NT parents want workplace-style protections for children bullied at school

The peak body for NT public school parents says students deserve the same level of protection as adults protected under legislation from psychological harm caused by bullying in the workplace.

Northern Territory public school parents want children who are bullied at school to be protected just as adults are legally protected from psychosocial harm in the workplace.

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Northern Territory public school parents want children who are bullied at school to be protected just as adults are legally protected from psychosocial harms in the workplace.

In its submission to the Department of Education’s Anti-Bullying Rapid Review, the peak body for NT public school parents, the NT Council of Government School Organisations, also urged the government to identify and to address “under-identified and under-reported” relational aggression, such as social exclusion and emotional manipulation, between female students.

The Anti-Bullying Review, which will look at whether bullying interventions are working and come up with options for a consistent national standard to respond to bullying, received almost 1700 submissions, with community consultation now under way.

The NT COGSO, through its executive officer, Michelle Parker, said “students deserve the same level of protection in their learning environments” as adults who are “protected under legislation from psychological harm caused by bullying, harassment and other psychosocial hazards” in Australian workplaces.

A national standard for anti-bullying should adopt a “comparable approach for schools” as state and federal Work Health and Safety Acts, or the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework, which sets minimum standards for maintaining child safe practices in federal government entities.

NT COGSO executive officer Michelle Parker.

“This would establish clear and enforceable responsibilities for recognising bullying as a psycho­social hazard and for protecting students through consistent, proactive practices,” the council’s submission states.

Ms Parker told The Australian this meant embedding mental health protections and responses in national standards, and resourcing schools to deliver ­trauma-informed care.

It is not clear how it would be implemented.

“Schools are places where students spend much of their time. Shouldn’t we be addressing psycho­social hazards as seriously as we do mandatory reporting?”, she said, referring to legal obligations in many states and territories to report suspected child abuse.

NT COGSO also urged nat­ional attention and action on what it called “relational aggression”, particularly among female students, which it refers to as behaviours such as social exclusion, spreading rumours, and emotional manipulation, all amplified by social media.

“Schools need access to professional learning that builds capacity to identify, respond to and prevent this type of bullying, which can be as damaging as physical aggression,” the submission states, which could include mandating mindfulness and wellbeing in the curriculum, and increasing the number of counsellors in schools.

NT parents also want bullying to be recognised as a major reason for rising school refusals, and have called for a national standard to prioritise early intervention for students withdrawing because of unresolved or ongoing bullying, and for data to be collected on the issue.