National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:34): I rise today to speak about the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence that was held last Friday. This important national day was inaugurated in 2011. In fact, I remember the day because I was at the launch in Queensland with Peter Garrett at the time. It takes place on the third Friday of March every year. This year the national day was observed on 20 March, and all organisers and participants are to be congratulated for adding their voices and saying, 'Bullying. No way!'

An initiative of the Safe and Supportive School Communities Working Group, which comprises representatives of all Australian education authorities, the national day reaches out to government, Catholic and independent schools and it provides an opportunity for school communities right across our cities and our regions to take a stand together against bullying and violence.

I speak today on this issue not only as a member of parliament but as a parent, as a member of an extended family, a former teacher, an education media person, and as the chair in 2011 of the federal parliament's Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety. I tabled the committee's interim report, High-Wire Act: Cyber-Safety and the Young, in the Senate on 20 June 2011. The evidence offered to the committee in all jurisdictions across Australia, both in person and by way of submissions and surveys, remains clear in my mind today. I will return to that issue shortly.

This year's National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence involved 1,950 schools and nearly 900,000 students in local events, presentations by guest speakers and participation in classroom-based activities using resources, including 'stand together' lesson plans. These lesson plans were tailored to year levels, with separate kits for years 3 to 4, 5 to 6, 7 to 9, and 10 to 12. Each plan had age-appropriate common themes around bullying and violence for students to explore. Themes included examining the qualities that are important in friendships, arriving at definitions of bullying, discussing students' understanding about being online, online friendships, communicating in a reasonable way online, cyber bullying, identifying examples of reasonable online behaviours, and critically evaluating those behaviours students believe to be most important in that environment.

I commend students, their families and schools for allocating time in busy schedules for this important initiative. It fosters safe and supportive school communities and, from my studies overseas and here in Australia, the reality is it could be a life saver. Australian research indicates that up to 25 per cent of students experience bullying to varying degrees and that bullying behaviours peak in the middle years and early senior years at school. Research tells us that younger children are more likely to bully overtly, verbally and/or physically, and that, as children develop, social or more covert bullying behaviours such as manipulation and exclusion increase.

As students gain access to mobile and other online communication devices, cyber bullying increases, and we are more aware than ever before of the physical, emotional and psychological consequences of bullying both in the short term and in the long term. That comes about not only just with bullying when it is face to face but certainly the 24/7 nature of online bullying. There are a number of ways that this can be avoided. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has a fantastic website that students, parents and teachers can access that provides them with information regarding bullying and protective behaviour that can be put in place to ensure that children, young people and even adults do not become victims of this.

Our adolescents may exhibit the consequences of bullying by way of, for example, deteriorating academic performance, low esteem, increased anxiety. I know I have run out of time on this, so I would like to continue at another time.