‘National Centre Against Bullying’ Conference, Wednesday August 6, 2014

I am very pleased to join you for this important event.

May I congratulate the Alannah and Madeline Foundation for organising it – and for all the important work you do in protecting children.

 The theme for this year’s conference, Beyond the Schoolyard, succinctly captures a key difference between the bullying of twenty years ago and the bullying of today.

With children and young people spending ever more of their time online, social media sites and other forms of electronic communication have become a new forum for bullying.

As many victims have pointed out, when you are physically bullied in the playground, at least you know when you get home that you are safe for a while. 

But if looking at your smartphone or your computer immediately exposes you to a stream of derision, ridicule or hatred, then there is nowhere you can feel safe.

With awareness of cyberbullying and other online dangers to children growing, there has been an increasing public policy response over the last few years. At the last election, the Coalition released our policy to Enhance Online Safety for Children.   

Let me emphasise my view, and that of the Abbott Government, that the internet is in net terms very much a force for good – including the way that it enriches education for students of all ages. 

But in any context in which humans interact, the majority of the interactions will be positive and deliver benefit to those involved – and a minority will be harmful.  Interactions online are no different.

In developing our policy, the Coalition carefully reviewed the available evidence about cyberbullying and online safety.

As Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott established the Coalition Online Safety Working Group in 2012, and asked me to chair it. My colleagues and I consulted widely with industry, the community, parents and children – to understand the issues in keeping children safe online, and to develop policy responses.  Our election policy drew very heavily on the work and findings of this group.

Now that we are in government and working to implement the policy, we have taken the opportunity to build an even more comprehensive evidence base, commissioning three major pieces of research on cyberbullying from research experts.

In the brief time available to me today, I want to set out the key findings from this research; to highlight the congruence of the findings with our key policy priorities; and briefly to restate those priorities and how we are progressing with them.

Key Research Findings

Let me turn then to set out key findings from the research.  We sought answers to three questions:

• • How prevalent is cyberbullying among children in Australia?
  • How much awareness do those aged ten to seventeen have of the current laws governing cyberbullying?
  • How are schools dealing with cyberbullying?

Prevalence of Cyberbullying

The first report, dealing with the prevalence of cyberbullying, was produced by the UNSW Social Policy Research Centre with researchers from the University of South Australia, the University of Western Sydney, the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre and the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre.

In this report, we asked the researchers to find out:

• How prevalent is cyberbullying amongst children (those under 18) in Australia?
• What percentage of incidents are reported – to police or other places?
• If there were offences or civil penalties introduced, how could this work and how could it have maximum deterrent effect?

The research team concluded that the best estimate of the prevalence of cyberbullying over a twelve month period is 20 per cent of Australians aged 8-17, with some studies putting that figure as low as 6 per cent and others as high as 40 percent. This is within the range of estimates of other international studies.[1]

This estimate is consistent with previous work done by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which found that 21 per cent of 14-15 year-olds and 16 per cent of 16-17 year-olds had reported being cyber-bullied.[2]

Cyberbullying was most prominent in children aged between 10-15, with prevalence decreasing for the 16-17 age bracket.[3]

These figures mean that the estimated number of children and young people who have been victims of cyberbullying last year is 463,000, with around 365,000 in the 10-15 age group.[4]

The report also notes that prevalence of cyberbullying has “rapidly increased” since it first emerged as a behaviour.[5]

The review found that while our understanding of cyberbullying stems from our thinking on ‘traditional’ bullying, the consequences of cyberbullying can be more far reaching and have more serious effects than bullying in the schoolyard.

The researchers note that these amplified effects are likely due to more exposure and humiliation as bullying is conducted before an audience online, as well as being longer-lasting and more difficult to escape from. More than just schoolyard name-calling, cyberbullying has been found to lead to serious psycho-social problems.[6]

Troublingly, there is increasing evidence of lasting effects with links to low self-esteem, mental health issues, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.[7]

Of course, we know from the latest ABS data that youth suicide rates are increasing, with suicides amongst 15-19 year-olds increasing by 10 per cent from 2011 to 2012.[8]

The second section of this report looked at the extent to which cyberbullying is reported – be it to police, legal advice bodies or other organisations including schools.

