Sydney private school should be banned from new enrolments, inquiry finds

The NSW parliamentary committee's report, triggered by a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, found the acclaimed private school places children at risk of significant harm. It described the school as not merely a strict religious institution but "something more insidious, an environment marked by control, surveillance, and rigid discipline."

The committee condemned the school's handling of sexual assault allegations as its most "egregious evidence," finding it indefensible and potentially illegal that staff flouted mandatory reporting obligations and "effectively enabled alleged abusers to remain near children." Former students who spoke to the committee described an atmosphere "dominated by fear, shame and the uncomfortable feeling of always being watched."

The report urged the state's school regulator, the NSW Educational Standards Authority (NESA), to freeze all new enrolments while it investigates severe child safeguard breaches. These included students sharing beds with teachers on mandatory school camps and children being forced to eat food to the point of vomiting. The committee was "alarmed" by practices that placed children in living arrangements with teachers, saying it "erodes the professional boundaries essential to the teacher-student relationship."

The report found the school exercised “invasive, extracurricular control” over private lives, punishing pupils for attending outside birthday parties or holding Facebook accounts. It said that for church and homestay children, elders searched rooms, confiscated devices and sat in on minors' private psychology appointments. One former student recalled a teacher screaming “at point-blank range” that attending an outsider classmate's birthday party was “an un-Godly thing.”

The inquiry also examined the school's finances, after this masthead revealed the school has received $58 million in state and federal funding, accumulated a property portfolio worth up to $100 million, paid zero in wages and channelled about $30 million out through unverified "service charges" to its affiliated church. The report said it was "troubling that an asset-rich, seemingly prosperous school operates by withholding wages from its workforce, who claim benefits, while the school receives millions of dollars in public funding."

The committee found the school's board of directors failed to satisfy basic governance standards, lacked independent directors, and that there were no independent avenues for students, staff or parents to lodge grievances without fear of retribution. The committee concluded that the school and church, while maintaining distinct corporate entities on paper, were “inextricably linked in practice, sharing identical leadership, decision-making forums and organisational culture.”

School leaders Russell Bailey and Jonathan Cannon declined to appear at the inquiry. The school cited upcoming HSC exams for its lack of availability. The report criticised NESA and its predecessors for failing to identify critical risks, and found it “unacceptable that both bodies seemingly ignored available and significant evidence.” The Department of Communities and Justice was also criticised alongside NESA.

The report recommended the school repay staff, including superannuation and other employee entitlements. It called for NESA and the Department of Education to review the school's homestay arrangements and for NESA to incorporate "an understanding of high-control environments and their impact on student welfare" in its report and audit the school's financial affairs.