GuidesA closer look

What can you do about bullying at school?

What official sources say bullying is, what schools and school boards are required to do about it, how to raise a concern and take it further, and where to find support.

Every statement on this page comes from an official source: Ministry of Education and New Zealand Legislation (Education and Training Act 2020).

What counts as bullying?

Bullying is deliberately harmful behaviour directed at a person or group.¹ It involves a power imbalance and is usually repeated over time.² It is different from students having a one-off argument or fight, or causing harm unintentionally.³

Bullying can be verbal or physical, or involve harming people's reputation or relationships, and it can happen in person or online.⁴ It can be visible, but often takes place out of sight.⁵

What must schools do about bullying?

Schools and kura are responsible for providing a safe and bullying-free learning environment for all students, which includes preventing and responding to bullying.⁶

Under the Education and Training Act 2020, to meet its paramount objective a school board must meet a set of supporting objectives.⁷

One is to ensure that the school is a physically and emotionally safe place for all students and staff.⁸
Another is to ensure that the school takes all reasonable steps to eliminate racism, stigma, bullying and any other forms of discrimination within the school.⁹

The Ministry of Education's parent guidance says school boards are legally required to provide a safe environment for students.¹⁰

How do you raise a concern with the school?

Talk to the school if you have concerns about bullying; this could be your child's classroom teacher, or someone like a dean or the principal.¹¹ Tell them what you have heard from your child.¹²

You could also ask the school:

What procedures are there for preventing and responding to bullying behaviour?¹³
What support is available for students who are involved in bullying?¹⁴
Who should my family or child report bullying to?¹⁵
Is there a plan in place to prevent this from happening again?¹⁶
How could you, as the parent or caregiver, help?¹⁷

What if the problem is not resolved?

For general school queries or complaints, the Ministry says to speak first to the school’s principal, then to the school board.¹⁸ You can write to the school board if you are unhappy with how the school is managing the bullying problem, explaining the problem and what you want the board to do.¹⁹

The board will discuss your complaint at a board meeting.²⁰ You may ask to attend, and you can also ask to speak at the meeting.²¹

Beyond the school: Your regional Ministry of Education office can help you work with your school if you haven't been able to resolve the issue.²² If you are still unhappy, you can make a formal complaint through the Office of the Ombudsman.²³

Raising a bullying concern

Talk to the school
Talk to the school if you have concerns about bullying; this could be your child's classroom teacher, or someone like a dean or the principal.¹¹
Write to the school board
You can write to the school board if you are unhappy with how the school is managing the bullying problem, explaining the problem and what you want the board to do.¹⁹
The board discusses it
The board will discuss your complaint at a board meeting.²⁰
Contact your regional Ministry office
Your regional Ministry of Education office can help you work with your school if you haven't been able to resolve the issue.²²
Complain to the Ombudsman
If you are still unhappy, you can make a formal complaint through the Office of the Ombudsman.²³

The Ministry's general complaints page: If you are not happy with the school’s response, it says to contact your local Ministry office for support, or you can contact the Office of the Ombudsman.²⁴

What about cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is bullying using digital technologies such as social media.²⁵ Examples include creating false online profiles, posting abusive comments or embarrassing pictures or videos, and sending harmful text messages.²⁶ Cyberbullying usually goes hand in hand with in-person bullying.²⁷ This behaviour is likely to be happening both at school and outside school grounds.²⁸

The Ministry points families to Netsafe's website for help preventing cyberbullying; Netsafe can also help with reporting abuse online and bullying on mobile phones.²⁹

When should you involve the police?

Bullying can be serious. You can report bullying to the police if it involves physical or sexual assaults or threats, use of a weapon, or harassment.³⁰

Where else can you find support?

The Ministry of Education's Bullying Free NZ website has advice and resources to help if your child is being bullied, is worried about bullying at school, or is in some way involved in bullying.³¹

Bullying can be a barrier to regular attendance.³² If bullying is one of the reasons your child is not coming to school, the Ministry says to talk to your school first, and that the school will work with you to remove barriers to attending.³³

Sources

Every statement on this page comes from an official page, quoted in full here.

Each numbered statement above is followed here by the words of the official page it comes from. Every quote was checked against its page on 5 October 2026.

“Bullying is a deliberately harmful behaviour directed at a person or group.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“It involves a power imbalance and is usually repeated over time.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“It is different to ākonga | students having a one-off argument, fight, or causing harm unintentionally.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Bullying can be verbal, physical or involve harming people's reputation or relationships. It can happen in person or online.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“It can be visible but often takes place out of sight.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Schools and kura are responsible for providing a safe and bullying-free learning environment for all students. This includes preventing and responding to bullying.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“To meet the paramount objective, the board must meet the following supporting objectives”
New Zealand Legislation (Education and Training Act 2020) · legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/38/en/latest ↑
“to ensure that the school— (i) is a physically and emotionally safe place for all students and staff”
New Zealand Legislation (Education and Training Act 2020) · legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/38/en/latest ↑
“takes all reasonable steps to eliminate racism, stigma, bullying, and any other forms of discrimination within the school”
New Zealand Legislation (Education and Training Act 2020) · legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/38/en/latest ↑
“School boards are legally required to provide a safe environment for students.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Talk to the school if you have concerns about bullying. This could be your child's classroom teacher or someone like a dean or the school principal.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Tell them what you have heard from your child.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“What procedures are there for preventing and responding to bullying behaviour?”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“What support is available for students who are involved in bullying?”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Who should my whānau | family or child report bullying to?”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Is there a plan in place to prevent this from happening again?”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“How could you as the parent or caregiver help?”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“General school queries or complaints Speak first to the school's principal, then to the school board.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/our-work/about-us/contact-us/make-complaint ↑
“You can write to the school board if you are unhappy with how the school is managing the bullying problem. You should explain the problem and what you want the board to do.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“They will discuss your complaint at a board meeting.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“You may ask to attend, and you can also ask to speak at the meeting.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Contact your regional Ministry of Education office. They can help you work with your school if you haven't been able to resolve the issue.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“If you are still unhappy, you can make a formal complaint through the Office of the Ombudsman.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“If you are not happy with the response from the school, contact your local Ministry office for support. Regional offices Or you can contact the Office of the Ombudsman.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/our-work/about-us/contact-us/make-complaint ↑
“Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies like social media.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Some examples of cyberbullying include creating false online profiles, posting abusive comments or embarrassing pictures or videos, and sending harmful text messages.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Cyberbullying usually goes in hand with in-person bullying.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“It's likely this behaviour is happening both at school and outside of school grounds.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Netsafe's website offers help to prevent cyberbullying. Netsafe can also help with reporting abuse online and bullying on mobile phones.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Bullying can be serious. You can report bullying to the police if it involves: physical or sexual assaults or threats use of a weapon harassment.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Ministry of Education's Bullying Free NZ website Advice and resources to help if your child is being bullied, worried about bullying at school, or in some way involved in bullying.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/heal… ↑
“Bullying can be a barrier to regular attendance.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/atte… ↑
“We know there can be important reasons why children aren’t coming to school. This could include long-term illness, bullying, or financial challenges for families. If your child is affected by any of these, talk to your school first. Your school will work with you to remove barriers to attending.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/atte… ↑