The research found that young Australians most commonly report cyberbullying to teachers, family members or friends, but also found that different types of cyberbullying were reported to different agencies.[9]

For example, schools were found to receive more complaints about text messages and emails, while other organisations saw more complaints about social media-based bullying.

The research also found that most incidents of cyberbullying occurred on social media.[10]

In 2013, 72 per cent of schools reported at least one incident of cyberbullying[11]. Secondary schools were found to have higher rates of reported cyberbullying than primary schools, with the best estimate that just under 10 per cent of secondary school children were the subject of a cyberbullying report in 2013.

Given the finding I discussed earlier, that between 20-30 per cent of children are estimated to have been victims of cyberbullying, these reporting rates suggest that a half to a third of incidents involving secondary school students are reported to schools.[12]

The researchers found that the majority of incidents reported to schools were dealt with by the school.  If an incident was referred outside the school, this was typically to the police. Of the cases managed by community organisations, the more complex cases tended to be reported to legal advice centres. [13]

The evidence suggests that police only act on more serious cases and preferred the less serious cases to be dealt with by schools or other agencies.  The researchers found that police tend to issue warnings to perpetrators in the first instance. For more serious cases, police encouraged victims to take out an apprehended violence order (AVO) or requested social media providers remove harmful material.[14]

While it was noted that police used criminal sanctions in “very few” cases, police involvement was seen to provide a strong deterrent effect.

At this point I should note that the research looked at the role of social media sites in the reporting process, finding that:

“the most important barrier encountered by police and other agencies in dealing with cyberbullying is the lack of accountability of social media and other service providers, who are reluctant to take down offensive material and are often slow to respond to such requests, even from police.”[15]

Less than half of stakeholders reporting cyberbullying to social media sites were satisfied with the outcome.[16]

I do want to acknowledge that many large social media sites have significantly improved their complaints handling arrangements for the removal of cyber-bullying material. We have been engaged in positive discussions with social media sites about the Enhancing Online Safety for Children policy as we work to bring legislation before Parliament.

There was a high level of support for greater regulation of all social media platforms, although this was identified as problematic due to inter-jurisdictional issues and the ever-changing landscape of social media.

The final element of this first report sought to ask the question: if a new, simplified cyberbullying offence or civil enforcement regime were to be introduced, how could it be implemented? In particular, what would have the greatest deterrent effect against cyberbullying?

The researchers concluded that several factors might undermine the effectiveness of a purely legal approach in changing the behaviour of cyberbullies. Because young people have reduced impulse control compared to adults; because they tend not to be aware of relevant laws; and because historically there have been few criminal convictions for cyberbullying; extra criminal provisions may have a limited impact.[17]

There were mixed views among stakeholders as to whether and how the existing laws should be changed and what deterrence effect a change would have – although there was significant support for a more simplified legal framework.

Interestingly, the majority of police officers involved in the research were opposed to the creation of a new offence for cyberbullying.[18]

This may well be linked to the typical, and understandable, reluctance of police to lay criminal charges against a young person unless it is absolutely necessary – given that if you are convicted of a crime early in life, it can seriously damage your life prospects.

There was a preference for measures including counselling and restorative justice as the first means of redress before treating a cyberbullying matter as a criminal offence.

Importantly, the research found that respondents “clearly favoured the creation of an e-Safety Commissioner to oversee rapid take-down and act where a social network site or a cyberbully have not taken down cyberbullying content on request.”[19]

How much awareness do children have of the current laws governing cyberbullying?

The second piece of work was a survey of young people aged 10-17 to find out how much they know about the law which applies to cyberbullying and what the consequences might be. 

It is probably no great surprise that there is much uncertainty and confusion among young people about criminal offences related to cyberbullying.  Less than two-thirds of respondents agreed that cyberbullying can be an offence punishable by law.

Just to be clear, there are both Commonwealth and State laws which are applicable to cyberbullying. For example, section 474.15 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code deals with ‘using a carriage service to make a threat’ and section 474.17 deals with ‘using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence.’

