Malcolm Turnbull has written to school principals across the country urging them to stamp out bullying to keep children safe.
The prime minister is calling on schools to sign up to the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence, on March 16.
"We believe all students have the right to be safe at school. Bullying and violence has no place in Australia," Mr Turnbull said in his letter to schools.
"This is our chance to stand together. Together we can reduce the incidence of bullying, whether inside the school gate or online, and eliminate it wherever we can."
Mr Turnbull listed examples of schools holding conferences to help students support their peers, while others are holding poster competitions to help make their schools safe.
"While schools and educators have a key role to play in tackling bullying, we also know the important role parents and families play," the prime minister said.
Education minister Simon Birmingham said that as a father of two young daughters, stories of schoolyard bullying horrified him.
"We want to make sure that schools are better equipped in terms of their capabilities to deal with these issues," he told Nine News on Thursday.
The government's national day of action seeks to target both "old-fashioned schoolyard" bullying as well as cyberbullying.
"The reason to do that is to make sure that school communities, teachers, parent, students, are all ... talking about what the resources are available to them to combat and tackle bullying," Mr Birmingham said.
Labor frontbencher Brendan O'Connor said Australia had seen some tragic consequences as a result of bullying - and supported the government's move.
But he said the coalition's anti-bullying stance was at odds with the "slur and slander" of staffers in the opposition leader's office by Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash.
"(It) really does cut across the sincerity and intention of the government to deal with bullying," he told journalists in Canberra on Thursday.
