Obligation to eliminate harassment and victimisation
Harassment is abusing, bullying or teasing someone about their disability which makes that person upset, unhappy or scared.
Victimisation is threatening or hurting someone because they are thinking about making a discrimination complaint or if they have already made one. Victimisation is a crime.
The Education Standards require an education provider to have rules about preventing harassment and victimisation from happening. This is one of the obligations of an education provider under the Education Standards. This obligation includes making sure that all staff and students know these rules and understand that harassment and victimisation are very serious and against the law.
An education provider must listen to you if you think you have been harassed, threatened or victimised because of your disability or your association with a person with disability. Then it must properly investigate what you say and take appropriate action against any offenders. This investigation should be done in such a way that your dignity and privacy is respected.
Students with disability have the right to feel safe in the education environment and to feel confident to tell people if they feel harassed or threatened. They should also have their dignity and privacy respected just like any other person.
Clara - Harassment because of a person's disability
Clara is a girl with an eye disease that will get worse and worse as she gets older. A teacher at Clara's school knew about this disease and spoke about it in front of the whole class. The teacher did not ask Clara for permission to talk about it. Clara's teacher said that everyone should feel sorry for Clara. She said things like: 'Clara is a girl who wants to be pitied because she has an eye disease'. At another time the teacher questioned Clara's disability and suggested she didn't think it was 'as bad as Clara was pretending it to be'. As a result of these comments Clara became the target of school yard bullying. Clara was very upset and didn't want to go to school.
Clara's mother made a disability harassment complaint to HREOC. At conciliation the teacher apologised for the hurt she had caused and the school agreed for all its teachers to go to disability awareness training.
Patrick - Bullying a student because of their disability
Patrick has an intellectual disability. For a couple of months a group of boys at his school called him names like 'Idiot' and 'Dumbo' in front of his class and his teacher. The teacher ignored what the boys were saying. Patrick was very hurt by what the boys were saying. He even asked the teacher to help him out, but the teacher said not to worry about it and that it was a normal part of being at school. It was only after Patrick's parents had a meeting with the principal and the teacher that the situation was fixed. The teacher and principal agreed to discipline the boys and to notify all students and their parents about the seriousness of bullying. They also agreed to update their rules on harassment and bullying and to put a copy up on the school noticeboard.
