Australia’s National Anti-Bullying Jurisdiction: Paper Tiger or Velvet Glove

Abstract

Australia's innovative national anti-bullying legislation came into effect on 1 January 2014, against a backdrop of fear and resistance on the part of some conservative politicians and other stakeholder opponents. This paper contributes to an understanding of the efficacy and value of this fledgling jurisdiction or its lack thereof. In it, we describe the beginnings of the anti-bullying regime, outline the new legislative provisions, explore whether the inaction of the first six months has continued, examine the statistics arising from the jurisdiction's first 15 months of operation, and review the case law development over its first 18 months. We ask whether the anti-bullying jurisdiction is proving to be a paper tiger in an empty suit or iron fist in a velvet glove.

The Secret Silent Spaces of Workplace Violence: Focus on Bullying (and Harassment)

“…As such, the available remedies (or rather the lack of them) may have the potential to silence targets. For example, seeking remedy by way of an anti-bullying order under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FW Act) is restricted to those who are covered by the national regime; still employed by the relevant organisation; subjected to 'repeated' acts of bullying; and who have complied with the necessary procedural requirements to gain access to the jurisdiction (Ballard and Easteal 2016a). While workers may take the preliminary step of making an anti-bullying application, they often fail to follow-through with their application, despite repeated contacted attempts by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) (Ballard and Easteal 2016a),-effectively they are 'self-silenced'.…”