Media release – Kristie Johnston MP, Independent Member for Clark, 12 June 202
CROSS-PARTY SUPPORT FOR PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY INTO SCHOOL BULLYING
Today Parliament supported a motion put forward by the Independent Member for Clark, Kristie Johnston, for an inquiry into discrimination, prohibited conduct, unequal and disadvantageous treatment, bullying and harassment in Tasmanian schools .
Notice of Motion – Kristie Johnston, Independent Member for Clark
That the House:—
- Notes:—
-
- That the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 has some of the most comprehensive prohibitions against discrimination and bullying in educational settings in Australia. However, according to recently released data from the Australian Council for Educational Research, Tasmania has the highest rate of schoolyard bullying of any state or territory.
- The regular and numerous reports to support services and in the media of school students and staff experiencing discrimination and prohibited conduct.
- The adverse impacts of discrimination and bullying on students, staff, parents and whole school communities, including adverse impacts on physical and mental health.
- There is growing concern about Tasmania’s lower levels of student participation, retention and achievement and that discrimination and bullying can adversely impact all three.
- Refers the following reference to the Standing Committee on Government Administration Committee A to:
- inquire into and report upon direct and indirect discrimination, prohibited conduct, unequal and disadvantageous treatment, bullying and harassment in Tasmanian schools in regard to students and staff;
- inquire into and report upon the measures necessary to prevent and remedy discrimination and bullying in Tasmanian schools in regard to students and staff;
- examine the obligations and duties of Tasmanian schools under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 and other relevant statutes and policies in regard to students and staff;
- examine and recommend what efforts are being made and should be made towards meeting those obligations by Tasmanian schools in regard to students and staff;
- examine what other legislative or policy reforms may be required to address discrimination and bullying in regard to students and staff
- determine the impact of discrimination and bullying on student participation, retention and educational outcomes, and on staff recruitment, retention, workplace safety and career development;
- ensure appropriate public consultation is conducted on all matters;
- any other matter incidental; and
- that the Committee reports by 28 November 2024.
Media release – Equality Tasmania, 12 June 2024
EQUALITY TASMANIA WELCOMES SCHOOL BIAS INQUIRY
Equality Tasmania has welcomed a new inquiry into discrimination and bullying in Tasmanian schools.
The inquiry was proposed by Independent, Kristie Johnston, and supported by Parliament without dissent.
Equality Tasmania President, Rowan Richardson, said,
“We welcome the inquiry because we regularly receive complaints of discrimination and bullying against LGBTIQA+ students and teachers.”
“This is consistent with recent national research showing school yard bullying is worse in Tasmania than any other state.”
“Although Tasmania has strong laws against discrimination in education, the state clearly has a long way to go before these laws are respected and abided by.”
During debate on the motion, Labor equality spokesperson, Ella Haddad, read out distressing stories of discrimination against LGBTIQA+ Tasmanian teachers and students.
Other supporters of the inquiry include Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, Sarah Bolt, the Australian Education Union, Concerned Catholics of Tasmania, Disability Voices Tasmania and A Fairer World.
For more on bullying in Tasmanian schools: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australias-worst-state-for-schoolyard-bullying-and-how-we-compare-to-the-world/6dj396brd
Simon Warriner
June 15, 2024 at 16:04
If you want to understand how absolutely pathetic our education sector is at dealing with this subject, go have a look at the “Justice For Jobie” Facebook page.
An autistic kid was set upon in the playground by a gang of year sixers who sank their boots into him, giving him two black eyes and leaving boot-prints on his face and bruises all over his body. The school knew the beating was coming. Jobie had told a teacher it had been threatened. A teacher witnessed the assault and did not intervene. The school did not seek medical help, and it did not tell the parents about the assault when it rang his mother to tell him Jobie had walked off the school grounds, and it made no attempt to intervene when they witnessed an unknown person at an unknown vehicle stop and pick Jobie up from the school gate. Luckily that person was his aunt who happened to be closer to the school than his parents. How do I know all this? Jobie’s aunt is my son’s partner.
The matter has been taken out of the school’s hands by the Education Department which is now slow-walking its investigation and response. Complaints were made to the police, but Jobie’e father informs me that the matter “has been taken out of our hands”. Why that should be the case has not been explained to him.
The following questions need to be answered about this assault under school supervision. They were drafted as part of an email I intend to send to our elected representatives. A serious assault has occurred, resulting in obvious physical, and also less obvious and likely delayed psychological injuries. The police were called and apparently conducted some investigations. They now say the matter is out of their hands.
Who made the decision that police involvement should stop? On what grounds was that decision made? What investigations did they actually undertake?
A teacher witnessed that assault. The victim of that assault had suffered a severe beating from multiple assailants, with visible injuries in the form of two black eyes and a shoe mark on his face. He also had bruises to his body. Such assaults have in other cases resulted in brain injuries, internal bleeding and organ damage leading to death.
* Was any attempt made to immediately remove Jobie from the scene of the assault to a safe place where his injuries could be assessed?
* If so, who took those actions?
* Why was no ambulance called?
