In the state of Victoria there is no specific legislation defining what bullying means. The only State in Australia which has tried to define bullying is South Australia, which includes a definition of bullying in Occupational Health and Safety Legislation.
Lawmakers in Victoria did not want to create a statutory definition of bullying so the Parliament decided that it would try to deal with people engaged in bullying by changing the definition of the crime of stalking in the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic).
Not only do the changes introduce a criminal offence of stalking, but also create an offence of "serious bullying" to cover very serious cases of bullying such as that which resulted in the suicide of Brodie Panlock. If a person is convicted of the crime of serious bullying they can be subject to penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment.
What kind of behaviour will satisfy the definition of 'serious bullying' under the new laws? The offence of stalking consists of behaviours like following a person, keeping them under surveillance or interfering with their property. The changes to the law relating to bullying type behaviours now fall under the stalking laws. Therefore if you believe you have been a victim of "serious bullying" you need to look firstly at what type of behaviour amounts to stalking.
A person, (the offender), stalks another person (the victim) if they engage in a course of conduct which includes the following:-
- making threats to a person
- using abusive or offensive words to or in the presence of the victim
- performing abusive or offensive acts in the presence of the victim
- directing abusive or offensive acts towards the victim and acting in a way that could reasonably be expected to cause physical or mental harm, including psychological harm, to the victim. Harm includes self-harm.
A course of conduct involves engaging in contact with a person which could reasonably be expected to cause the victim to physically harm themselves. A person can only be found to have breached stalking laws if it can be proven they engaged in stalking conduct with the intention to cause physical or mental harm to the victim, or arousing apprehension or fear in the victim for their own safety or that of another person.
How do you prove a person has such an intention? A person will be considered to have such intention if they knew or ought to have understood, in all of the circumstances, that their conduct would be likely to cause you harm or apprehension.
'Causing physical or mental harm' includes causing a person to engage in self-harm or have suicidal thoughts. This provision was specifically directed at addressing the circumstances which arose in the Brodie Panlock case where the victim bullied to such an extent that she committed suicide as a result.
If you are a victim of workplace bullying in Victoria, there is an offence of bullying under stalking laws in the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic). If you are a victim of stalking you can still also obtain an Intervention Order pending any offence being dealt with under the criminal law if serious enough.
For the victim to obtain a stalking order, a court only needs to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities, that the respondent has engaged in stalking and is likely to continue to do so to a civil standard.
Adele Pace writes in the area of ecommerce, cyberlaw, intellectual property and online trading. http://www.pacelegal.com.au/
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق