Alleged sex abuse survivors sue SA schools, claiming they failed to protect them from pedophile teachers and staff
Survivors of alleged child abuse want accountability from the schools they claim failed to protect them – and they’re seeking it in court. See the cases.
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They are the places we send our children every day to learn, mature and grow into the adults we wish them to be – places we believe they will be safe, cared for and protected.
Unfortunately and tragically, history has shown South Australian’s schools have been, and remain, stalking grounds for those who would prey upon vulnerability, immaturity and trust.
Court records show predators don’t discriminate, offending in public and private schools alike, close to the city and in regional areas.
Some are well known in their communities, others just within their schools, but all do permanent, irreparable and incalculable harm to victims and their families.
What was talked about less often, until recently, was the role schools themselves played in the circumstances surrounding abuse – and whether they bore any responsibility for the crimes.
Increasingly, victims and survivors are alleging their abuse could have been stopped had schools acted appropriately.
Concerningly, many are claiming schools had either been warned about, or had knowledge of, a predator’s proclivities before the abuse and did nothing to control them.
This has opened up a second battlefront in the state’s courts, as alleged victims and survivors file lawsuits against their former schools, seeking compensation and accountability.
Their arguments tend to centre on two concepts – first, that schools were negligent for allowing a predator to be among their staff or faculty without censure.
Secondly, that the school is “vicariously liable” for the abuse inflicted because it could and should have done something to stop it.
These lawsuits now span public and private schools alike – suburban and regional – with no guarantee of prompt resolutions.
Below are schools that have been, or are being, sued in the state’s courts.
KADINA MEMORIAL SCHOOL
In December 2024, a former Kadina Memorial School student known as “Dennis” sued the Education Department for negligence and vicarious liability.
Dennis was one of 11 boys abused by Thomas Robert Ackland, who is serving a 14-year prison term for the crimes he committed while working as a teacher at the school.
In his $500,000 lawsuit, Dennis alleged the school knew Ackland was grooming students for sex seven months before he abused a boy but neither stopped nor fired him.
He alleged the school’s lack of action left him vulnerable to being contacted, through social media, by Ackland and then abused throughout 2019, 2020 and 2021.
“The school and the Education Department were aware of all these things and he was still given so much power and trust,” Dennis told The Advertiser in January 2025.
“The reason I’ve filed the lawsuit, and am speaking publicly, is I want to put pressure on the Department … I feel like it failed in its job, which was to protect all of us.
“I wouldn’t have been abused, and it wouldn’t have shaped my life in the way it has, if the Department had intervened and responded appropriately to the allegations it received.
“It needs to be held accountable for what happened, and it needs to fix things … I don’t want this to be swept under the rug just because he’s gone to prison.”
That same month, the woman who blew the whistle on Ackland’s offending – and whose son was also among his victims – threw her support behind Dennis.
She said the school told staff to “shut down” children or parents talking about the crimes and that “nothing was ever said or done” in the 10 months between her report and Ackland’s arrest.
The District Court has yet to release the government’s defence papers, and the case continues.
UNNAMED PUBLIC SCHOOL
Also in December 2024, a woman known as “Bessa” sued the Education Department over her alleged abuse by teacher Mieka Owens-Phillips.
She alleged Ms Owens-Phillips sexually assaulted her during her final year of high school more than a decade ago.
The school at which the abuse allegedly occurred cannot be named in order to safeguard Bessa’s statutory right to anonymity as the alleged victim of a sexual offence.
Ms Owens-Phillips has not been charged with any offence by SA Police.
Bessa is also seeking aggravated and exemplary damages, claiming the government breached that right by outing her, to her mother, as a “survivor of child sexual abuse”.
She further alleges that, in October 2023, she used social media to confront Ms Owens-Phillips who replied: “I’ve been worried about this day coming.”
“I’m sorry that you now have a different perspective and can’t see the love,” her message, quoted in Bessa’s court papers, reads.
“You’re welcome to destroy my life at any stage as you have the power, whatever you do won’t be as bad as what I have done to myself.”
In its defence papers, the government denies it is liable for negligence or “for any injury, damage, loss or harm suffered, if any” by Bessa.
It denies the “occurrence of the alleged abuse” and says it is “not vicariously liable for any of the alleged abuse of Bessa, which is not admitted”.
Despite the Department’s awareness of the allegations, The Teachers Registration Board of SA website shows Ms Owen-Phillips’ registration is current and will not expire until 2029.
The case is ongoing.
ST PETER’S COLLEGE
In January 2025, The Advertiser revealed St Peter’s College had confidentially settled a lawsuit filed against it, by a former student, in the Victorian Supreme Court.
The student, known as “Jonathon”, alleged he had been abused multiple times in class, during lesson time, by a teacher in the 1990s.
