Anti-bullying report outlines national strategy to crack down on behaviour

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The federal government's final report from an anti-bullying review has been handed down outlining eight key recommendations to help parents and teachers respond to the crisis.

Transcript

00:00For a long time we've been hearing some really awful stories about incidents of school bullying

00:08in Australia, with a lot of it now happening online.

00:11So earlier this year the federal government commissioned a review into how to better address

00:16bullying and today a final report has been published.

00:20That report made eight key recommendations.

00:23Among them was a recommendation for trauma-informed training for teachers, targeted resources

00:29to address cyber bullying and things like deep fakes and clear guidance to help schools

00:35intervene much earlier.

00:37It also recommends that schools must initiate action within two days of receiving a complaint

00:43of bullying and that action involves taking down a report, writing down who was involved,

00:50what happened, any evidence and when as part of that response to bullying.

00:55The federal government has contributed $10 million of federal funding to help kickstart

01:00this national plan.

01:02About $5 million of that funding will go towards a national awareness campaign and the other

01:07$5 million will go towards more resources for parents, students and teachers.

01:12So earlier today we heard from the Federal Education Minister, Jason Clare, who outlined that bullying

01:18today in Australia is becoming increasingly more disturbing online.

01:22It's different than it was when we were kids, when we were at school.

01:27Now a lot of it happens online.

01:30What Annika and Julie were telling us yesterday is that most of the bullying is happening through

01:33TikTok and Snapchat.

01:36So the changes we're making to social media will help.

01:39Getting kids off TikTok and Snapchat will help.

01:42But it's not the only place where kids are bullied day and night.

01:45Now, the education minister was keen to promote the Australian government's world leading social

01:53media ban for children and teenagers under the age of 16 as part of its broader response

01:57to bolstering safety for kids online.

02:01Earlier this week, we heard from the communications minister, Annika Wells, who met with key representatives

02:08from social media platforms popular with children such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat to discuss

02:16the rollout of this new ban for under-16s as well as to reiterate their responsibilities under these laws.

02:22Now, we don't know which platforms exactly will be subjected to these new restrictions when they

02:27come into effect on the 10th of December.

02:30But we are expecting more information to come out in the weeks ahead as part of the federal

02:34government's broader mission to really improve kids' safety online.

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