This issues paper examines the adequacy of current legal frameworks in Tasmania that are potentially able to address bullying behaviours, including cyberbullying. It considers reform options including the creation of a criminal offence of bullying, the extension of the functions of the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner and strengthening requirements on educational institutions to formulate policies and procedures for dealing with bullying in schools. The Institute seeks submissions by 31 July 2015.

Background to this Issues Paper

In May 2014, the Tasmanian Attorney-General, the Hon Vanessa Goodwin, requested that the Board of the Tasmania Law Reform Institute consider as a project the examination of the capacity of Tasmanian laws to address the issue of bullying and cyberbullying, legislative approaches of other jurisdictions aimed at addressing the problem of bullying and cyberbullying, and options for any necessary reform. The project was accepted on 5 June 2014.

How to Respond

The Tasmania Law Reform Institute invites responses to the issues discussed in this Issues Paper. There are a number of questions posed by this Issues Paper and respondents can choose to answer any or all of those questions in their submission.

There are a number of ways to respond:

• By filling in the Submission Template

  The Template can be filled in electronically and sent by email or printed out and filled in manually and posted. The Submission Template can be accessed at the Institute’s webpage ">http://www.utas.edu.au/law-reform/>.

• By providing a more detailed response to the Issues Paper