In 2007, the Australian Government commissioned a project to evaluate the effectiveness of the Method of Shared Concern approach to addressing bullying in the Australian schooling context. The project was undertaken by Adjunct Professor Ken Rigby of the University of South Australia.
Covert Bullying Research Projects
The emergence of new technologies has led to covert and cyber bullying becoming an issue for many schools. The Australian Government has commissioned two research projects to better understand these issues and the impact on Australian schools.
The first study investigated the prevalence and impact of covert bullying in Australian school communities - the Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study and was conducted by Edith Cowan University. The report provides information at a national level about what constitutes covert bullying, the prevalence of bullying and its impact on victims and perpetrators. The report recommends actions for the Australian Government, state and territory education authorities and schools, to address covert and cyber bullying in Australian schools.
The second study, Behind the Scenes: Insights into the Human Dimension of Covert Bullying was conducted by the University of South Australia in conjunction with Flinders University. This project explored real life experiences of individuals exposed to covert bullying (victim/ perpetrator/ bystander/ teacher/ parent).
Both projects have been completed and the findings can be found below:
Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study
CHPRC, Edith Cowan University - May 2009
Behind the Scenes: Insight into the Human Dimension of Covert Bullying
Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies - University of South Australia
Centre for the Analysis of Educational Futures - Flinders University, SA
December 2008