What Is Cyberbullying? Definition, Examples & Australian Stats (2026)

Cyberbullying is a major concern for parents and teachers. The Department of Education's Anti-bullying site offers advice to parents and teachers on how to identify and respond to cyberbullying to keep children and young people safe online.

When trying to keep children and young people safe online, prevention is always better than cure, but when cyberbullying does happen it is important that parents, teachers, children and young people all know how to respond and where they can go to get help.

Cyberbullying in Australia: the 2026 picture

If you think cyberbullying is a fringe issue, the numbers say otherwise. eSafety Commissioner research surveyed 3,454 Australian children aged 10–17 between December 2024 and February 2025. It found 56% of girls and 50% of boys have experienced cyberbullying. Thirty-eight per cent have had someone say hurtful things to them online, 35% were purposely left out of an online activity, 25% had damaging content shared about them, and 13% were threatened.

Reports are climbing too. eSafety says cyberbullying reports rose 456% in five years — from 536 to 2,978 — and in 2024 nearly half of those reports involved children under 13. Primary school, not high school.

Schools are being asked to move faster: the federal Anti-Bullying Rapid Review recommends safety and support planning begins within two school days of a school learning about bullying. Ask your school what their response plan is.

What cyberbullying is not

Before we get into cyberbullying, it is important to distinguish that it is not the same as conflict or disliking someone online – even though these things may sometimes lead to cyberbullying. (For the full breakdown of every kind of bullying, see what is bullying and the different types.)

If someone teases or behaves in a mean or aggressive way once, it isn't bullying. It is not okay, but it isn’t bullying. A fight or disagreement between friends isn't bullying. Once these actions become an on-going, aggressive and targeted matter, that is when they become classed as cyberbullying incidents.

How to respond to cyberbullying

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The Department of Education’s Anti-bullying website refers to cyberbullying as the act of bullying behaviour using the internet or digital devices. It might include:

sending abusive texts and emails
posting unkind messages or images
imitating others online
excluding others online
tagging people in pictures against their wishes
threatening another person to do something such as sending revealing images.

Teach children and young people to follow the following steps to reduce and prevent cyberbullying:

Don’t reply or respond - bullies thrive on the reactions they get from their victims.
Save the evidence - take screenshots of cyberbullying posts so that you can use them as evidence later.
Tell a trusted adult - you do not need to deal with bullies by yourself, teachers and parents can help.
Report cyberbullying - this could be to your school or in more serious cases to the police and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.

Reporting cyberbullying

When it comes to reporting cyberbullying, digital citizenship expert Dr Talitha Kingsmill recommends having a CPR plan in place:

CONTACT the social media platform, school, eSafety Commissioner or police.
PROVIDE evidence of the issue.
REVIEW your practice/actions for next time.

For parents and teachers: what to do this week

Ask your school what happens in the first two school days after an online incident is reported.
Screenshot everything before you block or delete. Evidence first, then action.
Report serious material to eSafety rather than arguing with the account doing the damage.
Have one low-pressure conversation about what your child would do if it happened to a friend — it's easier to answer than "has it happened to you?"
Book a Cyber Safety presentation or a bullying talk so students hear the practical steps, not just the warnings.

What happens when things go wrong?

It is important to keep communications and discussions open and honest. Talk about what they do when on the internet. You can also use this as a chance to encourage good behaviours and remind them of actions they can take.

Remind your child to tell a trusted adult if they are bullied online.
Talk with your child and understand the ways in which they are using the internet and their mobile phone.
Encourage your child to only be friends online with people they know in day-to-day life.

What to do when a child reports cyberbullying: