Australia

Since the early days of its convict settlement by the European colonists in the late eighteenth century, Australia has prided itself on its desire for social justice and its championing of the underdog. It has not always lived up to these ideals. For instance, policies directed towards maintaining a ‘White Australia’, and the non-incorporation of the indigenous people of Australia in an equal partnership with other Australians, for many years badly tarnished its image. But running through much of Australian life there has always been, and still is, a powerful desire for a community that is accepting of all people and an unyielding abhorrence of tyranny and oppression towards those who might be seen as ‘outsiders’. Nowhere is this more evident than in the contemporary movement in Australian schools to abolish the evil practice of bullying.