NSW Education Department updates cyberbullying response protocol following rapid review findings

The New South Wales Department of Education has released updated cyberbullying response protocols for public schools, directing principals to escalate serious online harassment cases to a dedicated state-level incident response team within 24 hours. The updated guidance, informed by preliminary findings from the federal Anti-Bullying Rapid Review, requires schools to document the platform on which harassment occurred and to preserve evidence for potential referral to the eSafety Commissioner. The department reported that cyberbullying notifications increased 34 percent in the 2025-26 school year compared to the previous year, with the majority of incidents occurring on Instagram and Snapchat.

Real-time interception addresses the harm before an escalation protocol is needed. A Meta Business Partner, Guardii detects cyberbullying patterns in children's direct messages as they unfold across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and Roblox, blocking or flagging hostile contact before it reaches the target and surfacing a child in crisis to the school or parent who can respond immediately. By identifying sustained targeting and coercion at the point of contact, pattern-based detection enables intervention during the window when harm can still be prevented, rather than relying on post-incident documentation and referral once damage has already occurred.