The inquiry into Redeemer Baptist School, triggered by a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, has laid bare failings in New South Wales' child protection system. New documents tabled at the inquiry show that the DCJ relied solely on phone assessments and referrals to other agencies to clear child welfare reports concerning the school, despite whistleblowers and former students alleging systemic control, abuse and forced communal living.
According to answers provided by the DCJ on notice, the department received 15 ROSH reports involving children enrolled at the school over a 22-year period. Under NSW law, a child is deemed at risk of significant harm if there are concerns relating to assault, sexual abuse, psychological harm or neglect. The DCJ declined to confirm under which specific categories the reports fell.
Former staff and students have told the inquiry they suffered sexual, physical, emotional and spiritual abuse, and have urged the government to classify the school and its associated church as a system of group-based coercive control. Some have alleged in the inquiry that it amounts to a cult. The reports detailed allegations that the school denies teachers wages, enforces extreme control over members, dictates students' underwear choices and forces children to live with staff.
The inquiry continues, with further evidence expected to examine how the state's child protection agencies handled warnings about the school over more than two decades.