Local education facilities – state, Catholic, private, and independent – are now all on board with a statewide initiative designed to tackle bullying.

Starting next year, under the NSW Anti-Bullying Framework, incidents will be triaged (prioritised), recorded, and responded to with urgency and care.

All schools must clearly set out how they prevent bullying, how they support affected students in a timely way, typically within two school days, how they record actions taken, and introduce the triage process so that urgent cases are addressed immediately with student safety coming first.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) will conduct spot-checks from Term One, 2027, to ensure all schools are meeting the requirements.

The new approach follows a directive in late 2024 from Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car asking NESA to work with the NSW Department of Education, Catholic Schools NSW and Independent Schools NSW to develop an evidence-based, best-practice model.

The work was guided by leading behaviour expert Emeritus Professor Donna Cross (OAM) and shaped through extensive consultation. This included input from more than 370 individuals; more than 40 groups of parents, students, teachers and school leaders; and advice from 20 international experts across 10 countries.

“There is strong evidence, both locally, nationally and internationally that shows some approaches to reducing bullying are more helpful than others,” Emeritus Professor Cross revealed.

“In meeting with teachers, principals, students and families, it’s clear that schools in NSW have been working hard to reduce bullying in their communities,” she added.

The framework aligns with recommendations from the Australian Government’s Rapid Review, ensuring NSW schools meet both state and national expectations. It means all NSW schools will have anti-bullying policies built on the same four mandatory criteria: prevention, response, implementation and community partnerships.

To support the roll out, NSW government, Catholic and independent school sectors have committed to sharing resources, materials and professional learning to help teachers and principals implement this nation-leading approach.