Advice
This page explains the department's Principal Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the initiatives to promote a safe and supportive environment for school leaders to be their best.
Overview
- The Principal Health and Wellbeing aims to protect and promote the mental and physical health and wellbeing of Victorian school principals.
- There are dedicated services available to principal-class employees in Victorian Government schools, with contact details available via the Principal Health and Wellbeing intranet (staff login required).
- The Principals’ (staff login required) also provides links to key resources to assist principals including the contact details for the Principal Advisory Service, a dedicated hotline for Victorian government school principals to support them to find the information they need quickly
Details
Healthy principals are central to ensuring a positive environment for teaching and successful outcomes for students.
Services
There are dedicated services provided under the Principal Health and Wellbeing Strategy that commenced in 2018:
- School Policy Templates (staff login required) – to minimise administrative workload
- Principal – to reduce isolation and build social capital
- Regional Capability Building – to improve the support received from regional leaders and staff
- Proactive Wellbeing (staff login required) – to provide opportunities to debrief with experienced psychologists and new principal check-ins
- Principal Health (staff login required) – free and confidential proactive health consultations
- Complex Matter Support (staff login required) – to minimise workload and stress associated with managing and responding to complex cases
- Early Intervention (staff login required) – to provide proactive access to professional support to prevent health and wellbeing risks from escalating.
For more information on the services, refer to the Principal health and wellbeing (staff login required).
The Principal Health and Wellbeing Strategy defines an integrated framework of supports that can work together to promote and sustain principals' health and wellbeing. The strategy maps existing supports across the system, fills gaps, and encourages everyone who works with principals to consider health and wellbeing in everything they do. This approach ensures an effective team around the principal to support their health and wellbeing.
The strategy was developed following a comprehensive needs analysis of the health and wellbeing challenges faced by principals and a review of leading practice research. The findings of this review were published in the Principal Health and Wellbeing Discussion .
Related policies
Relevant legislation
Reviewed 15 May 2024