New Anti-Bullying Bill Introduced to Tasmanian Parliament
Friday 5 April 2019 @ 11.06 a.m. | Crime | Legal Research
The Criminal Code Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2019 (the “Bill”) was introduced to Tasmania’s House of Assembly on 21 March 2019 by the Minister for Justice, the Hon Elise Archer.
Background to the Bill
A Draft Bill was released for public consultation between December 2018 and February 2019. The Government received about 20 submissions to this consultation.
The proposed legislation seeks to expand the crime of stalking and criminalise serious bullying behaviour to address the problem of bullying. If passed, the Bill will implement the Tasmanian Government’s commitment to amend the Criminal Code Act 1924 (the “Criminal Code”) to make serious cyberbullying a criminal offence.
Ms Archer said “the new legislation strikes a balance between protecting Tasmanians from bullying whilst being careful not to unnecessarily bring people, particularly young people, before the courts”.
In her Speech, the Minister commented:
Brief Overview of the Amendments
As outlined in the Bill’s Explanatory Memorandum (the “EM”), amendments will:
- amend the Criminal Code by amending section 192 to expand the fault elements and expand on the list of actions capable of constituting a “course of conduct” and change the charge in section 192(1) to “stalking and bullying”;
- amend the Justices Act 1959 by removing section 192 from the list of offences which can be dealt with summarily in the Magistrates Court rather than in the Supreme Court if the defendant so elects under section 72(1) of the Justices Act 1959; and
- makes consequential amendments to both the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005 and the Family Violence Act 2004 to align the references to section 192 in these Acts with the Criminal Code.
Comments On The Bill
Ms Archer told The Advocate:
She also told the paper:
“…the Government is investing $3 million over four years to combat bullying and cyberbullying in all Tasmanian Government schools, and since 2014 we have employed more than 63 support staff to provide more social and emotional support where needed ... Our schools are utilising the Respectful Relationships Education resource, and recently, the Government partnered with Relationships Australia to deliver the Speak Up Stay Chatty program in schools over the next four years.”
While outlining the proposed changes in a Media Release, Ms Archer said:
The proposed amendments outlined in the Bill were also supported by Community Legal Centres Tasmania, who in their submission to Government, noted:
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Sources:
Criminal Code Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2019 - Bill and supporting information available from TimeBase's LawOne Service.
Tackling cyber bullying as a serious issue – (Elise Archer, The Advocate, 6 February 2019)