Inquiry Recommends Redeemer Baptist School in Parramatta, Australia, Be Barred From New Enrolments Over Alleged Abuse Mishandling

A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry has recommended that Redeemer Baptist School, a private school in North Parramatta in western Sydney run by the Redeemer Baptist Church, be barred from enrolling new students. The inquiry followed a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, according to the Herald’s report.

The committee’s 200-page report was tabled in state parliament on a Tuesday by committee chair Abigail Boyd. It found that the school breached basic child safeguarding standards. Former students and teachers told the inquiry about allegations of sexual, physical, psychological, spiritual and financial abuse. The report found that students shared beds with teachers on camps and were forced to eat food to the point of vomiting. It also said the school exercised invasive control over private lives, including punishing pupils for attending outside birthday parties or holding Facebook accounts. One former student’s account, as reported, said the principal once wandered naked through a common area.

The committee found that sexual assault allegations were not handled appropriately and that the school put children at significant risk of harm. It also found that staff lacked essential workplace rights and that the school failed to meet basic good governance standards. The Herald reported that the committee referred the school to police, the Australian Taxation Office, Services Australia and the Office of the Children’s Guardian. The referred allegations include covering up child sexual assault, forced labour of staff, and tax and welfare fraud. These are matters referred for investigation, and the report does not establish that any of them has been proven in court.

The two reports differ on how the enrolment ban would operate. The Guardian reported that the committee recommended the school be prevented from enrolling new students while it is under investigation by the NSW Education Standards Authority. The Herald’s report described the recommendation as a bar on enrolling new students, without that qualification. The Guardian also reported that the committee recommended NSW police and the Office of the Children’s Guardian investigate the allegations, a recommendation that the Herald described in terms of referrals to a wider group of agencies.

The committee also criticised school leaders Russell Bailey and Jonathan Cannon for declining to appear at the inquiry despite multiple invitations and a summons attempt, according to the Herald. Protecting children who cannot protect themselves is the plain duty the findings bring into focus, a call the committee’s own record places before the school (Proverbs 31:8-9).

According to committee chair Abigail Boyd, the school received about $6 million a year in government funding, as reported by The Guardian. The Herald’s report did not address the amount of funding in the account it published.