Anti-bullying rapid review has 8 key recommendations for Australian schools

Read about the Australian government’s recommendations following the final Anti-bullying Rapid Review report publication.

In February 2025, the Australian Government’s Department for Education announced the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review. The review was designed to understand the current state of bullying in schools to see what measures were working and what improvements were needed to inform education policy.  The review took into account the views and experiences of many stakeholders across schools alongside research and evidence of best practice, including over 1,700 submissions from parents, students and school staff. 1

The review has formed a National Standard of Addressing Bullying in Australian Schools alongside 8 recommendations to ‘ensure that every school offers a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment where bullying and other harmful behaviours are not accepted.’ 2 The Federal Government support the plan from Education Ministers and have agreed a $10 million investment. Half of this investment will be spent on a national awareness campaign, with the remaining amount used for resources for teachers, students and parents. 1

What is the National Standard on Bullying in Australian Schools?

The standard “provides the framework for all school systems and schools to establish shared national expectations and actions and provide confidence that no matter where a student goes to school, bullying behaviours, including harmful antecedent behaviours (referred to as bullying and other harmful behaviours) will be appropriately addressed and the school workforce supported to take appropriate action.”

There are six standards that form the national standard for schools to implement in their settings:

• Standard 1: Consistent anti-bullying requirements
• Standard 2: Whole of school and locally tailored approaches
• Standard 3: Create clarity and confidence in school anti-bullying action
• Standard 4: Intervening early and appropriately
• Standard 5: Support the school workforce
• Standard 6: Reducing risks and fostering safe, inclusive and respectful communities

Each standard is broken down into requirements for schools as part of that standard. For example, in standard 3, one point is ‘School systems and schools reviewing their anti-bullying policies and processes in 2027 and routinely thereafter to ensure they remain fit for purpose and are having the intended impact.’ 3

What are the 8 recommendations?

These are 8 recommendations for actions the government to act upon and, where relevant, actions for school systems and school boards as well.

1. 1. Education Ministers to commit to a National Standard for every Australian school to be a safe, inclusive and learning environment where bullying behaviours are not accepted and the school workforce is supported to take appropriate action.
   2. Education Ministers consider the suggested principles-based National Standard included in the report for implementation across all school systems.
   3. The Australian government to lead on a targeted public awareness campaign to be developed with experts in primary prevention and behaviour change and other stakeholders; and to enhance education on social, emotional, empathy, respect and relationship issues, and to equip students to understand and prevent harmful behaviours.
   4. Education ministers, school systems and school leaders to support all schools to implement clear, transparent, trauma informed and responsive anti-bullying features that require schools within 2 days of become aware of bullying/harmful behaviours to make reasonable effort to initiate safety and support planning and communication; and that are developed for their local school context in partnership with students, parents and carers.
   5. Education Ministers to empower and equip schools with resources and training including: trauma informed training and resources; target resources on cyberbullying, deepfakes and online harms; resources for students and families who have experienced or engaged in bullying/harmful behaviours; and support to ensure risk factors and needs of local school populations are considered including for unique and intersecting diverse student groups (such as First Nations people, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, and women and girls).
   6. Education Ministers, school systems and school boards to support local school action through: helping to analyse data and identify bullying related risks (to support with early intervention); providing clear guidance to help prevent the development/escalation of harmful behaviours; provide structured initiatives that help students positively engage in learning; provide initiatives that support with student behaviours changes including working with parents/carers on their child’s behaviours.
   7. Education Ministers to commit to continual improvement in addressing bullying/harmful behaviours: review implementation of review’s recommendations in 2027 and routinely there after and identify opportunities to build the national evidence base.
   8. Education Ministers note that bullying prevention goes beyond the education sector and that a whole society approach is needed to address broader risk factors and to support safe, inclusive and respectful learning environments including in links with the health, community and communication sectors.  4

Speaking on the need for a rapid response from schools when bullying is reported, Minister for Education, Jason Clare, explains:

“Bullying is cruel and it’s dangerous. It doesn’t just leave physical scars, it leaves invisible scars that can last a lifetime. That’s why we’ve taken action with this national plan to address bullying. A lot of parents told us it was taking too long for some schools to act on bullying complaints. The Anti-Bullying Rapid Review recommends that schools should respond within two school days to a complaint or incident. If we’re going to properly tackle bullying, we need to nip it in the bud and to act early. And we need to make sure teachers have the right tools and training so they know how to act and what to do. This is just the start and the hard work is ahead of us to make our schools safe and protect children.” 1

Learn more about the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review’s full report.

References

1. https://www.education.gov.au/newsroom/articles/antibullying-rapid-review-final-report-released
2. https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/albanese-government-back-anti-bullying-review-recommendations-10-million-get-work-started
3. https://www.education.gov.au/download/19729/national-standard-addressing-bullying-australian-schools/42364/document/pdf
4. https://www.education.gov.au/download/19736/summary-recommendations-anti-bullying-rapid-review/42367/document/pdf