LAUSR

Any institutional policy will only be a paper tiger unless the intended recipients of the policy know and understand it. Student anti-bullying policies at universities in Australia have been researched to determine the quality and usability of the content, but research is lacking in how students understand and use these policies. Bullying amongst students has been identified globally as an issue at universities; however, little has been done to determine students’ knowledge and experience of bullying and the related policies and services universities provide. The aim of this paper is to fill that gap in knowledge, with the hope that by understanding a student’s perspective, identified blocks to reporting may be eliminated. This study surveyed 297 Australian university students about their knowledge of their university’s anti-bullying policies existence and location, their personal and witnessed experienced of bullying, how they handled it, and their knowledge and thoughts on how bullying information is presented to students at their university. The results found students lacked knowledge about anti-bullying policies and practices in their university. The results also highlighted assumptions students make about what their university offers in regard to policies and services. This paper indicates that universities need to publicise their policies and better educate their students on bullying and their related anti-bullying policies.