Bullying usually involves the persistent bad treatment of a person by one or more other people.
Bullying doesn't always involve physical abuse such as punching or kicking. Often bullying involves other nasty behaviour such as verbal abuse, name-calling, nit-picking, threats, sarcasm, exclusion or shunning, or sabotage of a person's work.
These days, bullying is sometimes done through electronic communication systems such as e-mail, texting, social media, online forums, etc.
Some bullying is covered by discrimination laws. Bullying may be a form of less favourable treatment under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) (the Act) if it is related to one or more of the personal characteristics ('attributes') listed in the Act.
Section 17(1) of the Act says a person must not offend, humiliate, intimidate, insult or ridicule another person on the basis of:
where a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances, would anticipate the other person would be offended, humiliated, intimidated, insulted or ridiculed. This can be a form of bullying; it is against the law.
It is important to note that where harassment/bullying happens but does not relate to attributes covered by discrimination law, it is still a serious problem and may be a breach of:
Organisations must provide a safe environment for their employees and for people coming into their workplace.
Section 104 of the Anti-Discrimination Act says organisations must take reasonable steps to ensure no member, officer, employee or agent engages in discrimination or prohibited conduct. Further, it says an organisation that does not comply with this requirement is liable for any breach of the Act committed by any of its members, officers, employees or agents.
Find out if your organisation:
You can lodge a complaint with Equal Opportunity Tasmania by contacting our office on 1300 305 062 and ask for a hard copy complaint form or download a complaint form from our website.
In recognition of the deep history and culture of this island, Equal Opportunity Tasmania acknowledge and pay my respects to all Tasmanian Aboriginal people; the past and present custodians of the Land.
Equal Opportunity Tasmania’s Reflective Action Plan is the first step in our commitment to having a culturally safe workplace. Our plan allows for gaining a greater understanding and knowledge of Aboriginal Peoples, their culture and individual and collective experiences. We are committed to developing further plans that focus on fostering external respectful relationships with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and providing a service that is culturally respectful and welcoming.
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Equal Opportunity Tasmania: (03) 6165 7515
