AUSTRALIA’S APPROACH TO
SCHOOL BULLYING AND VIOLENCE
THE NATIONAL SAFE SCHOOLS
FRAMEWORK
NATIONAL SAFE SCHOOLS
FRAMEWORK
• The Australian Government is
committed to achieving safer,
more supportive school
environments
• It has led the development of
the National Safe Schools
Framework (NSSF)
Safe and Supportive
Schools
• The NSSF provides a national
approach to dealing with peer
victimisation and child
protection issues in schools
• It is guided by the vision that
“all Australian schools are safe
and supportive environments”
BACKGROUND
• In Australia, the extent and impact
of bullying has only recently begun
to be appreciated
• The Sticks and Stones report
published by the Australian
Parliamentary Committee on
Violence in Schools (1994)
concluded bullying was a major
problem in schools
DEFINITION OF BULLYING
– Repeated oppression,
psychological or physical, of a
less powerful person by a more
powerful person or group of
persons
CRITICAL POINTS
• Power
• Frequency
• Intent to harm
HOW PERVASIVE IS SCHOOL
BULLYING?
• A national survey of more than 38,000
schoolchildren between 7 and 17
established that approximately one child in
six was bullied by peers each week in
Australian schools
• In 2002, Kids Help Line received almost
6,000 calls about bullying from young
people in Australia
• Boys report ‘joining in’ bullying more than
girls (9% compared to 5%) and secondary
students are more likely to bully another
child than primary school students (11%
compared to 5%)
EFFECTS OF BULLYING AND
VIOLENCE
• Higher levels of stress, anxiety,
depression and illness, and an
increased tendency to suicide
• Negative impact on educational
outcomes
• Also harmful to perpetrators
who are more likely to have
antisocial and criminal
behaviour
ISSUES FOR THE SCHOOL
COMMUNITY
• Community expectations that
schools should be vigilant and
intervene when necessary
• Legal imperatives that bind
teachers
• Justice – right of children to
live their lives free of threat or
violence
• Negative impacts on
educational outcomes
WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH
• A ‘whole school approach’ is
much more likely to be
successful than single factor
interventions
NATIONALLY AGREED
FRAMEWORK
• The National Safe Schools
Framework consists of a set of
nationally agreed principles for a
safe and supportive school
environment and includes
appropriate responses which
schools can adopt to address the
issues of bullying, harassment,
violence and child abuse, including
sexual abuse and neglect.
VARIETY OF APPROACHES
• The Framework acknowledges
that no single strategy will
address all potential risks and
create a supportive school
environment.
• A co-ordinated whole-school
effort is needed that draws
together specific policy,
practices and strategies
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Australian schools:
1.
2.
3.
4.
affirm the right of all school community
members to feel safe at school
promote care, respect and cooperation
and value diversity
implement policies, programmes and
processes to nurture a safe and
supportive school environment
recognise that quality leadership is an
essential element that underpins the
creation of a safe and supportive school
environment
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
5.
6.
7.
develop and implement policies and
programmes through processes that
engage the whole school community
ensure that roles and responsibilities of all
members of the school community in
promoting a safe and supportive
environment are explicit, clearly
understood and disseminated
recognise the critical importance of preservice and ongoing professional
development in creating a safe and
supportive school environment
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
8.
have a responsibility to provide
opportunities for students to learn
through the formal curriculum the
knowledge, skills and dispositions needed
for positive relationships
9. focus on policies that are proactive and
oriented towards prevention and
intervention
10. regularly monitor and evaluate their
policies and programmes so that
evidence-based practice supports
decisions and improvements
11. take action to protect all children from all
forms of abuse and neglect
SIX KEY ELEMENTS
1. School, values, ethos, culture,
structures and student welfare
2. Policies, programmes and
procedures
3. Education/training for school staff,
students and parents
4. Managing incidents of
abuse/victimisation
5. Providing support for students
6. Working closely with parents
IMPLEMENTATION
• As a condition of Australian
Government funding to
schools, school authorities will
be required to commit to
putting the Framework into
effect before 1 January 2006.
REPORTING
• All Australian Education
Ministers agreed in 2002 that
the annual National Report on
Schooling in Australia will
provide the vehicle for public
reporting on the application of
the National Safe Schools
Framework
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
SUPPORT
• The Australian Government is supporting schools
to implement the National Safe Schools
Framework through:
– $3 million for teacher professional learning to
support implementation
– $1 million grants project to help schools
select and implement, effective, evidencebased, best practice programs to address
bullying, violence and abuse
– $300,000 for materials and other support to
guide schools in the implementation
(including an implementation manual,
resource pack and additional support for
schools with limited systemic support); and
– $200,000 to support the Bullying. No Way!
website (www.bullyingnoway.com.au)
THE NATIONAL SAFE SCHOOLS
FRAMEWORK
- AUSTRALIA
The Framework is available at
www.mceetya.edu.au/pdf/nats
afeschools.pdf
Additional information can be
found at
www.dest.gov.au/schools/publi
cations/2004/index.htm