Strengthening Tasmania’s laws to deal with bullying is a key policy of the Hodgman Liberal Government.
Today, on the National Day of Action on Bullying and Violence, I am pleased to announce that the Government intends to proceed with law reform to strengthen the state’s protections against bullying.
Serious and relentless personally-targeted bullying can have a devastating impact on a person’s life. That is why we asked the Tasmania Law Reform Institute (TLRI) to provide advice on the issue of bullying and cyber bullying laws immediately upon coming to Government in 2014.
In January this year the TLRI released its final report, with one of the primary recommendations being that serious forms of bullying may justify a criminal response and that this could be achieved by amending the Criminal Code to cover common bullying behaviours.
I can announce today that the Government will progress legislative amendments to ensure that serious bullying behaviour is captured under criminal laws more effectively.
Importantly, we will consult widely in the development of these amendments to ensure that the most serious and malicious offences are captured by the criminal code, but also to ensure there is a tiered response which applies a mediated and restorative justice response to stop bullying behaviour before it escalates.
As recommended by the TLRI, this could involve legislation enabling victims of serious bullying to apply for restraint orders, and in appropriate cases for the restraint order process to incorporate a mediated and restorative justice response.
The Government will consult widely and seek the views of key community and legal stakeholders during the development of legislation for these reforms, and we are taking a whole-of-government approach to this important issue.
Under the Education Act Review, proposed new legislative provisions have been developed to ensure that all schools have comprehensive strategies in place to address unacceptable student behaviour, including bullying.
Additionally, the proposed legislative provisions will be updated to ensure that disciplinary action in schools sits within a broader behaviour management approach.
As well as law reform, education and community awareness initiatives have an important role to play in addressing the problem of bullying.
As outlined in Agenda 2016, the Government will release a full Government response to this important issue by September 2016.