Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Jen remembers the day she decided to become a teacher. She was in year 7 and knew someone whose mum was a teacher who worked with young people with disabilities.

“I just remember seeing what she would do and how she would talk with people and engage with people,” says Jen. “I remember that exact moment going, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to be a teacher.’”

So Jen did just that, and today she is a Principal at an ACT public school.

Having worked in the public school system since 2001, Jen says her career has been just as rewarding as she expected. However, she notes that the nature of teaching has changed during that time, especially after the global pandemic and its impact on educators, their students and school communities.

“COVID has certainly increased [demand] within the community,” explains Jen. “School has had to change.”

While Jen says learning during lockdowns was “scaffolded and supported” there’s no denying the strain that independent learning put on educators, students and families alike in addition to the collective community trauma of a global pandemic.

“Young people’s school and social lives have been disrupted for the most part of the last three years…[and] my belief is that this has led to more anxiety and mental health needs,” she says.

“Schools and other support services have really had to work in that space around wellbeing for students and families…And there’s no doubt that with rising living costs, this is having an impact for our families.”

Helping families and students, even now that face-to-face learning has resumed, can be challenging when aggression and violence enter the picture. Occupational violence is a very real challenge for educators, who are already prioritising education and care for their young charges.

Workplace violence towards teachers and school staff—which spans everything from confronting phone calls to abusive emails and even physical encounters—is never okay, and often, it’s parents who are the perpetrators.

A paper from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, published in late 2020, found that 80% of surveyed teachers had experienced bullying and harassment in the preceding 9-12 month period; with over half reporting this unacceptable behaviour coming from both students and parents.

“Occupational violence is challenging, I’ll be straight up,” says Jen.

“It’s a challenging space because what [occupational violence] means is that a person has become so dysregulated or distressed about something in their life that they’re acting out in ways that are either physically violent, or verbally violent, or both. And that can also relate to parents as well.”

“By violence I do include verbal abuse, but also do include online abuse as well…you know, naming a member of staff and writing about them in threatening or harmful ways.”

While Jen says she always tries to “come back to the point that everyone in life makes mistakes” and notes the wide range of quality support services that educators can access to help manage these behaviours, there’s no doubt they can cause a lasting impact.

Supporting school staff and teachers faced with workplace violence is a focus for the Education Directorate’s Safe at School Taskforce.

Jessie Atkins, Executive Branch Manager of the Directorate’s Safe at School Taskforce, says staff have a right and responsibility to be safe at work. Occupational violence is a serious and complex matter requiring a measured and consistent response from staff, schools and the education system.

“The Directorate has developed evidence-based approaches to preventing and managing occupational violence risk to support the safety of our staff,” explains Jessie. “These include experienced staff who can provide assistance to schools, training and resources to help keep our staff safe at work, and support services for staff if they experience occupational violence.”

“The Directorate is working with schools and communities to promote respectful relationships because every student and every family are important to us. Verbal or physical abuse is not okay and we want to work together to resolve concerns. We know that when we work together, our children and young people can learn, develop and reach their full potential.”

When asked whether Jen would recommend a teaching career to other people, she says the benefits “far outweigh the challenges”.

“I love this job. I absolutely love it and while it’s challenging, and the challenge has increased and pivoted, I certainly wouldn’t walk away.”

“It’s about helping young people understand that their differences are what they should embrace in life and that pressure and conforming is not what life’s about. It’s about standing on your feet and declaring who you are—by helping them to understand who they are, and what pathway they want to choose in their own life.”

“That’s what I love—because every young person has a different story. Every young person has a different journey that they need to walk. So, in fact, it’s quite inspiring as an educator and I love that young people inspire me. I’ve learned a lot from them across my 20 years in this career, and being able to embrace that has been crucial for me to do my job better.”

Find out more about how you can help make Canberra’s workplaces free from aggression and violence.

ACT Government employees featured in these articles have volunteered their stories to raise awareness around occupational violence and the impact this has on them and the Canberra workforce.

In her career working at the Access Canberra Contact Centre, there have been multiple times Paige has had to terminate a call.

And while she says it’s not something she’s experienced every day, having the support from Access Canberra to end a confronting, upsetting or downright rude conversation with a customer is something that empowers her to keep working—and moving upwards—in a job she loves.

