Cases of bullying considered to cause serious physical and mental damage to victims will be classed as criminal offences, under new legislation proposed by the state government.
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This includes cases of cyber-bullying, an issue Attorney-General Elise Archer said was significant given rapidly changing technology.
“It’s an expansion of section 192 of our criminal code act which currently deals with stalking,” Ms Archer said.
“There are some similar features between the offences of stalking and bullying, and that’s why we’ve proposed making amendments to the stalking offence to now include bullying.
“Cyberbullying is a significant issue given rapidly changing technology.”
The draft for the bill was released on Sunday, with the public being urged to have their say on the amendments.
Opposition spokeswoman Michelle O’Byrne said it was good to see the government picked up the initiative, however the government needed to address their own issues around bullying as well.
“If you look at the behaviours that lead to bullying and intimidation, they’re absolutely about disrespect,” Ms O’Byrne said.
“If we really want to change the culture of how we treat eachother then I think the government needs to look firmly in it’s own behaviours.”
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