Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (Northern Ireland) 2016
| Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to address bullying in grant-aided schools. |
|---|---|
| Introduced by | John O'Dowd MLA, Minister of Education |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 12 May 2016 |
| Commencement | 1 September 2021 |
Status: Current legislation | |
The Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 25 (N.I.)) is an act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Legislative passage
[edit]The bill was introduced in November 2015.[1]
Provisions
[edit]The act provides a definition for school bullying.[2] The definition is: "The repeated and intentional use of physical, verbal, electronic, written or psychological acts," or some combination of these, "by one or more pupils against another pupil or group of pupils with the intention of causing hurt, harm, fear, distress or adversely affecting the rights or needs of that pupil or group of pupils".[3] The definition includes bullying:[4]
- in schools
- while pupils are travelling to school
- while pupils are travelling from school
- while under the care of the staff of schools
- while pupils are using school equipment
The act requires schools to record all incidents of bullying and alleged bullying.[1][5] There is no requirement for the Department of Education to collate the statistics collected.[6]
Commencement
[edit]The act came into force in 2021.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Anti-school bullying legislation tabled in Stormont". Belfast Telegraph. 30 November 2015. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
- ^ Doyle, Simon (11 February 2016). "Parents should be more involved in anti-bullying push". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 17 June 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
- ^ Meredith, Robbie (30 November 2015). "NI schools anti-bullying bill introduced at Stormont". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
- ^ "Changes to proposed anti-bullying laws put forward by education committee". BBC News. 10 February 2016. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
- ^ a b Meredith, Robbie (26 April 2021). "Schools required to implement anti-bullying laws". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
- ^ "Alliance Calls For Urgent Action On Sectarian Bullying". 4NI.co.uk. 12 June 2025. Archived from the original on 17 June 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025.