Originally joining the Access Canberra team six years ago as a contractor on the Contact Centre phone lines, Paige is now the Operational Support Officer—a role that allows her to help the staff who are the first point of contact for many locals trying to access government services.

“On the phones, I used to love being able to assist the community, being able to speak with people and have the conversations where you can tell they need that friendly voice over the phone,” she says. “It was really rewarding knowing that with each phone call, you were able to assist with fixing a problem.”

“In my new role as Operational Support Officer, I like being able to support the staff who are taking these phone calls or being able to ensure all the admin is squared away, that their rosters are looking good, that they’re getting the best out of any training they want to do and just making sure that they don’t have any problems to worry about.”

“We’re not here to be yelled at and abused.”

Access Canberra has recently brought in an ‘Occupational Violence Break’ for contact centre staff to use when they need to step away from the desk after a hard or upsetting call. It’s just one of the recent changes that Paige says has been ‘amazing’ in helping to support the teams, as are internal workshops that focus on the processes in place for dealing with aggressive customers.

“”For every bad call, I’d get 10 good calls and at the end of the day, I knew that once the phone call is over, it was over. I didn’t have to answer that phone call again. We’re not here to be yelled at or abused and we know that we are supported by our management team to end those calls,” Paige says.

Understanding that everyone has bad days and sometimes they don’t have anyone else to take it out on, for Paige and her team at Access Canberra having this boundary in place helps them to remind callers that they’re only human too.

“I find that customers will call Access Canberra and they speak to us on the phone as the first point of contact and they expect us to be able to fix all of their problems…we are human and we can’t be specialists in everything,” she says.

“We’re just the first point of contact and we’re here to help as much as we can but there is going to be a limit to what we can assist with.”

The OV break initiative is just one of the ways Access Canberra is working to support its staff, with a comprehensive OV Management Framework in place to support staff safety.  Key to the framework is empowering staff that ‘OV is not part of the job’ as well as to hold members of the community who may behave unacceptably towards staff to account.

Back to Paige and from helping the vulnerable, hanging up the phone, and what she wishes customers would understand (plus all the other thoughts running around in her head), what stands out when Paige thinks about her role at the Contact Centre?

“My favourite phone calls will always be with elderly customers who aren’t good with computers or don’t really understand the new technology side of the way things are done. Being able to find ways to assist them and deliver the service is always really rewarding,” says Paige.

Canberra has so much to offer when it comes to café culture, and that extends to the smallest community members as well.

A babycino is well and good, but when little tummies rumble, these are some of the cafes serving up seriously yummy fare:

Southern Cross Club Woden

If you’re after lunch or dinner, the Southern Cross Club Woden offers a large range of options for kids.

The kid’s menu boasts 10 different options. Choices range from items like chicken nuggets and a wagyu beef burger to things like rice paper rolls, a whole foods tasting plate and make your own tacos.

There are also kid-friendly sweet treats. Options include strawberry or banana fondue, yoghurt crunch, and gelato.

Mains are $13 for members (or $15 for non-members), while desserts are $5 for members ($6 for non-members).

Café Stepping Stone, Dickson and Strathnairn

Café Stepping Stone’s seasonal and locally sourced menu extends to kids.

Options for children include toast, and cheese toasties with or without tomato. There’s also hummus and carrot sticks or a bowl of yoghurt.

Prices start at just $5.

There are also toys in the cafés and room for them to roam.

Kitchen Garden at Rodney’s, Pialligo

This picturesque café, located in Rodney’s Plants Plus, has a good range of adults and kids’ options.

Their kid’s menu includes eggs and bacon on toast and pancakes. There’s also spaghetti bolognese, fish and chips or a ham and cheese pizza. The lunch box option includes a sandwich, sultanas, cheese, a fruit box and a chocolate treat.

There’s a playground next to the café and lots of space to play.

Prices start at $12.

Pollen Café, Australian National Botanic Gardens

A trip to the Australian National Botanic Garden is always fun for kids. A stop in at Pollen Café helps fill little bellies for big adventures.

During the school holidays, Pollen offers a Bilby Bites menu item that includes vegetable sticks, bilby-shaped toast, fresh fruit and a sweet treat for kids.

Pollen’s regular kids’ menu includes dippy eggs and a mini hot dog. An optional fruit juice popper, shortbread cookie or paddle pop ice cream can be added to both.

