The Australian Government has launched a powerful new national awareness campaign and targeted resources backed with a $10 million investment, including $5 million for a national advertising blitz to help spot and stop bullying in schools.
The Let's Stop Bullying campaign with the slogan Bullying is harder to spot than you think will hit screens and the airwaves from today.
The ads feature various school aged children who ask the audience "Can you tell which one of us is being bullied? Is it me?" inside and outside of school settings.
The campaign reminds us bullying can be hard to spot and can look different in every situation, and we all have a role to stop bullying when it occurs.
At the centre of the campaign is the new LetsStopBullying.gov.au website which has free resources to help young people, parents, carers and school communities spot and stop bullying. Additional resources for teachers and schools will be added as they become available.
This is the first time an Australian Government has delivered a targeted advertising campaign to stop bullying in schools.
The campaign responds to the findings of the 2025 Anti-Bullying Rapid Review, led by expert co-chairs Dr Charlotte Keating and Professor Jo Robinson AM.
The Review found that more needs to be done to raise understanding and to support action to address bullying and harmful behaviours.
The Review found one in four students in Year 4 to Year 9 had experienced bullying regularly.
It also found over half of young people had been bullied online and reports of cyberbullying to the eSafety Commissioner increased by over 455 per cent between 2019 and 2024.
The awareness campaign is part of a national plan to address bullying in schools as recommended by the Review and agreed to by Education Ministers last year.
One of the key recommendations of the Review is the need for timely and clear action when a complaint or incident takes place. The Review recommends schools should respond within two school days to a complaint or incident.
It also includes a requirement for schools to incorporate the expectations of the National Framework for Addressing Bullying in Australian Schools in their school policies and procedures.
By the start of the Term 1 2027, all schools in Australia - government, independent and Catholic - will publish anti-bullying policies that align with Framework.
The two school-day rule will also be fully implemented in all Australian schools by Term 1 2027.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:
"Bullying is cruel and it's dangerous.
"It doesn't just leave physical scars, it leaves invisible scars that can last a lifetime.
"That's why we've taken action with a national plan to address bullying and an awareness campaign to back it up.
"I know this is something that mums and dads worry about.
"The campaign makes us ask 'what if this was my child?' so we can spot it and stop it.
"We know if we're going to properly tackle bullying, we need to nip it in the bud and to act early.
"The awareness campaign will help us do this. So will the new requirement that schools have to act within two days if bullying occurs.
"And we need to make sure parents, teachers and young people have the right tools and resources so they know how to act and what to do.
"This is just the start and the hard work is ahead of us to make our schools safe and protect children."
