School Bullying Council

• Video
• Video

Advice for parents to help their children avoid the scourge of cyber-bullying (Video courtesy of Les Twentyman www.20thman.com.au)

‘Best Enemies’ a film about cyber bullies to be used in anti-bullying programs here and overseas.

NO SUPPORT: Dannii Sanders committed suicide after being subjected to bullying over the internet.
Source: Supplied

SHATTERED: Dannii Sanders’ parents Ray and Christine begged the authorities to take her into hospital.
Source: Supplied

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THE parents of Dannii Sanders say it was the system – not Facebook – that let down their troubled 14-year-old daughter.

The stunning teen, who was bullied on the internet, took her own life on Tuesday in Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast.

Her mother Christine and younger sister Monique, 12, discovered her in the bathroom following days of violent and aggressive behaviour.

Dannii’s death sparked an outpouring of grief among hundreds of friends in Sydney, which she had left days earlier to join her parents in Queensland.

Despite the cruel and vicious online taunts, Ray and Christine Sanders said Dannii was unfazed by the internet attacks and “gave it as good as she got it”.

Dannii’s real problem, they said, had gone undiagnosed and no authorities would help assess her.

The worried parents had begged medicos in two states to admit Dannii to hospital but were told she would have to go of her own free will.

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Mrs Sanders twice submitted reports to the Department of Child Safety in NSW but received the same response.

Police in NSW and Queensland said their hands were tied.

“If we had the right to say we want her taken in, she’d probably be here today,” Mrs Sanders said. It’s not the police or the ambos, it’s the framework they have to work in. It’s the law. Dannii was a victim of the system.”

Tragically, Mrs Sanders said she was almost relieved when she found her daughter on Tuesday because she thought it might finally bring her help.

But it was too late.

“I don’t believe she wanted to die. She needed help and no one would help, and now I have all the help in the world – inundated,” Mrs Sanders said.

The grieving parents say it was only three months ago that their beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed daughter changed into a wild, violent and troubled teen.

Her personality swung from highs to lows.

She dyed her hair black, ran away from home, wagged school and hung around with the wrong crowd.

Mrs Sanders said the Dannii with black hair and hard eyes was not the Dannii they knew.

“She was blonde, with blue eyes, almost like purple and they sparkled when she was happy,” she said.

“She would eat and sleep and dance to music videos and bounce on her trampoline.”

Mr Sanders added: “She was like a frog, most innocent, very naive.”

Only last year Dannii travelled to Japan to represent Australia in trampolining, the sport that was her world for many years.

But towards the end of her life, she was banging her head against walls, stealing and hitting her mother.

Mrs Sanders, a hairdresser, said she wanted to bleach her daughter’s hair back to its natural colour for the funeral in Sydney on Wednesday which is also her father’s birthday.

The family will await a report from the coroner.

For support and information about suicide prevention, contact Lifeline 13 11 14 or www.lifeline.org.au or the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) or www.sane.org

Workplace bullying complaints have doubled in the past year. Photo: Getty Images

THE number of Victorians claiming to have been bullied at work has skyrocketed, with complaints to WorkSafe Victoria more than doubling to 6000 in the past year.

But no action was taken on the vast majority of complaints, as most fell well short of what constitutes workplace bullying under the law. People complained of bullying after being sacked for assaulting a manager, missing out on a pay rise or not being invited to a work party.

WorkSafe’s executive director of health and safety, Ian Forsyth, believes the huge surge in complaints can largely be attributed to greater awareness about bullying and, in particular, to the case of 19-year-old waitress Brodie Panlock, who committed suicide in 2006 after being relentlessly bullied by four colleagues at a Hawthorn cafe.

Illustration: Matt Golding

Mr Forsyth says the most significant spike in bullying complaints to WorkSafe came immediately after Ms Panlock’s former colleagues and the owner of Cafe Vamp were found guilty and fined a total of $335,000 in February last year. A month earlier it received 150 complaints. In February 2010 it rose to 550 calls and in March 2010 to 750.

Of the 6000 bullying complaints made to WorkSafe, only 10 per cent were referred to the bullying response unit. Of those referrals, one in 10 resulted in an inspector visiting a workplace to conduct further inquiries.

Many of the complaints have been referred to other organisations such as Fair Work Australia, which deals with issues relating to industrial disputes, unfair dismissal and employment conditions, and the Australian Human Rights Commission, which deals with issues such as equal opportunity and discrimination.

”I think what we are seeing is that the term bullying is being used quite loosely in the community now in many instances to describe something that has ‘gone against me’ or ‘that I haven’t liked’ or something that ‘I haven’t wanted to do’,” says Mr Forsyth.

”As a result, we are seeing a mismatch between what is being labelled bullying and what would really constitute bullying under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

”We’re certainly not saying that these people aren’t suffering from some form of ill treatment or some form of injustice or that they’re not genuinely feeling that they’ve been disadvantaged or put under pressure. But in the vast majority of incidents these types of behaviours which they might describe as bullying are not going to meet the criteria for us to investigate or prosecute.”

The Occupational Health and Safety Act defines bullying as ”repeated unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety”. Under a new bill passed last month, called Brodie’s Law, bullying now carries a penalty of up to 10 years in jail.

Kevin Jones, an occupational health and safety consultant and the editor of SafetyAtWorkBlog, says the increase in complaints could also be attributed to a shift in attitudes about what is deemed acceptable behaviour.

”I think workplaces have improved the management of personnel substantially.”

Mr Forsyth said anyone worried about mistreatment or bullying at work should immediately raise the issue with the appropriate person in their workplace.

”If it’s not adequately addressed in the workplace then they need to look at what are the best avenues to get the issues addressed, whether it be through Fair Work Australia, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission or WorkSafe.”

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/most-workplace-bullying-claims-fall-short-20110723-1hub7.html