poking them with sticks).

So, these school holidays let children have fun making art with weather and explore how these activities can cultivate children’s awe, wonder and care for our planet.

Naomi Zouwer receives funding from ACT Education Directorate.

Ann Hill receives funding from ACT Education Directorate.

Bethaney Turner receives funding from the ACT Education Directorate.

AI in the classroom is hard to detect – time to bring back oral tests

2025-09-30T00:00:01Z

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News that several New Zealand universities have given up using detection software to expose student use of artificial intelligence (AI) underlines the challenge higher education is facing.

With AI tools such as ChatGPT now able to produce essays, reports and case studies in seconds, the old assessment model is breaking down. For decades, that model was valued for testing not just knowledge, but also analysis, argumentation and communication.

Now, however, its reliability is under pressure. If a machine can generate a plausible essay on demand, how can we be sure we are assessing a student’s own understanding and reasoning?

We have been exploring another way forward. Instead of doubling down on plagiarism software, we have gone back to something surprisingly simple: talking to students.

For the past two years, we have been running “interactive oral assessments” (IOAs). They are proving to be one of the most effective and authentic ways to see what students really know in the age of AI.

Think of it as a structured conversation. Students meet with a lecturer or tutor, individually or in a small group, and answer questions about work they have already submitted.

Examiners do not just check for memorised facts. Using the Socratic method of questioning, they probe the reasoning behind students’ answers, drawing out genuine understanding rather than rehearsed responses.

It is not a performance or a speech. Because the questions are tailored to each student and unfold in real time, IOAs are difficult to outsource: a chatbot may produce text, but it cannot sustain a probing conversation about your own work.

Face-to-face assessment

We first trialled IOAs in a postgraduate marketing course with 42 students. Each sat a seven-minute conversation based on their course work. The grading guide covered both content (do they understand the concepts?) and communication (can they explain clearly and logically?).

The results were encouraging. Where grades had previously skewed toward the upper range under written assessment, likely reflecting increased AI assistance on take-home assignments, IOAs produced a more balanced spread of marks across grade bands.

Students reported the process felt fairer, and lecturers heard richer demonstrations of understanding and critical thinking. One lecturer put it neatly:

The dialogue revealed what students actually understood, rather than what they could memorise or outsource.

To ensure nerves did not get in the way, we built practice runs into tutorials during the semester so expectations were clear long before the final assessment.

Running one-on-one conversations for hundreds of students isn’t realistic, so we adapted the format. In larger undergraduate courses with over 200 students, we run IOAs in group settings: students attend together, but each answers individually.

We also use multiple assessors running simultaneous IOA sessions. This lets us assess large cohorts in the same timeframe as a traditional exam without overloading a single lecturer or tutor.

This model has two big advantages: logistics are manageable and anxiety is reduced. Seeing peers go through the same process normalises the experience. The group format still preserves the essence of the IOA.

Back to the future?

Two years in, clear patterns have emerged. IOAs reveal qualities written exams and essays often mask. Students must explain, apply and defend their ideas in real time, so we can see whether they truly grasp the material, not just whether they can structure an essay or reproduce text.

Importantly, IOAs also develop work-ready skills: clear communication, critical thinking and defending a position under questioning. These abilities are needed in interviews, client meetings and professional discussions. As one student said:

It felt like a job interview, not just an exam.

IOAs are not effort-free. Examiners benefit from training in how to ask probing yet fair questions, and in applying grading guides consistently, especially when student and session numbers increase.

Scheduling and recording at scale requires careful planning, from coordinating rooms to examiner availability and recording options. With the right support, however, these challenges are manageable.

IOAs are not a silver bullet, but they are a promising response to the realities of AI. They make it harder to outsource work, help staff see genuine understanding, and give students practice in the kinds of discussions that dominate modern workplaces.

In many ways, IOAs take us back to the future: they revive the oldest oral form of examination, reimagined for today’s classrooms. Crucially, they do more than safeguard academic integrity, they build the capabilities employers expect.

If universities want to prepare students for the real world while protecting the credibility of their courses, it may be time to do what seems counterintuitive: stop writing and start talking.

Private tutoring for school kids is ‘booming’. But this poses risks for students

2025-09-29T19:02:08Z

BrianAJackson/Getty Images

Private tutoring for Australian school students is reported to be a “booming”, billion-dollar industry.

It’s estimated one in six students get private tutoring at some point in their schooling. In some pockets – such as Sydney – this rises to one in four students.

In our new research we highlight how there is little to no concrete state or federal regulation of tutoring in Australia.

This poses risks for parents, students and the broader school system.

How many students are tutored?

One of the biggest issues around the Australian tutoring industry is a lack of accurate data.

We only have estimates about the number of students and tutors and whether tutoring is done one-to-one, in small groups or larger classroom groups.

Tutoring tends to be for high school students, but an increasing proportion of primary students are being tutored. The number of tutors is thought to range from 45,000 to 80,000.

This means we do not know the exact size and nature of the industry, which we need to make appropriate policies and safeguards around it.

Tutors can set their own rules

Students usually go to tutoring for one of two reasons. This is to bridge learning gaps and keep up with their classes or to get ahead, often in preparation for important exams, such as in Year 12 or for entry to selective schools.

But what kind of tuition are they receiving? Is it good quality? Is it matched to the school curriculum? It’s hard to say as there is no regulation of the tutoring industry at any level of government in Australia.

The tutoring industry differs from schools, where teachers and the curriculum go through strict accreditation processes.

This means tutoring companies and individual operators set their own rules. Apart from state governments advice (for example, New South Wales and Queensland), parents are largely left to navigate the system alone.

But whether students spend one hour or several hours a week with a tutor, families should be confident both in the safety of their child and the academic quality of their tutor.

Are kids safe?

The risks are not theoretical. Child protection is a primary concern, especially with the growth in online tutoring. Research shows predators may seek to exploit young people in online forums in general.

Tutors are also not required to follow any curriculum or to have any qualification in the content they are tutoring.

Without regulation, families have little recourse if they wish to complain about a poor-quality service. Tutoring businesses can also make claims of quality without evidence, that prey on parents’ worries about their child’s education.

Is tutoring fair?

Tutoring can be expensive, with reports it can cost thousands of dollars per year. So this means tutoring advantages wealthier families who can afford the fees, over those who cannot afford them.

This sets up inequities in classrooms and the broader community.

Teachers’ work can also be undermined when tutoring follows a different curriculum or teaching method. Students can become confused, frustrated or disengaged when they have already been taught the content by a tutor.

Teachers don’t just deliver content. They have been trained to develop students’ conceptual understandings and tailor their approaches to different levels and learning styles.

If tutoring is increasingly used to fill perceived gaps in mainstream schooling, then schooling risks becoming only one part of a fragmented and inequitable education system.

What do we do now?

We are not opposed to tutoring as an activity that can help young people. However, Australia needs to reconsider its approach to this industry and its impact on young people.

Regulating the tutoring industry will be highly complex – as our paper shows, countries such as China, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have encountered many challenges trying to do so. For example, China banned after-school private tutoring for primary and younger higher school students in 2021 in part to promote social equality. But this drove the industry underground.

When regulating the system, governments also need to accommodate varied stakeholders – students, parents, teachers, tutors and the broader educational system – huge numbers of people and a lack of quality data.

In our upcoming research paper we will look at how we could better regulate tutoring in Australia.

Katherin Cartwright worked for the NSW Department of Education from 1997–2018.

Ben Zunica and Bronwyn Reid O'Connor do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.