The TLRI has released Final Report No 22, Bullying. The Report considers what role the law should play in responding to all types of bullying behaviours, including cyber-bullying, and questions whether the current legal regime in Tasmania can provide appropriate redress for victims. The Report notes that traditional understandings of bullying are dangerously misconceived. Bullying can encompass an extremely wide range of behaviours, including social exclusion, name-calling, cyber-harassment, gesturing, physical contact, the spreading of rumours, teasing, publishing materials relating to the victim and masquerading as the victim online. It can permeate almost any social environment, and can be perpetrated or experienced by anyone. The same ‘bullying’ behaviour that has little or no effect on one individual may be incredibly damaging to another.

The Report makes 15 recommendations. Together, the recommendations are designed to create a tiered response to bullying consisting of a criminal justice response reserved for the most serious examples of bullying behaviour, a civil justice response which seeks solutions through mediation and restorative justice practices and the development of legislative requirements for schools to implement anti-bullying policies and procedures.