Statutes Amendment (Bullying) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 27 September 2017.)

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (22:22): I rise to make a brief contribution to this bill that was introduced by the Hon. Dennis Hood. The first thing I would say is that we cannot any of us be anything other than appalled and dismayed at the behaviour that the bill seeks to address. Bullying is one of those things that on a spectrum can have mild consequences, or it can have the most drastic consequences and can end in someone's death, either at their own hand or otherwise. It is a real problem in our community and I think the people of South Australia are looking to the parliament, along with other institutions, to do something about it, so I understand exactly where the Hon. Dennis Hood is coming from.

The Greens' position is that we think an issue as important as this does require a great degree of care in dealing with it, particularly when we are looking to add criminality to young people, to increase the scope for the criminal law to be the response. We know that something like bullying is a multifaceted problem and that ultimately the response lies with society and its behaviour and the way we bring up young people. The law will have a role to play but it will not necessarily be the primary role.

My indication to the Hon. Dennis Hood was that I was going to propose that the bill be referred to the Social Development Committee. I still think that is the way to go with legislation such as this but given the lateness of the hour, and the amount of business that we have before us, I think it is suffice for me to say that that is my preferred approach rather than actually move it. I understand from the Hon. Dennis Hood that he has the support of much of the chamber, so it is not something that we need to unnecessarily delay ourselves with.

I do need to very quickly put on the record a couple of bits of correspondence that we have received which are inviting us to oppose the bill. Like I say, the Greens' position was that we wanted to explore these issues further, and maybe we will get a chance in the new parliament to do that. There are two submissions. One comes from the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia. They oppose the bill. The concluding sentences of the submission from Anne Bainbridge of the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia states:

The Bill will not make children and young people safer. The best way to deal with bullying is to prevent it. Programs that centre on strengthening families at a community level coupled with robust policies, procedures, and responses within schools have a much greater chance of protecting children and young people.

The submission goes on to talk about some of the problems with using the criminal law to address behaviour.

Another submission we received was from the Commissioner for Children and Young People. Again, the commissioner, Helen Connolly, has put in a very detailed submission of about seven or eight pages. She has included some commentary that young people have written themselves—some lovely colourful handwriting when she asked young people what it is they think needs to be done to prevent problems like bullying. I do not want to read all of those out, but I am just saying the commissioner has provided them to us.

The commissioner's view is that we already have a number of policies, criminal laws and wellbeing and safety legislation to deal with severe and extensive and bullying and cyberbullying. The commissioner's view is that we should continue to use these avenues rather than enact a new law that will further criminalise children's behaviour at school.

There is a lot more I could read out, but I will not. As I said, the Hon. Dennis Hood has indicated that he has the general support of the council. That does not surprise me, because the issues that he is seeking to address are some of the most serious and disturbing behaviours that we have seen.

The Greens' position is that we are not convinced that the criminal law is the way to go. But if the will of the chamber is to proceed with this bill now, so be it. I am hoping that at some stage in the next parliament, whether it is the Social Development Committee or some other committee, we will have a good look at programs as well as laws to see whether we actually have the right solutions in place.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (22:26): This bill will make bullying a criminal offence with maximum penalties of 10 years' imprisonment. I commend the Hon. Dennis Hood for taking action on this matter of bullying, especially in response to the tragic death of Libby Bell. Whilst I am supportive of the bill, I am concerned that more is not being done on this matter.

Advance SA does not think that simply having a big stick to punish people will be enough to tackle the issue of bullying. Unfortunately, the reality is that children can be very cruel and this is not something that is new. However, the considerable increase of exposure to bullying through social media means that this cruelty can be spread further, longer and can creep into traditional safe havens such as a child's home.

Advance SA believes that there needs to be more education to teach children about the effects of bullying and how to switch off. Resilience should be taught so that children learn how to cope with these matters. I am not at all suggesting that Libby Bell, her parents or teachers did anything wrong. I am simply saying that those who perpetrate this sort of behaviour, children, often do not think about the consequences. Turning bullying into a criminal offence is unlikely to have a definitive positive effect without more work to prevent this behaviour in the first place.

