What is bullying?
A worker is bullied if, while at work, an individual or a group repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards that worker, and that behaviour creates a risk to that worker’s health and safety.
The key elements to remember are that the behaviour needs to be:
- unreasonable
- done repeatedly
- must create a risk to the worker’s health and safety
Bullying can take the form of verbal, physical, psychological, or social abuse by an individual or group of people in the workplace.
Examples of bullying behaviour
Examples of bullying can include:
- threats
- humiliation
- shouting
- sarcasm
- intimidation and coercion
- singling out or ostracism
- innuendo
- rumour-mongering
- disrespect and mocking
- discrimination
- exclusion from work events
- unreasonable work expectations, including too little or too much work, or work below or beyond a worker’s skill level
Who is protected from workplace bullying?
All employees, along with students on work experience, contractors and subcontractors and volunteers are protected from bullying under the law.
The health and safety risk
Bullying can involve physical violence or otherwise subjecting a worker to a physical safety risk at their workplace.
However, bullying can also cause psychological and stress-related risks to health and safety.
If you are a worker who is suffering stress due to bullying, it might help to have a diagnosis from a GP or psychologist to show the health and safety risk that could arise from continued bullying.
If you are experiencing physical threats or violence, you should contact the police.
If you are experiencing psychological distress, including anxiety or depression, contact your GP or psychologist – or you can call one of these services for support.
Lifeline 13 11 14
1800RESPECT 1800 737 732
QLife 1800 184 527
Beyond Blue 1300 223 636
MensLine Australia 1300 789 978
Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
What is not bullying?
Reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable way is not bullying.
Reasonable management action can include things like performance appraisals, warnings, demotions, or changing a worker’s roster.
However, those same actions could also be considered unreasonable, depending on the circumstances.
Ultimately, it will be up to the Fair Work Commission to determine what is and what isn’t reasonable.
Order to Stop Bullying
If you have experienced workplace bullying or harassment, our team of Australian employment lawyers and industrial advocates can help.
We can apply for an Order to Stop Bullying in the Fair Work Commission.
While the Commission has powers to make anti-bullying orders – it does not have the power to order any monetary compensation.
An order to stop bullying is designed to get a person back working in a bullying-free environment as quickly as possible, in addition to removing future bullying risk.
To connect with us, please follow us on
LAST UPDATED: May 2022
