Bullying, cyberbullying, and violence were key factors behind more than 42,000 student suspensions in New South Wales last year, as tougher school behaviour policies took effect. New figures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph show that 42,016 students were suspended across the state’s public schools in 2025, including 31,551 secondary students and 10,465 primary school students.
Among the biggest increases were suspensions for bullying and cyberbullying, which rose to almost 1,400 students last year, up from 1,112 the previous year. The data comes as schools prepare to implement a new national anti-bullying framework aimed at strengthening responses to bullying and ensuring affected students receive support more quickly. The framework requires schools to have clear anti-bullying policies and outlines how incidents should be managed and investigated.
Education Minister Defends Tougher Discipline
NSW Education Minister Prue Car defended the tougher disciplinary approach, stating that schools must be able to act when student behaviour impacts safety and learning. “We have high expectations for every student, and disruptive behaviour has consequences,” Car said. “We make no apologies for giving schools the authority to suspend students who disrupt learning and safety.”
Students were suspended for a range of reasons, including violence, bullying, drug-related offences, vaping, verbal abuse, and persistent disobedience.
Critics Question Suspension Effectiveness
Despite the tougher approach, some have questioned whether suspensions alone are enough to address the causes of bullying and disruptive behaviour. Speaking on Weekend Sunrise on Sunday, Triple M presenter Cat Lynch emphasised the importance of understanding what drives a student’s behaviour. “You often find out the root of the problem of why the bullying has started,” Lynch said. “It might be something at home or something they’re battling themselves.”
Lynch pointed to programs such as Gotcha4Life, which works with students in schools to encourage conversations about mental health and wellbeing. Channel 7 commentator Angela Mollard described the figures as “illuminating and very saddening” but argued that schools should combine discipline with stronger intervention measures. “The problem with suspending kids consistently is that when they’re out of the classroom, they find it much, much harder to integrate again,” Mollard said. “They’re almost ostracised because other kids don’t want to attach them.”
Alternative Approaches Suggested
Mollard suggested that short suspensions combined with targeted support programs could be more effective than repeatedly sending students home. “It’s better to put them into programs for those days so that actually we’re getting something out of it,” she said. She pointed to the United Kingdom’s use of specialist intervention classrooms, where suspended students continue learning while receiving behavioural support.
NSW Department of Education deputy secretary Martin Graham said suspensions were intended to act as an early intervention measure and a circuit-breaker before behaviour escalates further. “Suspensions, when they are imposed, are shorter, and we have a team that will support the student and their family to set students up for success. Early intervention is key,” he said.
Overall, the number of students suspended in NSW rose by 890 compared to the previous year, while the average suspension length fell to four days. A total of 159 students were expelled from NSW public schools in 2025.
