‘NOT YET’ ON BULLY LAWS

Promised swift action held up by ‘consultation’

THE State Government is yet to develop cyber-bullying legislation it promised in January to produce “swiftly”.

Since committing to tougher laws, the Government had a senior adviser resign after using a fake social media account to try to have a woman sacked.

But Attorney-General Elise Archer says community and legal stakeholders have to be consulted before any changes are made.

THE State Government is yet to develop cyber-bullying legislation it promised in January to deliver “swiftly”.

Since committing to tougher laws — which would prosecute cyber-bullies under Tasmania’s criminal code — the Government had a senior adviser resign after she used a fake social media account to try to have a woman sacked for tweeting about abortion access in Tasmania.

Angela Williamson has since settled with Cricket Australia over her dismissal.

Asked if this had any connection with the delay, a Government spokeswoman said: “As you can imagine the Government has a heavy legislative agenda and this important work is being progressed in this context.”

Existing national laws cover elements of cyber-bullying but the act itself is not a criminal offence.

A Senate report released this year examining existing laws stopped short of recommending cyber-bullying become a criminal offence, noting it was viewed by many inquiry respondees as a social, not legal, problem.

Your town, which runs Kids Helpline, has called for a public health approach to cyber- bullying. About a third of Tasmanian contacts with Kids Helpline in 2017 were related to mental health, 20 per cent to suicide and 5 per cent to bullying.

Attorney-General Elise Archer said community and legal stakeholders would be consulted before any changes were made.

“The amendments will target people who use the internet with the intention to cause serious physical or mental harm to others,” she said.

“The problem of cyberbullying is a significant issue for children and young people in both the school environment and more broadly in the community.”

According to the i-SAFE Foundation more than half of young people have been the subject of bullying online and around 25 per cent have experienced cellphone bullying.

Under the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 it is an offence to use the internet, social media or a telephone to menace, harass or cause offence.

The maximum penalty is three years imprisonment or a fine of more than $30,000.

Other federal laws cover threats and intimidation, stalking and related offences, with penalties of up to 10 years in prison.