Advance SA sees merit in having bullying as a criminal offence, especially when the deterrence is used in conjunction with education programs for children. I understand there are examples where adults have bullied children online. The typical scenario for this is when a parent of a child involves themselves in a dispute between schoolchildren. This behaviour is absolutely abhorrent, and these people, these adults, should know better and should be prosecuted for their behaviour, especially if their actions result in harm. On behalf of Advance SA, I support the bill.

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN (22:29): I rise to speak to the Statutes Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2017. I indicate to the chamber that the Liberal Party will be supporting the second reading of the bill. The bill was introduced by Hon. Dennis Hood on 27 September this year. I understand that the Hon. Dennis Hood is putting it to a vote today to enable enough time for it to be debated in the other place before the end of the parliamentary session.

The catalyst for this bill was the tragic case of Libby Bell, which received widespread media attention. When introducing this bill, the Hon. Dennis Hood cited two other cases of Cassidy Trevan and Brodie Panlock. These cases also involved serious and repeated acts of bullying. It is cases such as these that have caused our community to reflect on whether our laws provide enough protection to those who are unfortunate enough to experience such sustained and unrelenting bullying.

As a community, we need to guard against such behaviour and provide protection to those who are vulnerable, especially those who should be able to experience all the joys of youth. The bill before the chamber has been loosely based on the Victorian legislation which passed in 2011, colloquially known as Brodie's Law. The bill seeks to criminalise serious and repeated acts of bullying. Bullying can indeed take various forms, so the bill includes a number of definitions of bullying to accommodate this reality.

The acts need to be committed over a period of seven days or more. Further, for an act to constitute bullying it must be proven that the perpetrator intended to cause harm or was recklessly indifferent to causing harm. A maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment applies to cases where serious harm is caused. In any other case, the maximum penalty is five years' imprisonment. These penalty provisions, however, have been drafted in a manner that retains judicial discretion. Therefore, a range of other sentencing options will be available to a court in imposing sentences, such as good behaviour bonds, community service orders or fines, depending on the circumstances of the particular case.

I note that one of the definitions of bullying includes an act of publishing or transmitting offensive material by means of the internet or some other form of electronic communication in such a way that the offensive material is found by or brought to the attention of the other person. I ask the Hon. Dennis Hood: in terms of the inclusion of this particular clause—clause 20A, subsection 2(e)—does the mover envisage that the bill will extend to situations of cyber bullying?

Sadly, it seems that cyber bullying by social media platforms is becoming increasingly more common. Therefore, the Liberal Party is supportive of measures that seek to address this contemporary problem. I am pleased to hear the Hon. Dennis Hood's remarks, when he introduced the bill, that it is not the goal to limit freedom of speech or to create provisions whereby minor incidents constitute bullying and carry a criminal penalty. He emphasised that this is neither the purpose or the effect of this bill.

Finding the right balance between punishment, deterrence and, importantly, educating the perpetrators so that they can understand the errors of their behaviour can be a difficult task. The Liberal Party has considered the bill. It has formed the view that the balance appears to be appropriate, having regard to the provisions set out before us.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (22:32): I rise to speak briefly on this bill that has been brought forward by the Hon. Dennis Hood. I endorse the comments made on behalf of the Liberal Party by the Hon. Andrew McLachlan. I compliment the Hon. Mr Hood for bringing this forward in a sincere manner to deal with issues that are far too common across many communities today.

However, I want to very briefly outline some of the other aspects in relation to some of the incidences that the Hon. Mr Hood has highlighted and others that we are aware of in youth suicide. In my experience, on many occasions, there are other complex issues going on in the lives of these young people as well as aspects of bullying. I am certainly not downplaying the bullying. It is not only young people; bullying goes on with people in older age groups as well.

Certainly, I would encourage people to get involved and encourage the work of the suicide prevention networks around South Australia. As well as the ones that have been established under the suicide prevention strategy and now the new plan, we also have the others that have been established under the federal funding through the Wesley LifeForce organisation. They all work together, hand in glove.

Of course, there is Headspace, which does terrific work with young people. There is an online group, ReachOut.com, that I have had a bit to do with. There was a young lady from that organisation who came and spoke here to many members of parliament a number of years ago about the work they do in communicating with these young people.

