Beginner's Guide to Bullerlog: Navigating the Basics

If you've just found Bully Log because things have gotten bad enough that you want a proper record, you're already doing the smart thing — most people wait months before they start writing anything down. Here's exactly how to get started, without overcomplicating it.

What Bully Log is for (and what it isn't)

Bully Log is a place to record workplace bullying incidents as they happen — dates, times, what was said or done, who was there, and how it affected you. It's not a substitute for reporting to your manager, HR, your union, or the Fair Work Commission; it's the evidence base that makes those conversations go better. Think of it as your own contemporaneous record, the kind that carries far more weight than a memory reconstructed months later.

Setting up your first entry

Related: Workplace Bullying - Expert Advice on Documentation and Reporting.

Don't wait for the "big" incident to start logging — begin with whatever has already happened, even if it feels minor on its own. For your first entry, write down the date and approximate time, where it happened (meeting, email, hallway, group chat), who was involved, and who else witnessed or was copied in. Add as close to the exact words used as you can remember. If it happened today, do it today — details fade fast, and a log written the same day is far more credible than one written weeks later.

What to include in every log

A useful entry answers five things every time: what happened, when, where, who was there, and what effect it had — missed a deadline because you were shaken, needed to take the rest of the day, went to a doctor, and so on. If there's a written trace — an email, a message, a screenshot — save it or note a reference to it. Over time these entries build into a timeline that shows a pattern, which is exactly what distinguishes bullying (repeated unreasonable behaviour) from a single bad day.

Building a habit, not just one entry

See also: Workplace Bullying - Tips and Strategies for Effective Documentation and Reporting.

The value of a log compounds. One incident is a data point; ten incidents over three months, each with a date and a witness, is a pattern that's hard to argue with. Get into the habit of logging within a day of anything that bothers you at work, even if you're not sure yet whether you'll ever use it. You can always decide later not to escalate — you can't go back and recreate a missed entry with the same accuracy months later.

Beginner mistakes to avoid

The most common mistake is only logging the dramatic incidents and skipping the smaller ones — but it's often the accumulation of "smaller" things (being excluded, being spoken over, having work quietly reassigned) that proves the pattern. The second mistake is writing entries in vague, emotional language ("they were awful again") instead of specific, factual language ("at 2pm in the team meeting, [name] said [X] in front of four colleagues"). The third is waiting until you're ready to make a formal complaint before you start logging — by then, early details are often lost for good. Log as you go, stay factual, and let the record build itself.

Once you have a few weeks of entries, you'll have something genuinely useful: a clear, dated account you can bring to your manager, HR, your union, or, if needed, a Fair Work Commission stop-bullying application. This article is general information, not legal advice — for guidance specific to your workplace, the Fair Work Ombudsman or a union representative can help.