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School-wide Positive Behaviour Support

Creating positive school environments to boost student success and engagement.

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Benefits of SWPBS

School-wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) is a globally recognised, evidence-based approach that improves behaviour, wellbeing, and learning for children and young people. When implemented effectively, SWPBS allows teachers and students to spend more time building positive relationships and focusing on learning. It benefits everyone by:

  • increasing respectful and positive behaviour
  • allowing more time for focused learning in the classroom
  • enhancing social and emotional wellbeing
  • strengthening positive and respectful relationships between students and staff
  • creating safe, orderly, and supportive school environments.

What is SWPBS?

SWPBS (School-wide Positive Behaviour Support) is an evidence-based framework designed to help schools create positive, safe, and fair settings where students and teachers can thrive. It focuses on teaching and encouraging positive behaviour, supporting all students, and providing extra help to those who need it. By doing this, SWPBS helps improve behaviour, wellbeing, and academic success.

It also supports teachers by giving them strategies to manage classrooms effectively, reduce disruptions, and spend more time on teaching and learning.

Schools implementing SWPBS:

  • use proven strategies to meet the needs of all students
  • work with students, families, and communities to ensure rules and practices are fair and inclusive
  • regularly review and improve their practices
  • build expertise in behaviour support among staff
  • form teams to guide and maintain the framework
  • use data to identify issues and solve problems
  • provide training and coaching to help teachers improve.

SWPBS is flexible and suitable for all types of schools — primary, secondary, and specialist.

Case study videos

Three case study videos across contrasting school settings provide a window into SWPBS in practice and the realised benefits.

The videos demonstrate impacts on all 5 FISO core elements:

  • teaching and learning
  • engagement
  • support and resources
  • leadership
  • assessment.

Improved behaviour reflected in school data – St Albans Heights Primary School

St. Albans Heights Primary School shares how implementing School-wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) transformed their school by teaching expected behaviours, building strong values, and creating a safer, more inclusive environment. Staff and students highlight the positive impact on safety, relationships, and learning.

SWPBS - St Albans Heights Primary School
View transcript

Core SWPBS features and the role of data – Cranbourne Secondary College

Cranbourne Secondary College shows how SWPBS has transformed their school through clear behaviour expectations, encouragement of positive interactions, and strategic use of data. This approach has created a safer, more respectful environment, improving behaviour and student success.

SWPBS - Cranbourne Secondary College
View transcript

Tiered supports and outcomes for students – Yarra Ranges Special Development School

Yarra Ranges Special Development School uses SWPBS to help students with disabilities thrive. With clear expectations — be safe, responsible, and respectful — tiered supports, and tools like the MeTV program, the school fosters positive behaviour across all settings.

SWPBS - Yarra Ranges SDS
View transcript

Systems data practices outcomes

SWPBS is built on 4 key elements: outcomes, data, practices, and systems. These elements work together to create a positive, consistent, and effective approach to supporting student behaviour and success.

  • Outcomes: The goals schools aim to achieve through SWPBS, such as improved behaviour, increased academic success, enhanced wellbeing, and a positive school climate. Outcomes are clearly defined and guide all decision-making within the framework.
  • Data: The information schools collect to monitor progress, identify areas of need, and evaluate the effectiveness of their SWPBS implementation. Data helps schools make informed, evidence-based decisions to achieve their desired outcomes.
  • Practices: The specific strategies and interventions used to teach, encourage, and support appropriate behaviour. These include clear behaviour expectations, social-emotional learning, and targeted supports for students needing additional assistance.
  • Systems: The structures and processes schools put in place to ensure SWPBS is implemented effectively and consistently. This includes leadership teams, professional development, and regular staff collaboration to sustain the framework over time.

Multi-tiered systems of support

SWPBS is a tiered intervention framework designed to provide all students with universal teaching and learning supports, while planning additional interventions for those requiring more intensive assistance. The tiered supports are structured as follows:

  • Universal support (Tier 1): Supports for all students, staff and settings
  • Targeted support (Tier 2): Additional specialised group systems for students with at-risk behaviour
  • Intensive support (Tier 3): Specialised, individualised systems for students with complex behaviour needs, provided in addition to universal and targeted supports.
SWPBS-tiers

How is SWPBS implemented in Victoria?

Each year, the department supports more than 400 schools to implement the SWPBS framework, with ongoing support from an SWPBS Coach. Since 2018, over 700 schools have been involved in the initiative, and the current funding cycle will run from 2025 to 2028.

The Victorian SWPBS approach is grounded in international best practices and delivered through 17 region-based SWPBS coaches. These coaches work with school teams to identify a school's needs and provide the professional learning and coaching required to embed the framework's essential features. Specifically, schools implementing SWPBS receive:

  • regular coaching sessions with a regional SWPBS Coach
  • professional learning through a suite of online blended courses
  • annual fidelity assessments
  • access to the Online Resources Hub
  • annual awards process and submission.

The impact of SWPBS in Victoria

A November 2023 external evaluation found a positive relationship between effective SWPBS implementation and better outcomes for schools and students. These included:

  • students’ sense of connectedness
  • respect for diversity
  • inclusion
  • effective classroom behaviour
  • students feeling supported by an adult at school
  • reduced bullying
  • management of bullying
  • staff confidence in working together effectively
  • suspension days.

Read the evaluation of the Victorian SWPBS initiative (PPT, 3548KB).

Video explanation of SWPBS

Introduction to School-wide Positive Behaviour Support
View transcript

SWPBS acknowledgement awards

Participating schools are encouraged to apply for the annual acknowledgment awards, which highlight outstanding examples of SWPBS in primary, secondary and specialist schools. Awards are open to any school active in the initiative that meets the criteria.

To apply, schools submit detailed evidence of their implementation. Criteria are updated annually in Term 1 and listed below, along with the previous year’s award-winning schools.

Apply to join

Applications for the 2026 SWPBS intake will open in Term 3, 2025.

School leadership teams can attend online information sessions early in Term 3, 2025, to learn more about the approach.

Completed application forms are to be submitted by the end of Term 3, 2025.

Schools accepted into the initiative will begin implementation in Term 1, 2026. For further information or support, please see the contact details below.

Find out more

For further information about SWPBS, visit the Department’s Policy and Advisory Library behaviour page or contact the SWPBS central team:

Education

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