Workplace Bullying - Tips and Strategies to Document and Report

If you've never had to document or report anything at work before, the whole idea can feel overwhelming — where do you even start, and will it make things worse? Here's a plain-language way through it.

Start small: you don't need a perfect system on day one

A lot of people delay documenting because they think they need some elaborate system before they begin. You don't. A note on your phone with the date, what happened, and who was there is enough to start. You can tidy it up later. What matters is starting now, while the details are fresh, rather than waiting until you've "figured out the right way" to do it and losing weeks of accurate memory in the meantime.

The basics of a good record

Related: Workplace Bullying - Complete Guide.

Whatever format you use, try to capture the same core details each time:

• When — the date and roughly the time
• Where — the room, the call, the group chat
• Who — the person involved, and anyone else who saw or heard it
• What — what was said or done, as close to their actual words as you can manage
• How it affected you — did you have to step out, lose sleep, redo work afterward

An app like Bully Log is worth considering if you'd rather not build your own system — it prompts you for these details and timestamps each entry automatically, so you end up with a consistent, dated record without having to think about the format every time.

It's OK to feel unsure about whether it's "bad enough" to report

Almost everyone in this situation second-guesses themselves — wondering if they're being too sensitive, or if it's really "bullying" or just a difficult person. You don't need certainty before you start documenting; documenting is actually how you work out whether there's a pattern worth acting on. Under Australian workplace law, bullying means repeated, unreasonable behaviour that creates a risk to health and safety — a manager giving fair, if firm, feedback isn't bullying, but the same feedback delivered to humiliate you in front of others, or applied only to you while others get a pass, can be. If you're unsure, it's completely reasonable to describe what's happening to a union rep, a trusted person outside the situation, or a support line, and ask what they think.

Reporting doesn't have to mean a big dramatic confrontation

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

Reporting can be as simple as a short, calm conversation or email to your manager or HR: here's what happened, here are the dates, here's what I'd like to see happen. You don't need to have every detail perfectly polished before you raise it — you can say you're documenting an ongoing issue and will provide more detail as you go. If your manager is the person involved, go to their manager or HR directly instead.

What tends to happen after you report

Most workplaces will acknowledge your complaint and outline some kind of process, often an investigation involving conversations with you, the other person, and any witnesses. It's reasonable to ask how long this will take and to follow up if you don't hear anything within that window. Keep documenting during this stage too — how the process is going, and whether anything changes, for better or worse.

If it doesn't get resolved internally

If internal reporting doesn't fix the problem, external help is available. The Fair Work Commission can make orders to stop ongoing bullying, the Fair Work Ombudsman can explain your rights, and a union, if you're a member, can support you through the whole thing at no extra cost. This is general information, not legal advice — for anything formal, it's worth a conversation with your union or a lawyer. And whatever stage you're at, be kind to yourself about how hard this is — an Employee Assistance Program, your GP, and people you trust outside work are all there to help you get through it, not just the process itself.