Bullying
Bullying is a form of aggressive or threatening behaviour — either at school, in the workplace or in the wider community.
Common signs of bullying and free legal help
Bullying usually:
- is on purpose — the bully intends to cause pain or discomfort
- involves a power imbalance — this could be based on, for example: status, physical size, age or gender
- is a pattern of behaviour over time that leads to fear and anxiety — it’s not usually a one-off thing
- causes short or long-term physical or psychological harm.
Different types of bullying — Bullying-Free NZ
More information about bullying
Free legal help with bullying and other topics
Contacts — emergency services and helplines
Life-threatening situations and emergencies
If you or someone else is in danger, do not hesitate to get help — either:
Helplines for mental-health support
For help that’s free and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, check:
School and sports bullying
School bullying
Students deserve to feel safe while learning and being around classmates and friends.
Find help with bullying at school, including signs of bullying and what to do.
Why does bullying happen? — Bullying-Free NZ
Learn about bullying at school
Take action: school bullying
Check Bullying-Free NZ for information about:
- signs that your child is being bulliedBullying-Free NZ
- reporting and making a complaintBullying-Free NZ
- what the school can doBullying-Free NZ.
In case you need your school’s contact information
Find your school — Education Counts
More complaint options — Ministry of Education
- Regional officesMinistry of Education
- School-related complaintsMinistry of Education
- Make a complaintMinistry of Education
Other complaint option for bullying
Help and advice — Mana Mokopuna | Children and Young People’s Commission
Sports bullying
Everyone deserves to enjoy and take part in sport and recreation without worrying about bullying and other harmful behaviour.
Check the signs of bullying in sports and what to do.
Harmful behaviour — Sport Integrity Commission
Learn about bullying in sports
Check the information from the Sport Integrity Commission about:
Take action: sports bullying
Check with the Sport Integrity Commission for information about:
- what to do if you see signs of harmful behaviourSport Integrity Commission
- support servicesSport Integrity Commission
- making an integrity complaintSport Integrity Commission.
More information — Sport Integrity Commission
Workplace bullying
Everyone has a right to work in a safe environment.
Learn more about workplace bullying and what to do if it’s happening to you or others.
Bullying at work — Employment New Zealand
Learn about bullying in the workplace
Take action: workplace bullying
Starting point — Employment New Zealand
Check with Employment New Zealand to:
- get advice and support
- deal with the matter yourself — for confidence, double-checking with Employment New Zealand’s advice
- ask someone to help informally
- make a formal complaint
- find out what you can do if the problem does not get fixed.
If you feel bullied, harassed or discriminated against — Employment New Zealand
Employment New Zealand also has an early-resolution service.
Early resolution — Employment New Zealand
Other options for handling workplace bullying
Employment New Zealand also has information about:
- mediationEmployment New Zealand
- personal grievancesEmployment New Zealand
- escalating unresolved issuesEmployment New Zealand.
Mental-health and other support in the workplace
Aggressive customers or members of the public — what to do
How do I serve a trespass notice in writing? — Citizens Advice Bureau
The NZ Police have advice, reporting options and a template you can use.
- How to give someone a trespass noticeNZ Police
- Trespass notice formNZ Police
- Report a trespass noticeNZ Police
- Report a trespass breachNZ Police
Business owners bullied by employees
Online harm: women working — Ministry for Women and Netsafe
If you work in online spaces or have a public profile, find out how to:
- navigate online harm while keeping your confidence to stay active in your work
- know how other women handle online challenges.
Online bullying — also called ‘cyberbullying’
If you’re being bullied using digital communications, you can get help from either:
- Netsafe
- the NZ Police
- the Ministry of Justice.
Digital communications are, for example: texts, emails, videos, websites, apps or social-media posts.
Cyberbullying: protections against online, digital harassment — Community Law
Learn about online bullying
Take action: online bullying
Netsafe help and contact information
These services are free and confidential.
- Helpline for harmful digital communicationsNetsafe
- How to record digital evidenceNetsafe
- Report harmful contentNetsafe
- Bullying and harassment
- Image-based abuse
- Sextortion
- Self-harm or suicide
- Child-sexual-abuse material
- Misinformation
- Hate speech and extremism
- Stalking and spyware
- Privacy or data breach
- Scams
Help from the NZ Police — intimate visual recordings
To report when someone posts, without your consent, an intimate recording, image or video of you online, contact your nearest police station.
Find police stations by map — NZ Police
The Ministry of Justice explains more about this criminal offence under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015.
Harmful digital communications — Ministry of Justice
Another option: help from the Ministry of Justice
You might want to apply for a Harmful Digital Communications order. You can do this if you:
- already tried, using Netsafe, to solve the problem with harmful online content
- are the person affected by the harassment or threats — or you meet the Ministry of Justice’s requirements for applying for the order for the affected person.
Applying for a Harmful Digital Communications order — Ministry of Justice
Neighbour bullying
Problems between people living in a neighbourhood can:
- come from a wide range of topics
- be misunderstandings best fixed by talking to each other respectfully and politely
- be or become dangerous, which require more caution when trying to fix them.
Responsibilities for you, your neighbours and your community — Community Life
If people are in danger or property could be damaged, do not hesitate to call 111.
Learn about bullying in neighbourhoods
Take action: neighbour bullying
Trespassing
- What trespassing is and a sample trespass notice — Community Law
- How do I serve a trespass notice in writing? — Citizens Advice Bureau
The NZ Police have advice, reporting options and a template you can use.
Owners or renters of property — bullying
Property owners who then rent to other people are often called ‘landlords’.
Renters are also known as ‘tenants’.
Bullying might become an issue between landlords and tenants, or from tenant to tenant.
Check how to solve problems for landlords and tenants, especially when situations escalate to bullying and anti-social behaviour.
Your rights and responsibilities: landlords and tenants — Tenancy Services
Learn about bullying: owners or renters of property
Take action: owners or renters of property — bullying
Life-threatening situations and emergencies
- Legal help when being harassed
- Domestic and family violence
- Withdrawal from a tenancy following family violence — Tenancy Services
Tenants being bullied or harassed
- Problems with your landlord: what you can do — Community Law
- When it’s the landlord breaching quiet enjoyment — Aratohu | Tenant Advocacy
- Can a tenant serve their landlord with a trespass notice? — Citizens Advice Bureau
Landlords or other tenants being bullied or harassed
Tenancy Services has help for landlords dealing with tenants with anti-social or unacceptable behaviour.
- Dealing with anti-social or unacceptable tenant behaviourTenancy Services
- Help: decision tool for anti-social or unacceptable tenant behaviourTenancy Services
How to solve problems between tenants and landlords — Tenancy Services
Who to contact for more help
If you need more help or have questions about the information or services on this page, contact one of the following agencies.
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Ministry of Education
Contact and agency details -
Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission
Contact and agency details -
Employment New Zealand
Contact and agency details -
WorkSafe New Zealand
Contact and agency details -
Tenancy Services
Contact and agency details