About the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review
The Anti-Bullying Rapid Review was announced on 16 February 2025. Expert co-chairs, Dr Charlotte Keating and Dr Jo Robinson will lead the rapid review to look at what is working and what needs strengthening before reporting to Education Ministers with options for the development of a consistent national standard for responding to bullying and its underlying causes in schools.
A standard could inform policies across jurisdictions, in both the government and non-government school sectors, to provide children and parents confidence that no matter where a child goes to school, if they’re experiencing bullying, it will be managed in an appropriate way.
The Rapid Review will include in-person engagement, online engagement and a written feedback process. In person and online engagement will include engagement across parent groups, school peaks, unions, and government agencies, as well as directly with parents, teachers and young people.
Why the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review is needed
Bullying and cyber bullying have significant detrimental impacts on student mental health and wellbeing. Bullying undermines student wellbeing, attendance, engagement and learning outcomes. It also contributes to lifelong impacts such as reduced community participation, poor social-economic outcomes, and increases in ill-mental and physical health.
Bullying is not something that happens just in schools, but schools are places where we can identify instances of bullying, intervene, and provide support to children and young people. Bullying is a complex social issue that requires action at multiple levels: within schools at the leader, educator and student levels; within families and communities; and across all levels of government and non-government school organisations.
The Anti-Bullying Rapid Review will provide Education Ministers with:
- An overview of relevant research and evidence on best practice in relation to preventing and responding to bullying in school contexts – including addressing bullying behaviours and reducing underlying causes.
- A stocktake of bullying interventions in place in Australian schools.
- A desktop review of the effectiveness of different types of interventions to address bullying behaviours and support individuals who have been bullied.
- Details of possible models for a consistent national standard for responding to bullying and its underlying causes in school contexts.
- Advice on what a consistent national standard to address bullying should comprise. This may include principles for proactive procedures, data collection, communication, feedback processes and intervention mechanisms and escalation pathways. It may also include other features such as considerations for responding to bullying of specific cohorts such as students with disability.
- Advice on how the success or otherwise of a consistent national standard could be determined.
Review Co-chairs
Dr Charlotte Keating and Dr Jo Robinson have been appointed co-chairs of the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review.
Dr Charlotte Keating
Dr Keating is a mental health advocate and a Clinical Psychologist with a PhD in Neuroscience. Her clinical work includes treating adolescents who have experienced bullying, those who have been bullied, and those who have bullied others.
Dr Keating is a member of the Board of Directors at The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, and The World Congress on Family Law & Children's Rights, and an Advisory Board member at Dolly’s Dream.
Dr Jo Robinson
Dr Robinson leads Orygen’s suite of research programs around suicide prevention. Her work focuses on improving our knowledge about the best approaches to reduce suicide risk among young people. This includes the development of the #chatsafe guidelines, the first evidence-based best practice guidelines for safe peer-peer communication about suicide online.
Dr Robinson is a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the Development and Implementation of the Suicide Prevention Strategy for Victoria, the current President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and co-chair of an International Taskforce into Suicide Prevention in Women and Girls. She is a member of the Self-injury Advisory Group for Meta .
Review Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference define the purpose, scope, and the conduct of the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review.
