Introduction
Thank you for the opportunity to provide input into the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review 2025. As you are aware, experiences of bullying of students in school can have lifelong consequences on mental health, health and wellbeing, as well as impact future education and employment pathways and prospects. This is certainly the case for people with disability who may be subjected to higher prevalence of stigma, ableism and bullying.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recently found that 12.1 per cent of children and young people aged 0 and 24 years lived with disability, and that 37.5 per cent of children aged 0 -14 years with disability had a parent with disability1. Children/young people with disability are more likely than those without disability to be bullied 1 2 3. A recent Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) Youth Education survey (2024-2025) found that 75 per cent of disabled students were bullied last year, while 72 per cent were excluded from school activities or events4, an increase from a similar survey in 20225, which found that 70 per cent had been bullied, and 65 per cent excluded from school activities or events. In general, as the recent Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (Disability Royal Commission (DRC)) found, people with disability are also more likely to experience abuse and harm through their lives.
Types of bullying that children/young people with disability (both invisible and visible disability) might experience, compared to those without disability, include ableist language/slurs, bullying targeted at the exploitation of support needs (for example, removing access to a mobility aid/device), targeting physical differences and abilities, and/or social exclusion as a direct result of their disability or access needs. Children/young people with disability may also experience bullying in relation to intersectional identities.
According to the 2022 reporting on Australia’s Disability Strategy Outcomes, 58% of people with disability aged 20-64 had completed Year 12 or equivalent7. We often hear from parents that negative attitudes and bullying are key reasons why their children/young people with disability shift to segregated schools, undertake home-schooling or drop out of school.
If we are to end the prevalence of bullying against children/young people with disability and give them greater chances to pursue social and economic goals in their future, we must end the segregation, stigma and ableism being experienced by people with disability in our community. This starts with our children at school. In this submission we will highlight the importance of creating inclusive, welcoming and safe school environments that are accessible and equipped to cater for all students in the community, and how doing so will reduce instances of bullying.
We welcome this rapid review and the efforts to find better ways to prevent, intervene and respond to bullying.