A former student at a Victorian government school is reportedly suing the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (the Department) claiming that the bullying he experienced at the school destroyed his working future.

The Herald Sun reports that the 17 year old, of Sri Lankan descent, is suing the Department in the Victorian County Court (the Court), claiming he was 'bullied, threatened, humiliated' and assaulted and racially vilified while a student at Hawthorn Secondary College (the College). The College, which had 400 students, closed at the end of 2013.

According to reports, the student is:

• arguing that the College's failure to promote racial harmony has likely destroyed his working future; and
• alleging that though the College issued students with anti-bullying certificates, it failed to educate those who had bullied him against engaging in such behaviour.

Furthermore, the student is claiming that the College's failure to act, and to implement adequate measures in support of 'racial harmony' put him in a 'position of peril'.

He is seeking damages for loss of earnings after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, and psychotic symptoms. The case is yet to be heard by the Court.

Duty of care

The increase in social awareness of bullying and its potential to cause serious harm to young people, including mental health issues, has lead to increased expectations of schools to help students who are being bullied and handle those that are doing the bullying.

A school’s duty of care to protect its students includes responding to online incidents as soon as they know about them, especially if the perpetrator is a member of the school community. The school may meet its duty of care by using its authority to discipline students who bully other students enrolled at the same school, despite the fact that the bullying may occur outside of the school.

As part of its duty to educate students and ensure their well-being, schools should also be educating the school community on bullying and offering a support system to those affected.

Interacting with parents

What if a school fails to educate its community and protect its students from bullying at school?

A recent article re-published on School Governance addresses the role that parents are often forced to play in challenging school policies and procedures if their child continues to be bullied at school. What should parents do if their child is bullied at school? describes how 'school authorities often recommend parents leave the school to handle it. This is fine if the school is successful in stopping the bullying. However, this is not always the case. Most school programs to address bullying make only modest improvements, leaving some children to continue to be bullied. This could be why we often hear of parents taking matters into their own hands. This can lead to uncertain legal ground if parents reprimand other children and to ugly arguments between parents. Clearly none of these approaches is ideal.'

Resorting to legal proceedings, a costly exercise, is also not an ideal option for parents, children or the school as media attention can result in reputational damage.

That said, there is a precedent in Victoria for a compensation claim succeeding against the Department in relation to school bullying. In 2009 a 17-year-old girl successfully sued the Department after she was repeatedly abused and harassed by a group of students. She was awarded $290,000 in damages in an out-of-court settlement for the depression, agoraphobia and eating disorders the student suffered as a result of the repeated bullying she endured.

Policies and procedures

In the facts being argued against the College in this latest case, part of the student's claim that the anti-bullying certificates issued by the school were not supported by adequate student education. Although this is yet to be determined by the Court, this should nonetheless sound warning bells for all schools. Clearly, just having policies and procedure to educate students and staff is not enough. Nor is issuing a certificate which can be rendered meaningless if its recipients haven't earned it by completing adequate training.

A school should have in place a bullying prevention policy which is easily and accessible and understood by students. Staff should also be trained on how to recognise signs of bullying and on what action to take to manage a bullying claim safely with the student's welfare, not the school's reputation, being the most important objective.

Such a policy should be implemented through a combination of:

• staff training;
• student and parent/carer education and information;
• effective incident reporting procedures;
• effective management of bullying incidents when reported;
• the creation of a 'no bullying' culture within the school community; and
• effective record keeping procedures.

For example, did your school demonstrate its commitment to a 'no bullying' culture by recognising the recent National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence?

Does your schools have a bullying prevention program?