Dr Charlotte Keating, a clinical psychologist with a PhD in neuroscience and Dr Jo Robinson, who leads the suicide prevention research unit at Orygen, have been tasked with leading a review into current school procedures and evidence-aligned approaches to address bullying on the ground.

The two experts will ‘consult broadly’ with key stakeholders across the country, including teachers, students, parent groups, state education departments and the independent sector, the Government said. 

“…Last year we worked together to ban mobile phones in schools. This is another opportunity for us to support students, teachers and parents across the country,” Education Minister Jason Clare said.

 “I have asked Dr Keating and Dr Robinson to work with parents, teachers, students and the states and territories to get this right.”

One expert has previously warned that too many bullying interventions in schools are ineffective and based on patchy evidence.

In 2023, researcher and senior lecturer Dr Grace Skrzypiec from Flinders University told EducationHQ that the term ‘bullying’ is inherently problematic – with a definition that’s wildly open to interpretation that covers a whole gamut of harmful behaviours, making it impossible to measure with any real degree of accuracy.

Skrzypiec called for a new focus on harmful acts of aggression, after her own study found students’ perceptions of being bullied didn’t align with technical criteria.

“Every man and his dog has got an intervention against bullying,” Skrzypiec said.

“Some of it is based on common sense. Some of it is based on flimsy evidence.

“And generally speaking, from what I can see, there’s not much out there that works.

“We need to sit down and rethink it all.”

Bullying. No Way! defines bullying as ‘the ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm’.

And in our schools it’s a “serious problem”, the Australian Human Rights Commission flags, with more than 20 per cent of boys and 15 per cent of girls aged 8 to 18 years reporting being bullied at least once a week.

But Skrzypiec flagged that there’s no valid questionnaire out there that can measure the precise prevalence of in-school bullying. 

“The definition states that bullying is repeated deliberate harm caused by one individual or another, where there is a power imbalance. And the problem we have with that definition, is that we can’t actually measure bullying.

“We can’t measure the power imbalance, repetition – people question whether it does need to be repeated.

“The other problem we have, is that usually people that are involved in bullying are involved in a repertoire of behaviours that could be labelled ‘peer aggression’.

“And some of those will meet the definition for technical bullying. And some of them won't.

“It’s just full of issues.”

The Government maintain the new national strategy will be “grounded in evidence and informed by lived experiences”.

It comes on the back of the national mobile phone ban in all public schools, widespread vaping reforms and social media ban for children under the age of 16.

 The review is expected to take place over the next six months before recommendations are handed to education ministers.

“Bullying is not just something that happens in schools, but schools are places where we can intervene and provide support for students,” Clare said.

 “All students and staff should be safe at school, and free from bullying and violence.

 “That’s why we’re taking action to develop a national standard to address bullying in schools..."