There is a significant disconnect between this reality and the response of young people to this survey, with only 69 per cent agreeing that menacing, harassing, offensive or threatening behaviours constituted a crime.[20]

When asked what kinds of behaviours constitute cyberbullying, 97 per cent of respondents said threatening a person, 96 per cent being hurtful, 95 per cent intimidating a person, 91 per cent embarrassing a person, 88 per cent blackmail, and 88 per cent targeting a specific person or group of people.[21]

Significantly, only 63 per cent of young people considered it to be cyberbullying if harmful content was ‘liked’ or ‘shared’ – suggesting that young people don’t consider it to be cyberbullying behaviour if they are not the original perpetrator.[22]

When asked who they would turn to in reporting cyberbullying, 90 per cent said family, 76 per cent friends, and 75 per cent schools. Only 49 per cent indicated they would make the report to social media sites, 44 per cent to cyberbullying websites and 40 per cent to help lines.[23]

While only 36 per cent said they would report cyberbullying to police, 72 per cent considered that police would be able to do something about cyberbullying.[24]

How are schools dealing with cyberbullying

The rise of social media has created a substantial new workload for principals and teachers.  I have been told more than once by a principal that Monday morning can often be taken up with sorting out a social media fight that erupted over the weekend. 

So in the third piece of research we commissioned a survey of schools. It had some sobering findings. 72 per cent of schools reported at least one instance of cyberbullying in 2013.[25]

87 per cent of secondary schools reported at least once instance of cyberbullying in 2013, compared to just under 60 per cent for primary schools.[26]

Removing outlying data, the survey found the average number of cyberbullying cases reported to a secondary school in 2013 was 22.8.[27]

Schools are working hard to respond, with the research finding that over 83 per cent of schools had a system or policy in place for managing cyberbullying incidents.[28]  In their responses, schools typically said they had a multi-faceted approach including contacting parents, counselling of all involved parties, warning notices, class discussions, formal publishments according to school policy, and occasionally referral to police.[29]

Cases referred to police were more likely to involve sexting resulting from coercion, intimidation, blackmail, sharing of images or video which was unauthorised by a victim, hate websites or social media pages, and anonymous cyberbullying.[30]

Congruence of Research Findings with our Policy

The findings from these major research projects are very much congruent with the thinking which underpins the Coalition’s Policy to Enhance Online Safety for Children. 

Let me highlight three important factors which the policy is designed to address – all of which find significant support in the research.

The first is that cyberbullying is widespread and can be serious.  

The research tells us it is widespread, with 20 per cent of Australians aged 8-17 – or 463,000 in the last year – having been victims; and with an average of 22.8 complaints of cyberbullying a year in a secondary school.[31]

The research tells us it can be serious, noting that cyberbullying can have more far-reaching consequences than bullying in the schoolyard, particularly through amplification as the humiliation occurs before an audience online.[32]

The second factor supported by the research is that there is significant community concern about whether there are adequate response mechanisms available today. In particular, the research highlighted the difficulty in having social media sites respond to requests to remove harmful material.[33]

The third, and related, factor is the particular significance of social media, with the research finding most instances of cyberbullying occurred on social media.[34]

Let me immediately go on to make the point that social media is also a very efficient way to communicate to a lot of people in a positive way – and indeed social media can very much help to create a sense of community and belonging. 

But the feedback received by Coalition Online Safety Working Group while in opposition has been confirmed by the research that I cited earlier: victims of cyber-bullying often have a problem when it comes to getting cyberbullying material down from social media sites.

That is the rationale for one of the core elements of our policy: implementing an effective complaints system, backed by legislation, to get material targeted at and harmful to an Australian child, down quickly from large social media sites.

Progress on our Policy Priorities

That is a good point at which to turn to my third priority today, which is to report briefly on our progress towards implementing our election policy commitments.

