Reporting bullying to the school
If you are worried about immediate physical danger, call 000 or the police in your state or territory.
Educators are legally required to protect children from harm that can be reasonably predicted. All schools must have policies and procedures in place to address bullying. Schools can’t address bullying they don’t know about, so the best first step is to report the behaviour to them. Working together with the school is the best way to help your child resolve bullying issues.
Sometimes a child or young person being bullied may be reluctant to report the issue to the school. This might be because they are scared, because they think it might make the situation worse, or because they don’t want to be called a ‘dobber’. Bullying is a common problem in schools and teachers and staff will have experience in addressing it. When schools know what is happening, they can put plans in place to make sure everyone is safe.
Contacting the school
If your child is in primary school, their class teacher is a good first point of contact. If your child is in high school, their year coordinator, homeroom teacher or a wellbeing staff member is a good person to speak with. There are four stages of contact with the school.
If a child or young person that you support is being bullied by another student, you should tell the school, even if it happens off school grounds or online.
To give the issue the time it needs, call the school and make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher, year coordinator or wellbeing staff member.
- Check the school’s website for information regarding policy or procedures for managing bullying.
- Write notes (or keep other records) based on what your child has told you so you can be as clear as possible about what happened. Generally, your child does not need to attend the meeting.
- Try to stay calm, even though it’s a distressing situation.
- Refer to your written notes to be as clear as possible about what happened.
- Write notes of your discussions with your child’s teacher or other staff.
- Ask what steps will be taken (and how they align with the school bullying policy).
- Ask if a plan will be developed that includes strategies for different environments (e.g. home, school).
- Ask when and how the school will let you know what action has been taken and how it went.
- Ask what mental health supports are available for your child, such as a school counsellor or psychologist.
- Recognise that investigating the situation at school will take time.
- Keep a written record of when you contacted the school, who you spoke with, and any agreements that were made.
After the meeting, stay in touch with the teacher or wellbeing staff member and let them know if problems continue or if something new happens.
Keep your child involved in this process as much as possible. Let them know what you’ve discussed and what the next steps will be. Make sure they know what to do and who they can go to if they feel unsafe at school.
What if I’m not sure if it’s bullying?
Remember: any behaviour that may be harmful to children and young people needs to be addressed. Schools don’t need to categorically decide whether behaviour is bullying before addressing the issue.
Other reporting steps you can take
The first step in addressing bullying should always be to report the bullying behaviour to the child or young person’s school. The school should investigate the situation and work with you to stop the bullying. If you are not happy with the school’s initial response, you can escalate it to the school’s principal, deputy principal or leadership team.
If you are still not satisfied with the school’s response, the next step is to make a complaint to the school’s governing body.
- For government schools, this will be the relevant Department of Education for your state or territory.
- For private or independent schools, you will need to find out from the school what their complaints procedure is, which they are legally required to make available.
Because online bullying happens via services and/or platforms, there are some specific additional steps to take when reporting cyberbullying.
Write notes based on what your child has told you so you can be as clear as possible.
Reporting a crime
Some types of bullying may need to be reported to the police. This includes if someone:
- is physically violent
- intimidates or threatens with violence
- stalks another person, which means following, watching or contacting the person repeatedly in a way that scares them
- damages or steals belongings
- accesses personal accounts without permission
- spreads lies to hurt a person’s reputation (defamation)
- encourages someone to take their own life
- shares inappropriate sexual images
- seriously harasses a person because of their:
- race
- gender identity
- sexuality
- religion.
If you think the behaviours might need to be reported to the police, keep notes on what happened and when. For online behaviour, save screenshots, account details and messages. The police can advise further steps.