Education Ministers from across the country will meet on Friday to consider a new national standard on anti-bullying, Jason Clare has announced.
Reports show that one in four Australian students say they’ve been bullied at school in the last few weeks, while one in two say they’ve been bullied online.
Between 2019 and 2024, complaints about online bullying to the eSafety Commissioner have increased by a staggering 450%, leading experts to call for a rethink about how schools and communities are addressing the crisis.
The national education campaign, entitled “for the good of”, will air from late this week and prepare Australians for the Albanese Government’s world leading social media minimum age laws, set to come into effect from 10 December, 2025.
“These laws give children more time to grow up in the real world and to build the skills they need before they enter into the online one,” Federal Education Minister, Jason Clare, said in a statement.
“Education Ministers will hear directly from the eSafety Commissioner and the Minister for Communications on the ban and the work we’re doing to make sure social media platforms take their responsibilities seriously to protect children.”
Clare said the meeting will also focus on strengthening support systems for those dealing with bullying across both school and online settings.
“Whether it’s happening at school or after school online, we need to make sure that we’ve got the extra support that schools, teachers and parents need to deal with bullying and to respond to it.”