Tasmania’s school system has let victims of bullying and harassment down, the chair of a two-year parliamentary inquiry says, as a report calling for structural reform is tabled in state parliament today.
The Inquiry into Discrimination and Bullying in Tasmanian Schools made 55 findings and 33 recommendations after receiving 294 submissions and hearing from 47 witnesses across seven public hearings.
Its first finding is that bullying, discrimination and harassment are real and persistent problems in schools across all sectors, although the committee also found the vast majority of students and staff are well supported.
Committee chair and Labor MP Brian Mitchell said there was “no doubt” the system had failed those it was meant to protect.
“For those it does affect, it can really affect them well into adulthood,” he said.
“It can literally ruin lives.”
Mitchell said the committee had deliberately avoided blaming individuals.
“We were very careful not to apportion blame to individuals, we think it’s more structural,” he said.
In his foreword to the report, Mitchell wrote that the rate of bullying, harassment and discrimination in Tasmania was higher than elsewhere in Australia.
The inquiry was established in June 2024 after national data showed the state had the country’s highest rate of schoolyard bullying.
The committee found students and staff with disability, gifted students and LGBTIQA+ people experienced discrimination and bullying to a greater extent than others.
It also found Catholic Education Tasmania had discriminated against staff on the basis of sexual orientation and marital status, and that on the face of it such discrimination contravenes the state Anti-Discrimination Act.
The report notes Catholic Education Tasmania says it complies with the federal Sex Discrimination Act and that the question has not been determined by a court.
Then-executive director Gerard Gaskin told the inquiry in February 2025 that a person whose life was publicly known to fall outside Catholic moral precepts could not be employed as a senior leader.
Equality Tasmania spokesperson Rodney Croome said the group would write to the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner and the Non-Government Schools Registration Board seeking inquiries into discrimination against staff and students in Catholic schools.
“For non-government schools to be registered in Tasmania they must uphold the law and by its own admission Catholic Education Tasmania has not upheld the Anti-Discrimination Act,” he said.
Catholic Education Tasmania said it would continue to review and improve and is confident its employment practices were lawful.
Liberal committee members Michael Ferguson and Mark Shelton issued a dissenting statement warning the report risked “freedoms of belief and family choice”.
They proposed inserting the words “may have” into the finding on Catholic Education Tasmania but were defeated five votes to two.
Mitchell said adopting the recommendations would make a difference for young Tasmanians.
“No kid should fear going to school … feeling that dread and anxiety that they’re going to be bullied or harassed at school,” he said.
If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline Tasmania on 1800 98 44 34, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
