Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

CRIMES AMENDMENT (BULLYING) BILL 2011
1558 COUNCIL Tuesday, 31 May 2011
This bill has bipartisan support and is the result of work
done by the previous Labor government and the current
government, the Parliament and Victoria’s legal
community. In late 2010 the former Labor government
referred the question of serious bullying to the
Victorian Law Reform Commission, which was asked
to review the adequacy of our criminal law in dealing
with serious cases of bullying. I am advised that the law
reform commission formed the view that an extensive
inquiry was not required and that the issue of bullying
could be dealt with adequately through amendments to
the Crimes Act 1958 — the amendments that we have
before us today.
The bill amends the Crimes Act 1958 to clarify and
strengthen provisions so that serious bullying can fall
within the definition of stalking and provides a penalty
of up to 10 years imprisonment. The bill adds new
provisions to the Crimes Act 1958 so that the course of
conduct and intention that constitutes stalking
encompass the behaviour of serious bullying. The bill
adds the same provisions to the Stalking Intervention
Orders Act 2008 and the Personal Safety Intervention
Orders Act 2010. All three acts will be consistent and
victims will be able to apply for intervention orders.
The use of intervention orders can help to stop the
conduct of serious bullying. It can provide a marker in
time where the victim of such behaviours is able to put
formal proceedings in place and interact with police
and the court system to bring about formal recognition
of behaviours that are completely unacceptable and
need to be dealt with. It is envisaged that this would be
a trigger therefore to allow workplace bullying to be
dealt with as a criminal matter.
The bill amends the stalking provisions in four key
ways. Firstly, it clarifies that threats and abusive and
offensive words are acts that may form part of the
course of bullying conduct. The definition of ‘bullying’
is really important. Ms Pennicuik touched on this in her
contribution to the debate, but one of the challenges
when we first met one another working in the area of
workers’ compensation and occupational health and
safety was how to prove something that is often quite
intangible — for example, the complaint, in my
experience in a workplace bullying scenario, might
come across as ‘he looks at me funnily’ or ‘he talks to
me in a really unpleasant way’ or ‘she has turned
everyone against me’.
These experiences are real and significant problems for
the victim, and impact on the victim because they come
at the end of a long series of behaviours and actions that
have contributed to that dynamic between those two
people. Anything that seeks to define and clarify what
we mean by ‘bullying’ is very helpful for us all.
The second way is in broadening the description of ‘a
course of conduct’ to include any conduct that would be
reasonably expected to cause a victim to physically
harm themselves. The third is to provide that the fault
element includes the intention to cause the victim to
physically harm themselves. The fourth is to expressly
provide for the purpose of this offence mental harm.
Many high-profile bullying cases that members will be
aware of involve physical abuse. Indeed when we had a
debate in this place about JobWatch not that long ago,
we heard about the experiences of apprentices who
have been bullied in the workplace and who have
suffered extreme physical abuse.
The bill defines psychological harm and describes
conduct causing the victim to engage in suicidal
thoughts as mental harm. Again, this is an important
evolution in the way we think about bullying in
workplaces and in other places. I am informed that
Victoria is the first state to introduce a bill for the
criminalisation of serious bullying. That is good, and it
is good that we are doing it in a way that is widely
supported by the community and across the Parliament.
The bill will provide greater protection to victims of
cyberbullying. Everyone deserves a safe workplace.
Serious bullying is not only a crime but an occupational
health and safety issue. Serious bullying in a workplace
setting affects a lot of people because of the many
relationships that exist in a workplace. It is important to
note that this legislation does not detract from the
importance and the need for employers to provide a
safe workplace.
This bill in no way seeks to replace the arrangements
that place that responsibility on employers. It in no way
seeks to replace the role that employees and coworkers
have in reporting instances of bullying and
inappropriate behaviour in their workplaces. However,
I hope this bill will encourage employers to be more
vigilant in preventing workplace bullying and reducing
its incidence, and encourage employers to execute the
responsibilities they are required to uphold in order to
avoid any legal liability.
Mr Davis talked about the rules of society and the
circumstances that have in some way led to this bill
being before this place. There are a number of things
we can do to promote the type of society where
bullying is unacceptable and where it is nipped in the
bud by the first person who sees it.