New framework for 2027 to help bullies and victims

February 14, 2026 — 16:30

Students who are bullied will be given personalized safety plans, which could include increased supervision and their own “safe zone” such as the library, under new bullying rules to be introduced in all NSW schools next year.

Schools should prioritize students’ well-being, clearly teach kindness, respect and inclusion, and counsel bullies rather than punish them. Every incident must be recorded, a response must be made within two days and all rude behavior must be addressed.

Hurstville Public School has seen that its efforts to prevent bullying before it starts make a big difference.Sam Mooy

Schools will need a triage system that classifies bullying incidents as low, medium or high risk based on factors such as physical harm, emotional impact and repetition. Each triggers a specific response, from counseling to external referral.

The government’s advice to public, private and Catholic schools is designed to help schools align their policies with the anti-bullying framework, which every school must comply with by 2027 or risk deregistration.

The new rules follow Education Minister Prue Car’s 2024 directive for the state’s schools regulator to work with the education department, Catholic and independent schools to develop an evidence-based, best practice model for tackling bullying.

A study across more than 20 countries has found Australian students are among the most bullied; Almost a fifth said others had made fun of them and one in 10 said they had been deliberately excluded.

The guidelines require schools to use a range of techniques, including anonymously surveying students about their experiences, inviting children to help design anti-bullying campaigns and classroom codes of conduct.

Teachers have been told to avoid using labels such as “bully” or “victim” when dealing with incidents and to teach students who bully others alternative ways to express emotions, resolve conflicts and build relationships.

Teachers should “use guided discussions to help students who bully others understand the impact of their actions and commit to change,” the guide states.

They recommend electing students to be “cybersafety ambassadors” to encourage respectful online behavior, and also recommend that teachers encourage students to “create videos, podcasts, or social media content that showcases positive digital behaviors and promotes anti-bullying messages.”

Students will be taught to support classmates and alert staff when someone appears distressed or lonely; Acts of kindness should be publicly celebrated.

Teachers should be trained to explicitly teach skills such as empathy, emotional regulation, conflict resolution, and responsible decision-making. They also need training in data analysis to “interpret bullying data, recognize trends, and understand how to respond strategically.”

The guidance calls for schools to develop personalized safety plans for victims, including additional supervision, safe zones and reliable contact with adults to ensure children feel safe during and after school hours.

The framework is supported by research conducted by NSW behavioral expert Professor Donna Cross, who found “zero tolerance” policies involving suspension and deportation were ineffective and potentially harmful.

Its research also found that state students in NSW who reported being bullied in the year before NAPLAN lost up to eight months of learning in literacy and numeracy.

“As a general policy, a zero-tolerance policy shows a lack of consideration for children involved in bullying,” he said. “If we don’t respond and teach them in a learning environment, what schools are, how to behave differently, the evidence shows that the behavior will continue.

Professor Donna Cross (right) has researched bullying prevention and NSW schools will implement the findings.

“It’s going to continue in the workforce, it’s going to continue in their families. As parents, those kids are going to have children who are bullies.”

Instead, Cross said schools should work to rehabilitate bullies, offering them counseling and support to address the underlying motivation for their behavior. Suspension and expulsion should only be used as a last resort.

“What the new guidance does is really help make schools more specific and responsive to bullying,” Cross said. “Anti-bullying guidelines are actually guardrails to say: Here are the things that will make the most difference.”

At Heritage College in Lake Macquarie, each day begins with a short assembly on a weekly virtue, and college principal Simon Dodson says teaching students how to be a good person should be a school’s primary aim.

“We put character education first,” Dodson said. “Not everyone is going to do well academically… but everyone needs to be a good person.”

Dodson draws a line between bad behavior (a one-off insult or cruel comment that still needs correction) and bullying, which is repeated abuse of power. “Bullying can be eliminated…if everyone has a place and everyone is valued and belongs,” he said.

Meeting new mandatory criteria, Hurstville Public School has invested in a wellness center and sensory play area. There are three part-time youth workers who attend school every day and act as on-call support workers.

Support worker Eman Roumieh said prevention made the biggest difference. “We never got to the point of suspension, which is great to hear, but thanks to all the preventive work we did.”