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In 2024, a Senate inquiry that Australian schools are ranked among the worst in the world for managing behavioural issues in the classroom.

This finding followed a spike in disruptive and aggressive childhood behaviour post-COVID, which contributed to a national decline in academic performance. According to the NAPLAN results for 2024, one in three Australian children were not proficient in numeracy or literacy.

This leaves the country lagging internationally.

Professor Eva Kimonis, a clinical psychologist from the UNSW School of Psychology, has been working closely with students, teachers and parents to address these issues. Her school-based adaptation of the most effective known psychological treatment for childhood behavioural issues – Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) – has had considerable impact so far.

“We’re working to address the rising problem of disruptive, destructive and aggressive behaviour in school children,” says Prof. Kimonis.

“From schools, the message is clear—this problem is escalating. Teachers are feeling overwhelmed and ill-equipped to handle these behaviours.”

Prof. Kimonis worked in partnership with several schools to co-develop the School-PCIT program – an enhanced form of PCIT suitable for delivery in educational settings.

Evidence-based methods of PCIT were rigorously tested over decades and demonstrated unparalleled success in addressing aggressive, disruptive behaviours in young children. Prof. Kimonis says it is more effective than any other treatment, including pharmacological interventions, for any known psychological condition.

“Yet, while PCIT is the gold standard in treating these behaviours, traditional approaches have not focused on school environments,” Prof. Kimonis says. “This leaves a gap in addressing behaviour within the classroom setting.

Challenges & opportunities

Some children – especially those from disadvantaged or culturally diverse backgrounds – are still not benefiting as much as they should from PCIT. The goal of the is to break this cycle by enhancing and expanding treatment delivery directly into schools, ensuring the most vulnerable children receive the support they desperately need.

In 2019, Prof. Kimonis and Dr Georgie Fleming, also from the UNSW School of Psychology, launched the first School-PCIT program at Ingleburn Public School. This pilot demonstrated how PCIT treatment could be delivered within an educational setting.

“The results were clear: the treatment works in schools, and teachers were eager to collaborate and engage more,” says Prof. Kimonis.

Then COVID hit, exacerbating behavioural issues across the nation’s schools.

“Everyone experienced COVID differently,” she says. “But mental health challenges – both for parents and children – seemed to intensify, and behavioural problems in the classroom escalated.”

The team quickly pivoted to an online delivery format, made possible by their recently completed trial of internet-delivered PCIT (iPCIT).

As part of her PhD study at UNSW at the time, Dr Fleming ran a randomised trial of the adaptation so families could continue receiving face-to-face support, virtually. The innovative approach ensured the continuation of critical interventions at a time when in-person services were severely disrupted.

“Being an evidence-based research clinic, we pivoted to internet-delivered PCIT, enabling some families to stay engaged and achieve successful outcomes even during lockdown,” Prof. Kimonis says.

In 2023, with funding from , a second round of the program was launched at Condell Park Public School, expanding to six additional schools. This iteration of the program tested increased teacher involvement – which is crucial for supporting children in the classroom, as well as ensuring lasting change.

“The more we involve teachers, the more we see the benefits for both the students and the school environment,” Prof. Kimonis says. “But we’re still only scratching the surface of what’s needed, particularly in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, where access to this kind of help is rare.”

One of the primary challenges is that the children who need these interventions the most are often the least likely to receive them. Socioeconomic factors, language barriers, and the stigma surrounding mental health care all create obstacles.

“By bringing treatment into schools – a place where children and their families are already comfortable – we reduce these barriers and reach more children,” says Kelly Kershaw, trial coordinator for the program. “Parents are more likely to engage when they don’t have to take time off work or face the stigma of visiting a psychologist.”

Still, the demand far outweighs the supply. Many school children are placed on long waiting lists for services. Or worse, their families cannot find providers who use evidence-based treatments like PCIT.