A Melbourne mother has blamed her 14-year-old daughter's suicide on the internet and the tragic case has highlighted the problem of cyber bullying among young people, ABC Online reports this week.

In Australia, one of the first comprehensive studies of cyber bullying shows about 10 per cent of teenagers and children have experienced some form of sustained bullying using technology.

It is a behaviour that can have tragic consequences.

Speaking on Melbourne radio this week, mother Karen Rae is in no doubt that cyber bullying was responsible for the death of her 14-year-old daughter.

"Friday night she was on the internet and told me about some message that had come through, and she wanted to die because of the message," Ms Rae said.

"I laid in bed with her in my bed and we discussed it for about an hour and she left me fairly happy. I can guarantee you if she didn't go on the internet Friday night she'd be alive today."

Professor Donna Cross from Edith Cowan University has completed a landmark study on cyber bullying, commissioned by the Federal Government.

Professor Cross describes cyber bullying as "any bullying behaviour that is delivered through technology - through mobile phones or over the internet".

She says kids who have been bullied are much more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.

"They're much more likely to feel depressed, anxious, their self-esteem is affected, there are some students that report suicide ideation; it has very serious immediate effects and long-term effects."

Twenty-thousand Australian school children were surveyed using a combination of anonymous questionnaires and interviews.

According to the survey conducted by Professor Cross, about 10 per cent of young people reported they were being cyber bullied.

Professor Cross said one of the biggest problems identified by her research is that young people do not think adults take cyber bullying seriously.

"The young people would say the greatest harm is that they feel they can't tell anybody, that covert bullying is something that adults would think isn't that serious," she said.

"Having a rumour spread about you, does that really hurt you? Young people would say, yes, it does, it hurts us enormously, it hurts our reputation, our sense of popularity, and as a result it really can do some harm to us socially, emotionally and mentally."

And what many cyber bullies do not realise is that the abuse which may be meted out over the net or mobile phone may well put them not just outside acceptable social norms but also the law.

Lawyer James Newman says the act of cyber bullying could result in criminal charges.

"There can be offences against the Commonwealth Crimes Act for things all the way from threats to kill down to simply harassment," he said.

"If that harassment, threats to injure, threats to kill occur over telecommunications equipment, those students can be exposing themselves to criminal charges."

There are now calls for parents, schools and children to act together to combat the growing problem of cyber bullying.

AMTA has advice to assist teenagers, parents and teachers on cyberbullying. See consumer tips at www.amta.org.au