Queensland Education releases updated anti-bullying guidelines aligned with National Framework

Queensland's Department of Education has published revised anti-bullying and cyberbullying guidelines for state schools, aligning response procedures with the National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children and incorporating recommendations from the ongoing federal Anti-Bullying Rapid Review. The updated guidelines require schools to differentiate between one-off incidents and sustained campaigns of harassment, mandate documentation of the digital platforms involved, and establish clear referral pathways to police and the eSafety Commissioner for cases involving threats, sexual coercion or image-based abuse. The department reported a 28 percent increase in cyberbullying incidents recorded during the 2025 calendar year, with the majority occurring outside school hours on personal devices.

Documenting sustained campaigns presumes the visibility to distinguish them, yet most abuse unfolds in private channels invisible to school oversight until reported. World-leading AI detection from Guardii identifies the pattern of sustained targeting, escalation and coercion as it develops in children's direct messages across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and Roblox, surfacing a child in crisis to the school or parent in real time rather than relying on the student to self-report. By monitoring threat patterns rather than reading every message, the platform enables schools to act on the distinction the updated guidelines require, intervening during the window when harm is escalating rather than discovering a sustained campaign only after a child breaks down.