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Latrobe City Council launches 'Kindness is key' campaign to empower students and tackle bullying together

Latrobe City Council launched the Kindness is Key: Stop Bullying campaign, co-designed with students to promote kindness, upstander training, and community action against bullying across local schools.

By news@gippsland - 9th October 2025 - Back to News

Latrobe City Council has launched its Kindness is Key: Stop Bullying campaign, shaped by the voices and experiences of young people across the region. Earlier this year primary school students from across Latrobe City came together to tackle the growing issue of bullying in their communities.

Students proposed upstander training to combat bullying, leading to tailored Stand-Up Project workshops for student leaders across eight Latrobe City primary schools

Empowering student upstanders

Over the past three years, with the support of VicHealth, council has worked with local schools through co-design workshops. These workshops revealed that bullying is one of the most pressing health and wellbeing concerns facing students in the region.

Through these sessions, students shared ideas on how bullying could be addressed within schools. Over 80 percent of students voted in favour of implementing upstander training, saying it would empower them to act and support others.

Students take stand

Following this, the Stand-Up Project developed workshops tailored for local students. These were delivered to student leaders from eight primary schools within Latrobe City:

• Traralgon South Primary School
• Morwell Park Primary School
• Hazelwood North Primary School
• St Gabriel's Primary School
• St Vincent de Paul Primary School
• Yarragon Primary School
• Moe (Elizabeth Street) Primary School
• Yallourn North Primary School

The workshops covered the causes and impacts of bullying, the bystander effect, and strategies for becoming an effective upstander. In a follow-up session with council, students collaborated to create community project ideas to spread the upstander message across Latrobe City.

Kindness is key

Latrobe City Council Mayor, Councillor Dale Harriman, said the initiative is a significant step in engaging with and learning from young people. "One of the key ideas students developed was the message 'Stop Bullying, Kindness is the Key'."

"The students envisioned this as a bright, colourful campaign to be shared on digital screens, billboards, and in every school across Latrobe City. It is a message that can resonate directly with students but also their parents and more broadly in the community," said the Mayor. Students left the workshops feeling empowered and excited about making a real difference in their schools and communities.

Pictures from Latrobe City Council Facebook page.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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