Bullying taskforce brings new school measures

SCHOOLS will be more accountable to the parents of bullied students under recommendations from the anti-bullying taskforce.

QUEENSLAND schools will be forced to provide the parents of bullying victims with clear information about how their complaint will be handled, including who will be investigating the matter, when it will be finalised, and what potential punishments bullies face.

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An overhaul of school-based processes for dealing with bullying matters, which are currently inconsistent and haphazard, is one of the 29 recommendations of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce.

Bullying and cyberbullying complaints raised with schools would no longer be able to drag on for months, and anxious parents would no longer be kept in the dark about the status of matters raised with the school.

The tragic death of Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett sparked the formation of the Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce.

Instead, parents who report an issue of bullying to a school will be provided with the contact details of the school staff member who will manage the complaint, a summary of how it will be dealt with, details of what support their child will be offered, a timeline of when they will be informed of the outcome of the matter, and what disciplinary procedures the school takes against bullies.

Families will also be told what the policy is if they wish to appeal or escalate a matter.

The Sunday Mail understands Ms Palaszczuk will announce she has accepted, either in full or in principle, all 29 recommendations of the Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce, chaired by Madonna King, when she releases the Government’s response to the Taskforce report tomorrow via social media.

“Since cyberbullying occurs on phones and social media it makes sense to spread our message there,” Ms Palaszczuk said about the announcement.

The Taskforce report also targets the conduct of social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter, who will be urged to boost their default privacy settings, which are often set at the lowest threshold, giving users little control over who accesses the personal information they choose to share.

Social media companies will also be requested to do more to verify new users, to help ensure only legitimate social media accounts are created.

Dolly’s parents, Tick and Kate Everett, met Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in their work to combat school bullying.

This measure is designed to help crack down on the proliferation of fake and imposter social media accounts that are often used for bullying and trolling purposes, with recent data from the federal eSafety Commission revealing imposter social media profiles designed to ridicule young people now make up about a fifth of all complaints to the agency.

Social media companies will be asked to make it easier for young people to block cyberbullies and online trolls.

They will also be lobbied to provide funding for new anti-bullying awareness campaigns and to help develop algorithms that can be used to automatically detect and crackdown on online bullying conduct, in a manner similar to the work that is being done in counter-terrorism.

The Taskforce also recommends improving the way police handle bullying matters, with police in some jurisdictions providing a high level of cooperation and support to schools dealing with bullying matters, and others providing little or no support.

Queensland police will be required to review their approach to dealing with bullies to ensure all cyber-bullying complaints are handled appropriately and consistently.

Funding will be provided for young people to develop their own anti-cyberbullying campaigns, and the Government will also fund an awareness campaign targeted at parents to ensure they understand that cyberbullying offences can carry a five-year jail term.

Ms Palaszczuk established the Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce following the tragic death of Amy “Dolly” Everett, who attended a Queensland boarding school.

She met Dolly’s parents Tick and Kate Everett.

“Tick and Kate are among the most courageous and inspiring people I have met,” she said.

The Premier has promised the Queensland Government will provide funding for the Everetts to expand their anti-bullying work across regional Queensland.

Ms Palaszczuk also paid tribute to Ms King, whose Taskforce travelled across the state, hearing heartbreaking stories from families devastated by the bullying crisis.

Ms King said the message from parents and teenagers across Queensland was the same – change needed to be made.

“This is a whole community issue and if our recommendations are implemented, parents will receive the assistance they want, schools will be better set up to investigate complaints and our focus all along – our children – will be safer,” she said.

St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School students Ashleigh Pomeroy, Eloise Walker and Isabel Crockett have developed digital solutions to combat cyberbullying. Picture: Bruce Long

Students at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School were recognised at the Premier’s Creating Queensland’s Future coding competition this week, for developing innovative digital solutions to tackle cyberbullying.

Years 9 to 10 winners Isabel Crockett and Eloise Walker encouraged young children to talk to their parents or a trusted adult if they were bullied online.

“The majority of bullying occurs online these days as most children spend their free time online,’’ Ms Walker said.

“I advise my friends to talk to someone if they feel that people are saying bad things about them online.’’