Teachers and principals in Victorian public schools went on strike this week for a pay rise. Beneath this action is something deeper – a need for more respect and acknowledgement of the complex work that they do. 

Such complexity is visible during critical incidents, from natural disasters to acts of violence in schools. The latest report in a national study led by Monash University in collaboration with Deakin University and the University of Sydney shows how neglect, overwork and emotional strain are pushing public school principals to the brink. 

Drawing on 298 critical-incident testimonies from 256 school principals nationwide, stakeholder interviews, case studies and a policy audit, principals report feeling abandoned by education departments during crises.

During critical incidents, just over one-third of principals reported managing events such as trauma and violence without meaningful support from their employer – the government.

Read more: We treat teachers like we treat mothers. That’s why we don’t pay them what they’re worth

This report — the final in the Invisible Labour: Principals’ Emotional Labour in Volatile Times project — found many are feeling, to quote one principal, “hung out to dry”.

As Australian public school principals navigate increasingly volatile environments with limited government support, their emotional labour is often invisible and unacknowledged.

What did principals tell us?

More than one-third (34.3%) were critical of their employer’s crisis response. 

One principal said:

“I felt abandoned and isolated. My confidence felt destroyed and I felt hung out to dry. I am still coming to terms with my treatment from my employer.”

Another said:

“After many years of dedicated service, I leave feeling a failure and like I am kicked to the curb like garbage, used and abused.”

A principal described the trauma of the role after experiencing a major critical incident as feeling “powerless, shamed, intense distress physical sensations of pain, sweating, nausea, trembling, feeling on edge, panicking when having to leave my home, easily upset, hypervigilance, exhausted, finding it hard to concentrate – including on simple or everyday tasks – jumpy or easily startled, highly anxious”.

Another stated:

“Having this challenged without the opportunity to defend or protect my reputation to this day makes me sick to the stomach. I had sleepless nights questioning everything about my work”.

For many principals, the system’s response was often little more than a phone call. As one principal put it:

“Phone calls and no follow-up [from the department] just don’t cut it. We can’t remain in perpetual states of fear. I still shake when I recall that and other incidents. I knew I couldn’t keep going from helping people through constant trauma.”

Yet many feel compelled to hide their suffering. As one principal observed:

“I really wish that people understood that I had to fake how I was truly feeling so as not to look weak.”

Instead, principals face conflicting legal obligations, such as balancing student safety with inclusion, and encounter bureaucratic work that increases psychosocial risk.

The consequences of emotional labour 

Principals’ emotional stress is real, manifesting physically and psychologically, as insomnia, illness, anxiety and depression.

One principal recalled the physical toll of the job:

“I became hypervigilant about staff and students’ safety, my hair was falling out on my desk, my immune system collapsed, and I can’t remember the last day I enjoyed work.”

Diagnosed with anxiety and depression after a prolonged investigation, another reported that their workers’ compensation claim was accepted and they were deemed “not fit to work in any profession again”.

These accounts are not isolated. They are the daily reality of too many school leaders who are expected to manage natural disasters, violence, community grief and bureaucratic scrutiny, often alone.

Systemic neglect is driving burnout, resignation and moral injury. Fewer teachers aspire to become principals.

What needs to change

Our research calls for urgent reform at every level of governance to protect principals’ physical and psychosocial safety, restore their trust in education systems, and ensure the sustainability of Australian public schools.

Changes include:

• better induction and support for new principals
• prioritising principal wellbeing in the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan
• reducing principal workload by reallocating administrative and compliance duties
• establishing an independent research observatory to monitor educator health, safety and career sustainability
• providing tailored frontline support services including behavioural specialists, mental health professionals and trauma-informed resources
• standardised access to counselling and wellbeing programs across all jurisdictions
• fostering respectful school-community relationships through legislative change and better public campaigns
• launching a public awareness campaign promoting respect for educators and the value of public schooling. 

Principals need better government recognition of their work. The consequences of inaction can be felt by every student, every family and every community reliant on public education.

The report, Invisible Labour: Principals’ Emotional Labour in Volatile Times. Report Four: “Hung out to Dry”, can be downloaded here. It was authored by Professor Lucas Walsh, Monash University; Professor Jane Wilkinson, Monash University; Associate Professor Christine Grice, University of Sydney; Professor Amanda Keddie, Deakin University; Dr Fiona Longmuir,  Monash University; and Tim Delany, Monash University.