Anti-bullying provisions were introduced for the first time in
the Fair Work Act in January 2014. Those provisions
were designed to be preventative rather than compensatory –
that is to say, their aim is to stop the bullying before
substantive loss or injury occurs.
The new provisions do not limit a potential claimant from
pursuing any cause of action that would previously have been
available to them. Notwithstanding that allegations of
bullying often form a substantial part of litigation, there is no
such thing as a cause of action in bullying. A claimant must
fit their particular bullying situation into one of the existing
causes of action.
A common example is where an employee is bullied to such an
extent that they suffer an injury – either physical,
psychological or both. In very serious cases, the police may
charge the bully with a crime. More often, the bullied person
is unable to work as a result of their injury, leading to them
commencing a workers