These included, in addition to the complaints system backed by legislation which I have just mentioned, several other elements:

 

• Establishing a Children's e-Safety Commissioner to take a national leadership role in online safety for children.
• Investigating options for a simplified cyber-bullying offence.
• In consultation with industry, improving safety options on smartphones, other devices and internet access services.
• Establishing an advice platform with guidelines for parents about the appropriateness of individual media items for children.
• Improved support for schools through a stronger online safety component within the National Safe Schools Framework, funding of $7.5 million for schools to access online safety programmes and the certification of online safety programmes.
• Providing funding to support Australian based research and information campaigns on online safety.

 

We are working systematically on the implementation of our policy commitments.

In January we released a public consultation paper on these proposed policy measures, gathering feedback from industry, children and parents, law enforcement, and child protection agencies and advocates – many of whom are represented at today’s conference.

The feedback gathered in this process has been very valuable, and together with the research I have discussed today is helping us to further develop the details of our policy.

In the May budget we allocated funding of $10 million towards our online safety policy measures, comprising:

 

• $7.5 million to assist schools to access certified online safety programmes;
• $2.4 million to establish and operate the Office of the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner to take a leadership role in online safety; and
• $0.1 million to support Australian-based research and information campaigns on online safety.

 

We are carefully working through internal government processes with a view to finalising the policy package in this area, and announcing the details in due course.  We aim to be in a position to introduce legislation into the Parliament before the end of this year.

Once established, the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner will administer the funding for online safety programmes in schools and research and information campaigns on online safety. The Commissioner will also be responsible for improved coordination of the content and messages provided to Australian children, families, schools and child protection agencies.

Closing remarks

In closing, the theme of this conference, Beyond the Schoolyard, is very much validated by the research findings I have shared with you today.

The internet is a forum for human behaviour – and just as in the schoolyard most behaviour is positive but some involves bullying, we see similar patterns online. 

But the internet – and social media in particular – can make bullying behaviours more dangerous to victims, particularly through amplification.

The Abbott Government’s policy to Enhance Online Safety for Children is designed to deliver a better and more rapid response to these dangers.

I congratulate all of you here today for your work to combat the scourge of bullying – and I am confident that the measures we are pursuing will help to give you, and all involved in this important work, some valuable new tools.

I look forward to working with you all as we move forward with the implementation of our policies.

[1] UNSW ‘Research on youth exposure to, and management of, cyberbullying incidents in Australia’, Synthesis Report, p2

[2] Australian Communications and Media Authority, Like, post, share: Young Australians’ experience of social media - Quantitative research report, 2013, pg. 10

[3] UNSW ‘Research on youth exposure to, and management of, cyberbullying incidents in Australia’ Part B: Cyberbullying incidents involving Australian minors, the nature of the incidents and how they are currently dealt with, p2

[4] UNSW Synthesis Report, p2

[5] UNSW Synthesis Report, p2

[6] UNSW Synthesis Report, p3

[7] UNSW Synthesis Report, p4

[8] Australian Bureau of Statistics Report 3303.0 - Causes of Death, Australia, 2012

[9] UNSW Synthesis Report, p5

[10] UNSW Synthesis Report, p5

[11] UNSW Part B, p13

[12] UNSW Synthesis Report, p4

[13] UNSW Synthesis Report, p5

[14] UNSW Synthesis Report, p6

[15] UNSW Synthesis Report, p7

[16] UNSW Synthesis Report, p7

[17] UNSW ‘Research on youth exposure to, and management of, cyberbullying incidents in Australia’, Part C: An evidence-based assessment of deterrents to youth cyberbullying, p19

[18] UNSW Synthesis Report, p7

[19] UNSW Synthesis Report, p15

[20] GfK Report: ‘Youth awareness of cyber-bullying as a criminal offence’, p2

[21] GfK Report, p26

[22] GfK Report, p26

[23] GfK Report, p34

[24] GfK Report, p35

[25] IRIS Research, ‘Estimates of cyber-bullying incidents dealt with by Australian schools’, p1

[26] IRIS Research, p13

[27] IRIS Research, p15

[28] IRIS Research, p3

[29] IRIS Research, p2

[30] IRIS Research, p20

[31] UNSW Synthesis Report, p2, IRIS Research, p15

[32] UNSW Synthesis Report, p3

[33] UNSW Synthesis Report, p7

[34] UNSW Synthesis Report, p5