I would also encourage members who are interested in the issues around youth suicide to have a look at the organisation called Papyrus, which is based in the UK. It covers the whole of the United Kingdom, but it is based in Warrington. I have been aware of that organisation for a number of years, and I have visited them. It is a not-for-profit established by the parents of a young person that suicided. That organisation has a terrific website and terrific information it puts up on Facebook and other media. I would encourage anyone who has a genuine interest, as the Hon. Mr Hood and others do, to have a look and see what policies Papyrus develops.

I would also like to indicate that, under the government's plan and strategy about suicide prevention in recent years, the establishment of the suicide prevention networks has been very much designed around local government areas and has been done with the support of local government. However, a number of the very successful ones also have very strong support from local MPs. We all know, as representatives of the whole state, that sometimes we do not get included in those local community things, but certainly I have been, and there are other MLCs who have played an important role in that area.

So, I would also encourage members of this place to assist communities that they see are struggling with these issues to go to their local government. There are still many more local governments that have not got involved, and some of them need just a bit of encouragement. With those words, I am happy to indicate that I support the honourable member's bill.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (22:37): Members will be pleased to hear that I will be brief in my summing-up. I would like to thank the speakers who have contributed to the second reading of my bill. The Hon. Mr Parnell made some valid points in his contribution when he said that the best way to deal with bullying is to prevent it. I could not agree with him more. In fact, when I introduced this bill a while back now, I said in my second reading explanation that this is not a perfect solution, that we cannot simply rely on legislation to address these matters and that education forms the primary defence, if you like, against bullying in our society. Of course, we focus on the issue within schools, but it is not just schools. It is in the workplace and it is in our broader community, and for that reason I wholeheartedly agree with the Hon. Mr Parnell's comments.

He also mentioned at least two pieces of correspondence he received that had concerns about the bill, and I acknowledge those. In fact, I received the same correspondence, so he is quite correct in saying that. There are, of course, a number of significant individuals in the community who did not necessarily support the bill, but have supported the concept of legislation in this space. A person no less than the police commissioner has expressed his view that we should at least investigate legislation dealing with this issue. So my bill tonight is the culmination of that expression by the police commissioner. I am not suggesting he is endorsing this bill. I am not sure what his attitude is on this particular bill, but certainly he has made public comments to the effect that we should consider legislation in this space.

I thank the Hon. Mr Parnell for his contribution. The Hon. Mr Darley made similar points in many ways to the Hon. Mr Parnell. He talked about the need for more education in this space. Again, I entirely agree with him. That should be our first and foremost defence against what is really an epidemic of bullying in our society, so I thank the Hon. Mr Darley for his contribution.

The Hon. Mr McLachlan made the correct comment that the bill is based quite closely on what is colloquially known as Brodie's Law in Victoria, which passed in 2011 after the tragic incident in Victoria. He posed the question about section 20A(2)(e) of my bill. The question was, 'Does that relate to the potential for cyber bullying?', and the answer is: yes, it does. He is quite right. It was specific in the drafting and I remember the discussions with parliamentary counsel along those lines: that that was really where a good deal of this bullying occurs in modern times.

Once upon a time, if someone was bullied in a workplace or school setting, they could have that terrible experience during the day but escape at night; they could go home and escape the ongoing bullying. These days, of course, that is much more difficult with the advent of social media and the like. The internet reaches into people's homes, into their bedrooms and into their private spaces. There is no escape in the modern world from this sort of activity in many cases and that can lead to very tragic outcomes, as is the case with Libby Bell, who I will talk about a little bit more in a moment.

Then we had the contribution of the Hon. Mr Dawkins. He also made the point—and I think he is absolutely right—that bullying and the specific types of bullying is just one of the factors in people's lives that often results in a tragic outcome. That is quite correct. Again, that is why I admit quite freely that this is not perfect law. This is not a perfect bill by any stretch and this is not the only way of dealing with this problem, but we do need education, and that should be the primary focus in dealing with this sort of behaviour.

The Hon. Mr Dawkins also talked about a number of groups that have been helpful and active in this area, and I commit to him right now—I already have in fact—that I will look at the Papyrus Group and try to educate myself on exactly what they do. I have heard of them, but I am not exactly familiar with them, I must say.

