Legal responsibilities

Education and Training Act 2020

1. The Education and Training Act 2020 (Section 127(external link)) states that a board’s primary objectives in governing a school are to ensure that:

(a) every student at the school is able to attain their highest possible standard in educational achievement; and 

(b) the school— 

(i) is a physically and emotionally safe place for all students and staff; and 

(ii) gives effect to relevant student rights set out in this Act, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990(external link), and the Human Rights Act 1993(external link); and 

(iii) takes all reasonable steps to eliminate racism, stigma, bullying, and any other forms of discrimination within the school; and 

(c) the school is inclusive of, and caters for, students with differing needs; and 

(d) the school gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi(external link), including by— 

(i) working to ensure that its plans, policies, and local curriculum reflect local tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori, and te ao Māori; and 

(ii) taking all reasonable steps to make instruction available in tikanga Māori and te reo Māori; and 

(iii) achieving equitable outcomes for Māori students. 

 

2. To meet the primary objectives, the board must—

(a) have particular regard to the statement of national education and learning priorities issued under section 5(external link); and 

(b) give effect to its obligations in relation to— 

(i) any foundation curriculum statements, national curriculum statements, and national performance measures; and 

(ii) teaching and learning programmes; and 

(iii) monitoring and reporting students’ progress; and 

(c) perform its functions and exercise its powers in a way that is financially responsible; and 

(d) if the school is a member of a community of learning that has a community of learning agreement under clause 2(external link) of Schedule 5, comply with its obligations under the agreement; and 

(e) comply with all of its other obligations under this or any other Act. 

 

Education Review Office

In every Education Review Office (ERO) review, school boards and principals are asked about the steps in place to ensure students are safe and the strategies schools implement to provide a safe physical and emotional environment. ERO's focus includes physical, verbal and social bullying, including cyber-bullying and homophobic bullying.

According to ERO(external link), schools that actively create inclusive, respectful environments experience less bullying that schools that simplly respond to bullying incidents.

Bullying is covered within ERO's current review documentation:

The ERO Guidelines for Board Assurance Statement(external link) define bullying and provide information on types of bullying behaviour. 

The ERO Board Assurance Statement (BAS) Self-Audit Checklists(external link) asks, if the board has ensured that the school: 

• is a physically and emotionally safe place for all students and staff (section 2, question 1a) 
• gives effect to relevant student rights set out in the E&T Act 2020(external link), the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990(external link), and the Human Rights Act 1993(external link); and takes all reasonable steps to eliminate racism, stigma, bullying, and any other forms of discrimination within the school (section 2, question 1b) 

Section 3 of the BAS Self-Audit Checklist asks if: 

• the board has health and safety policies, and procedures/ guidelines/ practices linked to internet safety/security including cyber bullying (question 12a). 
• the school Internet Safety Policy been implemented in the last year (question 12b) 
• the principal and teaching staff currently provide anti-bullying programmes for students (question 25) and if those anti-bullying programmes include a focus on: 
  • racist bullying 
  • bullying of students with special needs 
  • homophobic bullying 
  • transgender bullying 
  • sexual harassment.

 

The Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 (HDCA) 

Under the HDCA(external link) a school can be considered an ‘online content host’ if it controls an online space with content on it. This includes: 

• school websites 

• school social media pages/groups; 

• class blog sites; or 

• other apps that enable users to make comments or add other content e.g. ‘Seesaw’.

A school may be legally responsible for harmful content posted to online spaces that they control or administer. For more information on this topic see our section on cyberbullying(external link) or Netsafe.(external link)

Other legal considerations

Other legislation and guidelines that schools and Boards of Trustees need to be aware of in relation to bullying include:

• Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989
• Crimes Act 1961
• Employment Relations Act 2000 
• Films, Videos and Publications Classifications Act 1993
• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
• Human Rights Act 1993
• Privacy Act 1993
• Secondary Teachers’ and Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreements
• State Sector Act 1988
• Victims’ Rights Act 2002
• Vulnerable Children's Act 2014
• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

 The New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Safety in Schools Toolkit (external link)explains the implications of many of these Acts for schools.

Responding to bullying incidents

Responding to bullying incidents should be part of a school’s wider bullying prevention policies and procedures.

Bullying that occurs outside of school

Schools are increasingly involved in incidents where students' activities at home or in their own time have an impact on school life.