Prices start at $13.90.

As the café is sit within the Australian Botanic Gardens, there is plenty to see and do including a children’s discovery walk.

Café Gather, Braddon

Café Gather’s menu of colourful, healthy food includes a selection for kids. Choices include a toad in the hole, a mini hashbrown with avocado and egg, a bacon and egg roll, and a crumpet with honey and blueberries.

All options are $12.

Sweet Bones, Scullin and Braddon

This vegan café features an all-day breakfast menu at both the Scullin and Braddon locations. The kid’s menu has a blueberry pancake with coconut whipped cream, a sandwich with cucumber, avocado and hummus, or carrot sticks with peanut butter or hummus.

Prices start at $6.

Two Blind Mice, Curtin

Locals love this family-friendly spot, not least because of the weekly meal specials.

On Thursday, kids eat free with every $50 spend. The lunch and dinner kids’ menu includes a cheeseburger and chips, ham and cheese pizza or spaghetti napoletana.

On the weekends, the kids breakfast menu offers toast and jam, a hotcake, or a bacon and egg roll.

Prices start at $7 for breakfast, or $15 for breakfast and lunch.

Penny University, Kingston

The kid’s menu at this inner south spot has a range of options. Choose from a ham and cheese toastie, egg and ham, or a chicken burger. There’s also a brekkie plate with porridge, yoghurt and fruit, a lunch box with a toastie, fruit and a brownie, or crisp barramundi bites.

Prices start at $8.

Did we miss your favourite? Send us an email at ourcanberra@act.gov.au.

Construction is progressing on a new state-of-the-art emergency services station in Acton. The station will further improve response times in the city centre and surrounds.

The new station is between Clunies Ross Street and Parkes Way. Construction is planned to finish in December 2024. The ACT Government expects that the station will be operational by June 2025.

The Government has committed more than $40 million to the design and construction of the station. It emphasises energy efficiency and aligns with the ACT’s Climate Change Strategy goals.

The new Acton Emergency Services Station will improve emergency response times for city and inner north residents.

The sustainable design of the station is in line with the ACT’s emissions reduction strategy. It will have electric vehicle chargers to meet the needs of the agency’s electric vehicle fleet. The station’s roof will also have solar panels expected to create 142MWh per year.

The station will be a comfortable, well-equipped base for both ACT Fire & Rescue and ACT Ambulance Service personnel.

“The Acton Emergency Services Station represents another step toward equipping our first responders with the facilities and infrastructure to carry out their vital work and service one of Canberra’s fastest-growing regions,” Emergency Services Commissioner Wayne Phillips said.

“We listened to our people when designing the facility and I’m heartened to see their input taking shape in the construction.”

Construction has began on improvements along Hardwick Crescent in the Kippax Group Centre.

Consultation was carried out  in 2022 to get feedback on the preliminary designs, which had been developed in response to the Kippax Group Centre Master Plan 2019. The project follows extensive site investigations and targeted engagement with local businesses and community groups.

The ACT Government heard requests from the community for:

• improved pedestrian access
• a greater number and variety of plantings
• opportunities for outdoor dining
• new furniture
• safety and accessibility improvements.

The upgrades to the Kippax Group Centre will increase accessibility along shopfronts. This includes wider shopfront pavement, allowing space for outdoor cafes and public outdoor furniture.

New streetlighting will make the area safer. Three pedestrian crossings in this section will be raised to further improve pedestrian safety.

There will be line markings within the surface carparks. These will direct pedestrians between the currently separated commercial centres on either side of the large carparks.

There will be eight new parallel timed parking spaces along Hardwick Crescent. These will replace the existing spaces. There will be two new accessible parking spaces within the surface carpark adjacent to Hardwick Crescent.

Community members can look forward to a new streetscape, including new plantings and landscaping. Twelve new Chinese elm trees are expected to grow up to 10 metres tall.

New retaining walls will be added between the road and pedestrian areas. These will provide additional seating options for visitors.

Construction will be staged to minimise impacts to businesses and the local community. The first stage of works will be at the service station end of Hardwick Crescent.

There will be street closures as construction is completed. Signed detours will direct road users, and pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.

Construction is expected to take around nine months to complete. The most disruptive works are aimed for completion ahead of the Christmas trading period.