This bill, of course, was conceived following the tragic case of Libby Bell. Libby Bell was a beautiful 13-year-old girl who took her own life just a few months ago as a result of bullying in her life. There were other factors. As the Hon. Mr Dawkins pointed out, it is rarely one thing that results in a tragic outcome, but in her case certainly the bullying played a significant role. At the time, there were calls throughout our community for legislation to deal with these sorts of issues, and this bill is a tribute to her and an attempt to say that enough is enough and that, as a society, we want to make inroads into at least curbing the epidemic that is bullying in our society.

To give some weight to that statement of the epidemic, as I call it, of bullying in our society, members may be aware that the education department did a survey of South Australian public school students last year. There is much detail I could give, but members will be pleased to hear that I will not, given the hour. In very simple terms, the bottom line was that the survey found that some 5,000 students in South Australian public schools alone, excluding independent and Catholic schools, self-reported as having been bullied on a weekly basis. This is tragic by any measure. Obviously, that bullying was right across the spectrum, from the very minor to the very serious. Nonetheless, I am sure members here would agree that that is 5,000 too many and, on a weekly basis, it is nothing short of terrifying.

As a general comment, I will say that this is difficult law, particularly for a private member. I would see this law as being more in the realm of government than in the realm of a private member because it is hard to determine in many ways what exactly bullying is. This law is based heavily on the Victorian model, which of course was a government bill, so it was a little bit easier in the sense of framing the right words and where we should pitch this. However, I again make it clear that I am not claiming that this bill is in any way perfect.

I thank the Attorney-General especially for some conversations I have had with him about the bill. I respect his expertise in this space, and he has committed tonight for the government to allow this bill to go through, and he will have a close look at it with me next week to see what, if any, changes are required. I am certainly happy to endorse that process.

I would make the comment also that my bill is in no way an attempt to curb free speech. As a political party the Australian Conservatives are absolutely committed to free speech, but there is a really strong difference between free speech and bullying, and that is outlined specifically in my bill. I think it was the Hon. Mr McLachlan who pointed out that the bullying needs to recur over a minimum of seven days.

This is not a one-off situation where somebody might call somebody a name, or something to that effect. There is an old saying that, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.' I do believe strongly in the right of free speech: this is not about free speech and it will not curb free speech, because we are talking about a sustained, prolonged attack on someone's character with a deliberate intent to demean them or to cause them to self-harm or to cause them harm. That is the intention of this bill, so that is very different to free speech.

If somebody calls someone a name in a moment of anger, by and large that should not happen, but as adults or mature people generally speaking we can move on. It is obviously more difficult for young people. By and large one-off incidents can be forgiven and forgotten, to a large degree, but when it is sustained and with a deliberate intent to harm somebody that is bullying and as a society we should not tolerate it.

I have been stunned by the degree of public support for this bill. I would not say that I have been inundated, because that might be exaggerating, but I have been the receiver of many hundreds of emails in support of this legislation from right across the spectrum of society, which has been very encouraging. Particularly, I draw the chamber's attention to the fact that, as at about 9.30 this morning, the change.org petition for Libby's law had 36,558 signatures in support of this bill in its current form. Again, I am happy to accept that it may change, but there are 36,558 signatures in support of the bill.

I wonder how many bills that have ever come to this place have had that level of public support in just a few months. That says there is a real need. I have had approaches from right across the spectrum in the community supporting this bill, from various aspects of the legal profession to the medical profession to law enforcement—right across the spectrum—and of course the education sector itself. I have been humbled and grateful for the public support I have received for this bill.

Finally, the South Australian Organisation of State Schools, the parents' organisation that represents the parents and the school boards, have also done their own survey and found 80.12 per cent support for bullying laws to be enacted and enforced in the schools, so over 80 per cent support within the school system itself. Of those 80 per cent, 71.65 per cent were principals. So, 71.65 per cent of the 80 per cent were principals in support of some laws to deal with bullying in schools; 80.65 per cent were teachers, also supporting some bullying laws being in place; and some 87.69 per cent of SSOs in the schools also support legislation to deal with bullying.

The support has been widespread, and I am very grateful for it. This is a genuine problem in our society. We simply must deal with it; we cannot turn away any more as young people literally are dying. I do not know what more needs to happen for us to act. I thank members for their contributions and for their goodwill on this issue and I commend the bill to the house.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (22:50): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.