The most recent State of the Service report, published by the Australian Public Service Commission late last year, suggests that bullying and harassment remain widespread in the APS. The staff census asked public servants whether they had been bullied or harassed at work over the prior 12 months – one in 10 respondents answered affirmatively.
There was significant divergence between departments. At some agencies, like the Fair Work Ombudsman, the number was as low as 4% – at others, including the Department of Home Affairs, 15% of respondents said they had been bullied or harassed at work.
What, then, should a public servant do if they are being bullied at work?
The starting point is the APS Code of Conduct, found in the Public Service Act – the law that governs the APS. The Code requires APS employees to “treat everyone with respect and courtesy, and without harassment”, and behave in a way that upholds the APS Values. One of those values is respect: “The APS respects all people, including their rights and their heritage.”
The APS Census defined harassment and bullying in ways that broadly approximate the legal understandings of those terms. Harassment was described as “offensive, belittling or threatening behaviour directed at an individual or group. The behaviour is unwelcome, unsolicited, usually unreciprocated and usually, but not always, repeated.” Bullying was defined as a colleague, or a group of colleagues, behaving unreasonably towards the individual in a way which creates a risk to health and safety.
Critically, the legal understanding of bullying requires repetition – one-off incidents will not be sufficient. And reasonable management action – performance management, or disciplinary action – will not constitute bullying provided it is carried out in a reasonable way.
In the event of bullying, informally raising concerns with your supervisor (if they are not the bully), HR or a more senior colleague is typically a sensible starting point. Sometimes, perceptions of bullying arise from misunderstandings that can be informally resolved.
If issues persist, making a formal complaint is the next step. Some agencies will have specific procedures guiding how this is done. In preparation for making a complaint, or while the conduct is continuing, it is sensible to keep a record of the bullying and the impact it is having. Contemporaneous file notes – for example, writing a time-stamped email to yourself as soon as possible after an incident occurs – are a helpful way to preserve recollections for use in future investigations or legal proceedings. If the bullying is taking place via written medium – for example in abusive emails or Teams messages – keeping a record can also be helpful.
However, public servants should always be mindful of their confidentiality obligations – it is better to keep such material on a work device, as there are legal risks in, for example, forwarding work emails to a personal account. Similarly, while recording a conversation – with all parties’ consent – may ensure a reliable record, covertly recording a meeting may be unlawful, or at the very least, a potential breach of the Code.
If concerns are not addressed within the workplace, workers are able to lodge a stop-bullying application with the Fair Work Commission. The Commission first holds a conciliation to see if a resolution can be agreed by the parties. If conciliation is unsuccessful, where the Commission is satisfied that someone is being bullied, and that there is a risk that bullying will continue, it may make any order it considers appropriate to prevent the bullying. Such orders might include changes in working arrangements, orders for individuals to stop certain behaviours, regular monitoring obligations and so on.
“The orders that are made depend on the facts and circumstances of the case,” the Commission’s bench-book explains. “The Commission may also make orders that go to the broader conduct within, and culture of, a workplace. These could include the establishment and implementation of appropriate policies, procedures and training.”
There is only one limit on the Commission’s powers in making stop-bullying orders – it cannot order compensation. “Their primary aim is to protect workers from future harm, and the focus is on resolving the matter and restoring a safe working environment,” the bench-book adds.
Workers are also protected under the Fair Work Act’s general protections regimes in raising concerns about workplace conduct, including bullying. If a public servant faced adverse action because they had raised concerns about bullying, this itself would likely be unlawful. This is an avenue where compensation is available.
In serious cases, where bullying is widespread across a team and having a systemic impact, it may even constitute disclosable conduct under federal public sector whistleblowing law. In such cases, someone being bullied – or a bystander – may be able to report it through internal whistleblowing channels, engaging the rights and protections that exist under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth).
Finally, if the bullying is so bad as to have a significant health impact, a worker may be entitled to claim workers’ compensation under the Comcare regime.
In recent years, there has been an increased regulatory focus on psychosocial hazards in Australian workplaces – with workplace health and safety regulators cracking down on employers who are failing to provide a safe workplace. Bullying is a major psychosocial hazard, and the APS’s data demonstrates that it remains all too present across the service.
While these responsibilities fall particularly on senior management, all workers have a responsibility to contribute to a safe workplace. Accordingly, addressing bullying is not only a matter for those at the top – but for everyone. Being an active bystander, assisting colleagues experiencing difficulties and guiding them towards support are responsibilities that sit with all of us.
First published 29 September 2025 in the Canberra Times – “What to Do if You’re Being Bullied in the APS”