Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee, , 1:10:28 to 1:19:10
Officials provide an update on the investigation into Redeemer Baptist School, focusing on financial viability, not-for-profit requirements, and the "fit and proper person" test following allegations regarding staff and student treatment.
Topics: Education, Integrity
Speakers: Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Ms. Meg Brighton, Senator Jess Walsh, Mr. Tony Cook, Unknown Speaker
>> Uh, good morning everyone. Um, my first lot of questions are about uh, Redeemer Baptist School. Um, Redeemer Baptist School over the 10 years from 2015 to 2024 has received $40.4 million in federal government funding. Uh, and the school owns 37 properties valued over 67 million. Um, as you're no doubt aware from media reports, um, the school, well, there have been a number of complaints about the school over a long period of time. Uh they started back in 2004 around systemic tax avoidance. They went through the 2000s um 2008 a senior public servant compiled 147 allegations against Redeemer spanning three decades. Um my question is how is it that despite serious revelations about this school throughout the 2000s, it's continued to receive federal funding up until the
present day? Senator, um, can I just say thank you first of all that you gave us some advanced notice on these questions so we could come prepared and also Senator Sullivan gave us some notification for early childhood. That just makes it so much easier for us to help the committee. But I'll get Miss Brighton to provide some detail on your question. Thank Brighton.
>> Um, good morning Senator McBright, Deputy Secretary of Schools. Uh, Senator, as we've discussed in this committee previously, in order to receive funding, Commonwealth funding, all schools have to meet certain eligibility requirements. And that goes to being a fit and proper entity, financially viable, and operating not for profit. Um while um and as we've said at this committee previously, while we try not to get into specific commentary um on individual matters for reasons of procedural fertus, I'll do what I can to help the committee today. So with Redeemer Baptist, um the department commenced its investigations uh this year. There are multiple regulators involved with Redeemer Baptist at the moment and as you'll be aware there's also a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry. >> The case um turns really on the employment relationship between Redeemer and its workers and as I said there's a range of regulators involved in that. So, one of the things that we're doing at the moment is we're undertaking a pretty detailed analysis of not only the financial information that's available to us, but also working closely with the other regulators. Um, findings that come out of either the other regulators or our own analysis may give rise to issues around that criteria of what makes a school eligible for funding, which is that fit and proper status. Are they a fit and proper entity? And are they operating for profit? Um so our investigation is continuing and there is a level of dependency with the work of the other regulators who are also um looking at this matter.
>> Um thank you for that. And it seems to me that if I understand you correctly, Miss Brighton, the investigation is largely around the employment relationship. Is is that right?
>> There's multiple components of the investigation. So one lot of regulators are looking at the employment relationship. Um other regulators will look at issues such as us about assets and monitoring of um how funding has been spent. Um there is also we understand court proceedings around employment matters. All of those different dimensions feed into the criteria that makes a school eligible or
given that a publicly funded independent school is alleged to operate substantially on unpaid labor from associated religious organization while accumulating large surpluses. Is the minister satisfied that the acts not for profofit requirements are capable of detecting arrangements of
>> Oh, thanks uh Senator Orman Payne. I think Miss Brighton was going to talk about those specific provisions if that is helpful. But um from the minister's perspective, Minister Clare referred the allegations um to the department. Um the department's examining um the matters. Ms. Brighton's talked about um how that work uh is underway and how there are other uh inquiries uh underway and the Commonwealth will uh consider um those uh findings before taking uh any uh further action.
Okay. Um just it seems that the focus is very much on financial arrangements. Um some of the allegations against Redeemer Baptist include um forcing students to stay in the homes of staff, dislocating them from their families. Um students made to sleep in beds with teachers on camps. Um a homeay arrangement where the principal walked in front of a student naked. Not allowing girls to play sport, not even compelling students to undertake a year 13 of unpaid labor after graduation. Um the allegations against this school go far beyond the financial arrangements and its not for-p profofit status. Going back through the records of actions taken against um private no approved authority has ever had its funding suspended for its treatment of students. As far as we can tell, they've only ever lost their funding for financial indiscretion and that's only happened three times. Given that's the case, Minister, is it your opinion that the fit and proper person test as it's currently legislated is adequate?
>> Uh, Ms. Brighton is going to give us some more information about that.
>> uh, Senator, thanks for the question and perhaps it would have been helpful when I was talking about fit and proper just to explore that a little bit person u a bit further. When we talk about the fit and proper requirements, it does extend not only to the financial management of a school, but it also extends to the school's governance arrangements and what we expect around approved authorities or schools about how their key personnel conduct themselves. Does the leadership foster a safe, respectful, supportive environment? So fit and proper actually has quite a broad definition and um the department when we see allegations about the conduct of senior leadership or boards of schools um we actually also follow up with those schools under that banner of fit and proper person. So the points that you've raised are very much on our horizon and fit within the scope of the investigations we undertake when we look at these schools.
>> I'm going to come back to the minister though. I guess my question is we've got a school here that had that has allegations as back as 2004 around things that go beyond the financial arrangements of the school given that we clearly have a situation where that has been allowed to go on for several decades. Is the fit and proper person test fit for purpose? If we've never had a school, and this is not the first school or authority to have allegations of this kind leveled before it, and yet none has ever lost its registration. Is is the test as it currently exists adequate in the minister's view?
>> Uh, thank you, Senator. I mean the um deputy secretary of the department has gone through um the arrangements and also the investigations and that and the inquiries that are underway and as that uh work is ongoing. Um there's really not much more I can say um about it. It wouldn't be appropriate to to comment further. Um these allegations um are um concerning um and the Commonwealth will consider um the uh results of the investigation before taking any further action.