Workplace Bullying: What to Actually Do About It (Step-by-Step)

Workplace bullying isn't just someone being a bit of a pain. It's repeated unreasonable behaviour that creates a real risk to your health and safety. And it's far more common than most people think — Safe Work Australia estimates up to 15% of Australian workers experience it in any given year.

The good news: you've got legal protections, and they've actually gotten stronger in recent years. The bad news: navigating the process can be confusing as hell, and too many people either put up with it or leave their job without ever using the options available to them.

This guide walks you through exactly what to do — step by step, plain English, no corporate waffle. If you're in immediate danger or experiencing a mental health crisis, call 000 (emergency) or Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24/7). Everything else can wait until you're safe.

Under section 789FD of the Fair Work Act, workplace bullying means an individual or group repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards you, and that behaviour creates a risk to health and safety. Both bits matter — it has to be repeated (one bad day doesn't count) and it has to be harmful.

Examples that typically count:

• Repeated verbal abuse, insults, or put-downs
• Deliberately excluding you from meetings, emails, or social activities
• Spreading rumours or gossip about you
• Setting you up to fail — giving impossible deadlines, withholding information, or overloading you with work while others have nothing
• Intimidation, threats, or aggressive behaviour
• Constant nitpicking and criticism that has nothing to do with actual work performance
• Cyberbullying through work platforms — Slack, Teams, email, WhatsApp groups

What doesn't count: reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable manner. Your boss giving you honest feedback on your performance isn't bullying. Being put on a performance improvement plan isn't bullying. Having a leave request refused for genuine business reasons isn't bullying. Being directed to do tasks within your role description isn't bullying.

The line is in the manner. A manager can tell you your work isn't up to scratch — that's their job. But if they do it by screaming at you in front of the whole office, sending abusive messages, or systematically humiliating you, the manner stops being reasonable and the behaviour can become bullying.

Before you do anything else, start writing things down. Contemporaneous records — notes made at or near the time of an incident — are the most powerful evidence you can have. The Fair Work Commission, courts, and investigators all give them significant weight.

For each incident, record:

• Date, time, and location
• Exactly what was said or done — use direct quotes where you can
• Who was there — witnesses matter enormously
• How it affected you — physical symptoms (headaches, insomnia, nausea) and emotional impact (anxiety, dread, fear)
• Any evidence — emails, messages, screenshots

Critical point: store your records somewhere your employer can't access. Don't keep your bullying diary on your work laptop, in your work email, or on a work-issued phone. Use a personal email account, a USB at home, or a physical notebook you keep off-site. If you get abusive messages through Slack or Teams, screenshot them and send copies to your personal email before anything gets deleted.

See your GP. Tell them what's happening at work and how it's affecting your health. Get it on your medical record. If things escalate, having a GP who can confirm you reported the impact months ago is invaluable — and it can also support a workers compensation claim if it comes to that.

Most employers are required to have a bullying and harassment policy. Under WHS legislation, they have a legal obligation to deal with reports of bullying. So raise it.

Go to your direct manager — unless they're the one doing the bullying, in which case go to their manager, HR, or another senior leader. You can raise it verbally, but always follow up in writing. An email that says "as discussed today, I'm raising a formal complaint about repeated bullying behaviour by [name]" creates a record that's very hard to ignore later.

In your complaint, be specific: state that you believe you're being bullied, describe the behaviour with dates and examples, explain the impact on your health and work, and ask for the matter to be investigated and the behaviour to stop.

Your employer should acknowledge your complaint, investigate it, take interim measures to protect you (like separating you from the bully or adjusting reporting lines), and give you a written outcome.

Here's the important bit: you're legally protected from retaliation. Under section 340 of the Fair Work Act, your employer can't punish you for making a workplace complaint. If they sack you, demote you, change your roster, or treat you differently because you complained about bullying — that's adverse action and it's unlawful.

If internal processes don't fix it — or if you don't feel safe raising it internally — you can go straight to the Fair Work Commission and apply for a stop-bullying order under section 789FC of the Fair Work Act. There's no application fee.

You lodge a Form F72 through the FWC website. In the application, you describe the bullying behaviour, explain how it's repeated and creates a health and safety risk, outline what steps you've taken to resolve it, and say what orders you want.

The FWC must start dealing with your application within 14 days. It usually begins with a conference — an informal, private meeting with an FWC member to see if the matter can be resolved by agreement. If it can't, it goes to a hearing where evidence is presented and a decision is made.

Orders the FWC can make include:

• Ordering the bully to stop specific behaviours
• Ordering the employer to monitor the situation
• Ordering changes to workplace policies or procedures
• Any other order the FWC considers appropriate

What they can't do is award compensation or order reinstatement through this process — those are separate claims (unfair dismissal, general protections, etc.).

Stop-bullying orders are legally binding. Breaching one can result in penalties of up to $19,800 for an individual and $99,000 for a corporation. They've got teeth.

Workplace bullying isn't just a Fair Work issue — it's a work health and safety issue. Every state and territory has WHS legislation that requires employers to manage risks to both physical and psychological health. Bullying is a recognised psychosocial hazard.

Since 1 April 2023, the model Work Health and Safety Regulations have included specific provisions on psychosocial hazards. These require employers to identify psychosocial hazards in the workplace (including bullying, harassment, and unreasonable workloads), assess the risks, and implement control measures to eliminate or minimise those risks — just like they would for a physical hazard.

In 2026, enforcement has ramped up significantly. State WHS regulators — SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, and their counterparts — are actively auditing employers on psychosocial risk management. Employers who don't have proper processes for preventing and responding to bullying are copping fines.

You can report workplace bullying to your state WHS regulator. They can investigate, issue improvement notices, and prosecute employers who fail to manage psychosocial risks. This is separate from the FWC process and can happen at the same time.

Key contacts:

• SafeWork NSW: 13 10 50
• WorkSafe Victoria: 1800 136 089
• WHSQ (Queensland): 1300 362 128
• SafeWork SA: 1300 365 255
• WorkSafe WA: 1300 307 877

Dealing with workplace bullying is draining. Properly draining. You don't have to white-knuckle it on your own. Here are the people who can help:

Your union. If you're a member, your union can represent you in internal complaints, attend meetings with you, help draft your FWC application, and represent you at hearings. If you're not a member, now's the time to join — most unions accept new members even after a dispute has started.

Your GP. Get your health impacts on the record. Your GP can refer you to a psychologist (you can get up to 10 Medicare-subsidised sessions per year through a Mental Health Treatment Plan), provide medical certificates if you need time off, and support a workers compensation claim if the bullying has caused a psychological injury.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Most mid-to-large employers offer free, confidential counselling through an EAP. Usually 3-6 sessions per issue. The counsellor is independent of your employer and can't share information without your consent. Ask HR for details.

Free legal help. Community legal centres in every state offer free legal advice on employment matters. Find yours at clcaustralia.org.au. Many employment lawyers also offer free initial consultations.

Crisis support. Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24/7). Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636. 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732 (if the bullying involves sexual harassment).

One last thing: making a complaint about bullying is not weakness. It's not "causing drama." It's asserting a legal right to a safe workplace. The law is on your side. Use it.