Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

CRIMES AMENDMENT (BULLYING) BILL 2011
1554 COUNCIL Tuesday, 31 May 2011
subsequent bravery in highlighting this issue which has
led to providing much of the framework of this law.
I also would like to thank members of the chamber for
their contributions in this debate and for recognising the
nature of serious bullying and in doing so recognising
that in 2011 serious bullying, whether in the workplace,
over the internet or in schools, and no matter the age of
the victim, should not be tolerated by our community.
This bill provides for the criminalisation of serious
bullying and has a number of purposes. Firstly, it
amends the Crimes Act 1958 in relation to the offence
of stalking and then makes consequential provisions
which my colleague David O’Brien has highlighted in
detail. I want to mention that the bill adds those new
provisions to the Crimes Act 1958 so that the course of
conduct and intention that constitutes stalking
encompasses the behaviours of serious bullying. The
bill also adds the same provisions to the Stalking
Intervention Orders Act 2008 and the Personal Safety
Intervention Orders Act 2010, so that the three acts are
consistent and that victims of serious bullying can make
applications for the issue of intervention orders.
The bill inserts into the Crimes Act 1958 a number of
definitions of the offence of stalking, including making
threats to the victim, using abusive or offensive words
to or in the presence of the victim, performing abusive
or offensive acts in the presence of the victim, and
directing abusive or offensive acts towards the victim.
Importantly, the bill includes in that definition acting in
any other way that could reasonably be expected to
cause physical or mental harm to the victim, including
self-harm, or to arouse apprehension or fear in the
victim for his or her own safety or that of any other
person.
The bill also provides for the purposes of bullying to
include mental harm. Mental harm includes
psychological harm causing the victim to engage in
suicidal thoughts. Importantly, it also allows steps to be
taken to prevent serious bullying through intervention
orders in repeated bullying incidences. The bill allows
for intervention orders that have been breached in such
circumstances to be charged as a separate criminal
offence, and that is also important to note.
The appalling physical and psychological bullying
suffered by Brodie Panlock on a sustained basis
demonstrates why this bill will provide more protection
for victims of serious bullying. It also sends a very
strong and clear message to those perpetrators who
engage in such cowardly and intimidatory behaviour
that if found guilty of such a charge they will then be
subjected to the serious penalties that will apply,
including up to 10 years imprisonment.
This government went to the last election on a number
of key issues. One of those issues was law and order.
The public was undoubtedly concerned about the
increasing violence occurring within our communities.
People were also concerned about the order within our
society and the breakdown in many parts of our
communities of the basic elements of respect and
tolerance that should apply to any civilised society.
Bullying and serious bullying should not be tolerated
by our communities.
This bill seeks to apply to incidents of serious bullying
which occur not just in the workplace, over the internet
or in schools but in all Victorian environments. We
have heard from a number of members today who are
particularly concerned about the rising instances of
cyberbullying, as I am. Several young people I know
have been subjected to cyberbullying. It is concerning
that the number of reported instances of severe bullying
has increased in recent years. It has a significant impact
on people of all ages, especially teenagers and young
adults, and it needs to be addressed. The dreadful and
horrific circumstance of Brodie Panlock’s death is just
one example of the tragic consequences of serious
bullying. However, sadly there have been other cases
where young people have also taken their lives under
similar circumstances.
Making serious bullying a criminal act aims to prevent
cowardly and shocking acts of bullying from occurring
in the future. This legislation applies to the most serious
cases of bullying whereby, as the bill states, the course
of conduct could reasonably be expected to cause a
victim to physically harm themselves. It does not apply
to a workplace situation in which an employee may not
agree with a one-off decision or direction they are given
by management, allowing that employee to then accuse
their manager or supervisor of serious bullying
behaviour. It does not give the green light to disgruntled
employees who might think they can automatically
subject their managers to criminal prosecution.
Such workplace disputes, which are not uncommon,
can and should be managed through the appropriate
channels, whereby under the Occupational Health and
Safety Act 2004 the complaint would be subjected to
current Victorian workplace laws and dealt with
accordingly by WorkSafe Victoria, which defines
workplace bullying as:
… repeated unreasonable behaviour directed towards a
worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health and
safety. In most cases, this behaviour is persistent and happens
over a period of time.