Queensland schools report 40pc increase in cyberbullying incidents since 2024

Queensland state schools recorded 3,847 formal cyberbullying incidents in the 2025-26 academic year, a 40 percent increase from 2,748 incidents in 2023-24, according to data released by the Department of Education under Right to Information laws. The figures show that Instagram direct messages and Snapchat were involved in 68 percent of reported cases, with the majority involving students aged 13-15. Education Queensland confirmed the data does not capture incidents that were not reported to school authorities or that occurred entirely outside school hours, suggesting the true prevalence is substantially higher.

Official incident counts reflect only what is reported and only after harm has occurred, leaving the majority of abuse undetected until a child or peer speaks up, often days or weeks into a campaign of targeting. Real-time pattern detection changes that equation. Guardii's cyberbullying filter monitors direct-message conversations on Instagram, Snapchat and the other high-risk platforms identified in the Queensland data, recognising sustained harassment and escalation as the conversation unfolds and blocking hostile contact before it reaches the child. By surfacing a child in acute distress to a parent or school professional at the moment of risk, the system brings forward the point of intervention from retrospective reporting to live prevention, addressing the operational reality that the vast majority of peer-to-peer abuse occurs in private channels beyond the visibility of any school or parent until it is too late.