Victorian VPS bullying policy: respond to conduct and address the safety risk
The policy distinguishes bullying from other negative behaviour and directs sexual harassment into the employer’s stand-alone sexual harassment process. Bullying ordinarily involves repeated unreasonable behaviour that creates a health and safety risk. A single incident can still be serious and call for action even where the bullying definition is not met.
What to check
Write down what happened, dates, any witnesses or records, and what would stop further harm. Consider local resolution where safe and appropriate, but do not treat it as the only path. Formal complaints about conduct need appropriate handling under the governing process.
In a prison, the response to an allegation and the duty to control psychosocial risk run in parallel. Ask how immediate and ongoing risks are being controlled while any complaint is assessed. The policy expressly does not replace Victoria’s Psychological Health Regulations or WorkSafe’s compliance code.
Source and status
This VPS common policy was listed as updated 23 December 2025 and guides clauses 26, 27 and 81.6. The agreement and legislation prevail over inconsistent policy, and the common policy takes precedence over inconsistent agency policy. Check coverage before relying on it.
Read the official PDF and check the common policy register. General workplace information only.
Read the official policy PDF on this page
© Copyright State Government of Victoria. Unaltered copy of the official source PDF, reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Check the official source for later updates.
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