Addressing the life impacts of trauma for Australian learners
Join our campaign!
Make trauma-aware education part of all early childhood, school and tertiary settings.
Share the Declaration
We recognise the profound impact trauma can have on a child's ability to learn and thrive and the growing extent to which trauma is manifesting in the lives of children and young people throughout Australia.
We declare that all Australian schools and Early Childhood education programs are critically positioned to contribute towards this national solution, due to the relational and learning environments they can offer and the amount of time that children and young people spend in these environments.
Join these organisations and individuals in signing the Declaration!
839
Individuals
From the National Guidelines for Trauma-Aware Education
No social or cultural group is immune from the impact of complex trauma. The prevalence is significant and of growing concern.
The long-term impacts of complex childhood trauma lead to substantial and growing costs for societies and governments, including those associated with health, welfare, education, child protection etc.
Managing the needs and behaviours of students living with the outcomes of complex trauma can have a significant impact on the personal and professional well-being of educators and consequential attrition rates, which is also very costly to education budgets.
Without knowledge and skill in trauma-aware practices, schools often defer to punitive responses, including suspension and exclusion, which may exacerbate rather than mediate the needs and behaviours of children and young people.
The National Guidelines for Trauma-Aware Education have been developed in response to a rapidly growing (national and international) awareness regarding the impact of complex trauma on education and life outcomes for children and young people.
This Declaration is an output of the fourth, biennial Trauma-Aware Education Conference and the collective effort of teams of education leaders and university leaders who are thought leaders in trauma-informed education for Australia.
Acknowledgment
In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
