TasCOSS has voiced concerns the government's draft legislation to combat bullying and cyberbullying may lead more young people coming into contract with the state's criminal justice system.
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The government last year released draft legislation to tackle real-life and online bullying interactions which were intended to cause physical or mental harm, "extreme humilation" threats or abusive acts towards their victims.
In extreme cases, this could lead to criminal prosecution.
TasCOSS chief executive Kym Goodes in a submission to the draft legislation said the changes required more detailed analysis on prosecutions of bully behaviour and that prosecution must not take place without consent from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Daryl Coates in a 2016 Tasmanian Law Reform Institute paper on the matter said it would be inappropriate to prosecute anyone under the age of 18 other than in extreme circumstances.
Ms Goodes supported the Youth Network of Tasmania's view that bullying behaviours should be addressed through mediation or in a therapeutic justice context.
She said at a minimum, the definition of stalking under the Justices Act should be amended to allow restraint orders to be used against bullying.
Community Legal Centres Tasmania policy officer Ben Bartl said while the organisation supported the draft bill's intent, prosecution for bullying and cyberbullying was just one of 15 recommendations made by the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute.
He said the government should adopt a "tiered response" to bullying behaviours with a mix of criminal and civil responses and legislative requirements for anti-bullying policies and procedures to be implemented in schools.
Mr Bartl said an amendment to broaden the definition of stalking to bullying under the Criminal Code Act was supported.
He said the legislation went some way in addressing workplace bullying but only in the most serious cases.
Mr Bartl said the Fair Work Act precluded a review of bullying instances once a worker left a particular workplace and jurisdiction should be granted the Tasmanian Industrial Commission to deal with complaints to close the loophole.
"We believe the inclusion of bullying in the Criminal Code Act will demonstrate the communities' abhorrence to bullying behaviour, act as an educative tool for members of the community about the serious with which the laws view such conduct and empower victims to make complaints," he said.
YNOT said there was a needed to define cyber bullying at a federal and state level, particularly with regard to law reform.