On IDAHO day, May 17, WA’s 2011 Young Teacher of The Year Scott Sullivan will be launching a series of fact sheets from the Equal Opportunity Commission for students, teachers and parents aimed at preventing homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools.

Equal Opportunity Commissioner Yvonne Henderson told OUTinPerth that recent research,

‘shows pretty clearly that where there is a specific policy that addresses homophobic and transphobic bullying that it makes a significant difference to the students within school in terms of them feeling safe and in terms of measureable outcomes such as the frequency with which they might self harm or they might consider committing suicide.

‘There’s no doubt that a stand-alone policy is effective in assisting in those areas whereas a generalised  policy that covers all areas of bullying doesn’t have the same protective outcomes.’

Zoe Carter

Update: The original image for this story was replaced on Wednesday 17th June 2015.