* What qualifications to medically assess the victim of multiple kicks to the head do the school staff hold that would enable them to make the judgement that competent, qualified medical personnel were not required?
* Why were the police not immediately called?
* Why did the teacher not intervene?
* What effort was made to call other staff to assist?
* Why did the school not immediately tell the parents that their child had been assaulted?
Jobie’s aunt picked him up from outside the school gate. She was observed doing so by a school staff member who made no attempt to ascertain her identity, and so was incapable of knowing whether she was authorised to do so. The Education Department has clearly identified this as a risk to children and has protocols in place to manage it.
* Why was Jobie allowed to be unaccompanied after suffering a serious assault for which no medical attention was provided?
* Has the staff member been identified?
* Why were those protocols not followed?
* What consequences has that staff member suffered as a result of an obvious failure to discharge their Duty of Care?
* The Education Department has met with the parents and promised to investigate. It has been two weeks and there has been no meaningful result.
* What investigation activities have taken place?
* If not, why not?
* Have bystanding students been interviewed?
* Have the perpetrators of the assault been identified and suspended pending the outcome of investigations? Apparently some have been suspended, but for how long is not known by Jobie’s family.
* What assistance has been offered to Jobie and his family to deal with the trauma and enable the continuation of his education?
A teacher had been told by Jobie that the beating had been threatened prior to it happening.
* What actions did the teacher take to make the school aware of the threatened violence?
* What action did the school take to prevent that violence from occurring?
* If no action was taken, what action will be taken against the teacher and the school for their obvious and utterly unacceptable failure of duty of care?
As far as Jobie’s Parents can tell, some of the perpetrators of the assault have been suspended, but for how long is unknown. They have heard nothing of any substance from the Education Department, and Jobie is not going to school. Where is the justice in this? Jobie is a grade 6 kid. His world moves on kid time, not bureaucracy time. If there is to be any meaningful justice for Jobie then the Education Department bureaucrats need to pull their collective finger out with results to be delivered in days, not weeks or months. The job of our elected representatives is to make certain that those bureaucrats have no doubt about the expectations of the employers, the ones who pay the bills and appoint the representatives.
As individuals in a society that professes to value the ethos of “A Fair Go” we all have a duty to stand up for those not able to stand up for themselves. Jobie cannot stand up and fight this fight for justice. Justice in this instance means that those who harmed him, and those who allowed it to happen and failed to render competent assistance afterwards suffer serious consequences that diminish their standing in the community, reduce their standard of living, and limit their prospects for promotion within their employing organisation. Bitter experience tells me not to expect anything meaningful to happen other than delay after delay while the system waits the parents out. The standard we are prepared to walk past is the standard we are prepared to accept. Our politicians have been walking past bullying in Tasmania since convicts and their jailers set foot on the place.
DO YOU ACCEPT THIS STANDARD ON BEHALF OF THOSE PAYING YOU FOR REPRESENTATION?
In the absence of those serious consequences, there is no signal to other individuals in the community that such actions are unacceptable. Also with the absence of those serious consequences it is inevitable that standards will continue to fall, harms will continue to happen, and our society will decline in prosperity, well-being and health.
As individuals you have a duty, both legal and moral, to ensure that the questions posed get answered in a prompt and honest manner, and that the perpetrators and school staff responsible for the injuries suffered by Jobie are held accountable for their actions in ways that send a very clear message to everyone that the actions committed are not, and never will, be tolerated.
The alternative scenario is that the aggrieved, or their supporters, eventually form the view that relying on formal process and authorities is a complete waste of time and take actions into their own hands to dispense what they see as justice. I can tell you that as one of the aggrieved, the form of justice I would dispense will remove any doubt in anyone’s mind as to the consequences of bullying, anywhere. I am pretty certain Jobie’s parents are of a similar mind. If that is the environment you wish to bring about, ignore this. If not, and you are in a position to prevent bullying or bring justice to its victims, get off your well paid rump and do something about it, and on a time scale relevant to a brutalised kid, not a comfortable, overpaid public servant.
If you regard this as overly harsh, consider that I was myself a victim of schoolyard bullying, and my son was also a victim of a school yard bully. His mother was a victim of a workplace bully whose assailant and its enablers continue to draw public funded wages. Our family has been damaged in ways I cannot describe in public without triggering further harm by that experience, and so my tolerance for bullies and their bullshit is absolutely zero, as is my time for gutless political representatives who refuse to investigate and act when they are given ample evidence to do so.
And that’s you, Jaensch and Rockcliff !
Aleyce Munday
June 23, 2024 at 20:29
My family and I read this and we cried and felt ill. This is absolutely mind-blowing, and from my family to yours we send much love to Jobie.
We are currently involved in ‘multiple conversations’ with some Tasmanian politicians regarding our own issues with school bullying, and Simon, I will try and contact you to discuss this further.
My daughter was viciously assaulted in front of staff, and in similar circumstance, and she had a firearm held to her head while her life was threatened – and Rockcliff and Jaensch all but condoned it!
Keep on pursuing this, Simon. Nothing about this horrific incident foisted on Jobie is OK.