Government acts against serious bullying

The Baillieu Government will today introduce legislation into State Parliament to make clear that serious bullying is a crime carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in jail.

The legislation follows the tragic death of Brodie Panlock, who was the victim of serious workplace bullying.

“There should be no doubt that serious bullying is a serious crime which should carry a serious jail term,” Attorney-General Robert Clark said.

“Victorian families are entitled to be confident that when their children start out in the workforce, they will be protected from falling victim to bullying.

“These changes will make clear that the kind of suffering inflicted upon Brodie Panlock will be treated as stalking and will be liable to a jail term,” Mr Clark said.

The Crimes Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2011 will amend the existing offence of stalking to put beyond doubt that the offence covers serious bullying.

The Bill makes clear that threats and abusive words or acts can be a course of conduct that amounts to stalking, as can any other action that could reasonably be expected to cause physical or mental harm to the victim.

The Bill also broadens the definition of harm caught by the offence to include self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Similar changes will be made to laws allowing victims to apply for an intervention order, to make clear that a victim can seek an order to protect themselves against situations of serious bullying.

The previous government referred the issue of serious bullying to the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) for an inquiry that was not due to report until December this year.

However, the Chairperson of the VLRC concluded that the inquiry was unnecessary and that serious bullying could readily be included under the existing law without the need for an extensive inquiry.  The inquiry reference to the VLRC will now be withdrawn at the VLRC’s request.