Agreed to by education ministers last Friday, the plan comes following the Federal Government’s Anti-Bullying Rapid Review which attracted 1700 submissions from educators, parents and students as it sought to examine current procedures in schools and identify best practices to tackle bullying. 

There is a need for ‘timely and clear action’ when a complaint or incident occurs, the review found. 

Speaking on Weekend Sunrise, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said parents had made it clear about what is working well – and what isn’t – on this front. 

“…mums and dads told us that often it takes just too long for the school to act and that the earlier we act, the more chance we’ve got of nipping this in the bud and stopping the bullying from happening,” he said. 

“I think this is something that every mum and dad worries about. I know I do. And the terrible truth is it’s getting worse, not better.

“The internet is a big part of that. It’s not just push and shove in the playground today. Bullying can follow you all the way home and you can get bullied day or night, and anyone can see it. It’s worse than that…”

AI is ‘supercharging the problem’, Clare added. 

“We heard stories yesterday from the eSafety Commissioner, not about children bullying other children, but AI chatbots, artificial intelligence, bullying other children, telling them they’re losers, telling them to kill themselves.”

Ministers also heard of stories of children in other countries “killing themselves because artificial intelligence told them to”, Clare said. 

“So, that’s how terrifying this is. 

“And what parents have told us is we think action needs to be faster, within the first two days for action to be taken by the school to get to the bottom of what’s happening, to take action to stop it.”

For schools, this will mean talking to all the children involved in any given incident, but also to their parents, Clare noted. 

ACU’s Dr Matthew White has followed the review closely. He says the two-day response policy is a good move, given that one of the first things to deteriorate when reports or instances of bullying take place is the trust between schools and parents. 

“Parents expect that when they send their kids to school that they’re going to be safe and that they’re not going to be prone to bullying.

“And so when they do get a call from school, or they find out at home – which is even worse, and the school doesn’t make them aware that there has been a case of bullying – it sort of triggers this erosion of trust between schools and parents,” the inclusive education expert tells EducationHQ. 

Having been a school year-level coordinator in the past, White says he knows how tricky the situation is for schools. 

But holding back communication with parents until you have a clear idea of what has or hasn’t happened could do more harm than good, he suggests. 

“These are … complex matters that are brought to schools, and it takes time for schools to properly unpack and get to the bottom of (who is the) perpetrator, victim, bully and understand that the interactions that have gone on, especially if [the bullying has a history behind it] or multiple repeated harmful behaviours…

“So, I can understand why they don’t want to make a phone call to a parent and say, ‘we’re going to do this’, or ‘this is what has happened’ without having a full picture.

“But what parents really want is for schools to be proactive and to pick up the phone and ring and start that process ... they want schools to keep them informed about what they’re doing about it and to bring them into the conversation, as opposed to locking them out and saying, ‘oh, we’ve dealt with it…”

Dr Matthew White says the bystander approach used in schools to tackle bullying is a “double edged sword”. 

The plan will see $5 million going towards a national awareness campaign and a further $5 million will be used to create a national resource hub for teachers, students and parents. 

Speaking on Nine breakfast program Today, Clare said some schools are already implementing great plans and programs and that these would be put into the hub so others could benefit. 

For students, an emphasis on how to be ‘upstanders’ against bullying will be a focus under the plan, with the Government noting evidence showing peer-based approaches can be powerful.

But Dr Karyn Healy, a researcher and psychologist from the University of Queensland, has previously warned of the risks that come with the bystander intervention approach, saying it could actually worsen the problem. 

According to the expert, the approach has been picked up in schools on the basis of just one observational study that had glaring limitations.

“…[The study] showed that if someone intervenes then bullying will stop shortly afterwards, but it didn’t really compare to what happens if no one intervenes – and there was no measure also whether the bullying then occurred at the next break or the next day.

“We had no information whatsoever from the study about the ongoing impacts,” she told EducationHQ last month. 

The conclusion that bystander action is helpful has been grossly extrapolated to ‘we need to train as many kids as possible to get involved’ in instances of bullying’, Healy lamented.

“And that definitely has not been demonstrated by the research (to be effective).

“There’s some reasons to think that may not be helpful for kids who are on the receiving end of bullying, because it can potentially really draw broader attention to the issue and be quite embarrassing for the victim.”

Healy said the approach has ‘run away with itself’ in schools, despite the patchy evidence supporting it.

“It doesn’t necessarily follow that training of the kids who know nothing about the situation, to come in and get involved, is going to be a helpful thing.

“I think schools assume that’s going to be an effective thing when it may not be.”

In White’s experience, the bystander approach used in schools is a “double edged sword”. 

“From a negative perspective, definitely the bystander approach or pulling in bystanders can add fuel to harmful behaviours. 

“Making the whole school or more students aware of these harmful behaviours can bring about shame for that young person and even the bully – the people on both ends of bullying.

“So it can add fuel and make the problem worse,” he explains. 

But the review’s recommendation on this front is more focused on the need for schools to teach pro-social and emotional behaviours, rather than relying on this one approach, White clarifies. 

“What we would hope is that schools would have multiple avenues where young people could get support. 

“And we know definitely in the research that a protective factor for students against bullying is belongingness and connectedness…” White says. 

Additionally, the research around the use of restorative practices as a means to address and prevent bullying in schools is mixed, he flags. 

Ministers also agreed to commence work on embedding anti-bullying and respectful relationships training in ITE programs, with a full implementation plan due to kick off in February. 

“We also agreed yesterday that this needs to be part of teachers’ professional development; those pupil-free days where teachers sit down and work together to get ready for school,” Clare said on Saturday. 

“…and believe me, this is not about trying to load up or add work to teachers because they’re already overloaded. The truth is bullying’s already happening…

“The better we tackle it the easier we are going to make it for teachers to do what they came to school to do which is to teach children…”

The review seemed to miss a critical focus on how schools ought to respond when bullying occurs, White argues. 

“I know one of the huge tensions that’s out there when it comes to bullying is this approach of suspension and exclusion of young people when there is bullying.

“And many parents, they want to see action, they want to see suspensions. There wasn’t really much in terms of action (to take) … it was [only about] how do we prevent it, how do we stop it?” 

The expert also argues that $5 million spent on ‘awareness’ is really a waste.

“We’re already aware that there’s a problem there, we don’t need more money going into going awareness. What really needs to be done is money going into systems and structures and understanding proper definitions for schools, and data capability and coaching for teachers,” White contends. 

The concern is that now the announcement has been aired and the money pledged, we won’t hear anything further from the review, he adds.

There’s also the risk of a ‘policy pile-on’ for schools, given there’s already clear bullying procedures and policies in place. 

“It [could] be like all the other reviews that have been done where there’s limited action. 

“So really the call is for states and territories, where the actual decisions are made, to actually get up and pick this up and do something about it.”

Confidential help and free counselling is available at Lifeline on 13 11 14 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.