The teacher’s desk, he alleged, was “located in the back corner of his classroom” with “the children’s desks in front of him, facing toward the blackboard”.
Each of the acts of sexual abuse occurred, he alleged, while the teacher “was performing his duties as a class teacher”.
That, he alleged, meant St Peter’s had been negligent and was therefore vicariously liable for the teacher’s actions.
“St Peter’s College knew that there was a risk of sexual abuse at the school, that the risk was not insignificant and, if a child was sexually abused, they might suffer injury,” his court papers alleged.
“The college failed to initiate and maintain an adequate system to protect Jonathon from the risk of sexual abuse while he was under its care, control and supervision.
“(The teacher) owed Jonathon a duty of care, which included a duty not to sexually abuse him … a reasonable person in the position of (the teacher) would not have sexually abused Jonathon.”
St Peter’s is the most expensive campus to attend in Adelaide, costing $32,910 to put a teen through Year 12 in 2025 – up 5.5 per cent on 2024’s fee.
Prior to the settlement, it said in court papers it did “not plead” to the bulk of Jonathon’s allegations and denied others.
However, it claimed Jonathon “did not report any previous experience of emotional trauma” during prior psychiatric appointments.
It further claimed Jonathon “did not recall his experience of the alleged sexual abuse by (the teacher) until April 2020”.
Headmaster Tim Browning subsequently told The Advertiser the school “maintains an unwavering commitment to uphold child safety principles through a range of policies and processes.”
ST IGNATIUS’ COLLEGE
In March 2024, The Advertiser revealed St Ignatius’ College had confidentially settled a $795,000 lawsuit filed by a former student.
The ex-student alleged, in his court papers, he was abused in 2001 by then-teacher Stephen Hamra, who bent his arm back and raped him in the school’s gym.
He further alleged in court that the school’s then-principal, Greg O’Kelly – who went on to become a Catholic bishop – had known, since 1995, of allegations against Hamra.
He alleged Bishop O’Kelly – who stood in for Archbishop Philip Wilson during his prosecution and acquittal for covering up sex abuse – counselled, rather than fired, Hamra.
The student argued St Ignatius’ was vicariously liable, because it neither fired Hamra nor warned the West Adelaide Football Club, for whom he billeted junior players.
The club moved swiftly, following the settlement, to contact former players regarding Hamra.
In its defence papers, the school denied liability, saying it warned Hamra he would be fired if he were ever again to place himself “in a position for a boy to make allegations against him”.
Any illegal actions by Hamra were, it argued, “opportunistic” and did not represent a breach of the school’s duty of care to its students.
Hamra served a nine-year prison term for abusing other children, including survivor advocate Greg Trembath.
Also in 2018, a different former St Ignatius’ student claimed he was abused by Hamra in 1992 and, when he told the college in 1995, his complaint was “mishandled”.
Following the confidential settlement, a third student came forward alleging abuse, and is currently taking legal advice.
Meanwhile, West Torrens Council faced public calls to rename its Hamra Centre Library – named for the convicted pedophile’s father, who has never been accused of any wrongdoing – to ease the burden of his victims.
In late February, the council acknowledged the name “may be upsetting” for victims but waived its right to send the issue to community consultation.
Instead, it opted to have the Hamra family make the decision, and announced they “wish for the name to remain”.
BLACKFRIARS PRIORY COLLEGE
The Prospect-based school is currently defending the most lawsuits of any SA educational institution.
In July 2023, a former student filed a District Court claim, alleging he was sexually abused by former principal and Catholic priest Father Martin Wallace in 2002.
He alleged the school “was aware of more than 100 reported instances of abuse committed against Blackfriars students by Father Wallace”.
He further alleged Blackfriars had compiled “almost 100 documents” about the sexual abuse “of multiple students” during a “22-year cover-up”.
Father Wallace declined to comment on the allegations, and has not been charged with any offending by SA Police.
In August 2023, a second student filed a lawsuit alleging he had been abused by teacher Joseph William Weygood between 1992 and 1996.
Weygood was acquitted, at trial, of alleged offending in the late 1960s.
He further alleged Father Wallace had disciplined him when he reported the abuse, saying “don’t you ever say no to a teacher again”.
In November 2024, a third student asked the court to overturn the settlement he was previously paid over alleged abuse by Blackfriars teacher Ronald William Hopkins.
The former student, known as “AB”, alleges the school knew Hopkins – a convicted pedophile – was assaulting children prior to 1988, when he was abused.
In January 2025, a fourth student sued the school for $1.5 million, alleging it was vicariously liable for his abuse by former teacher Stephen Stockdale-Hall.
The school, he alleged, had fired Stockdale-Hall for sexual misconduct but permitted him to volunteer on its grounds, where he abused the student.
He further alleged five former teachers “frequently warned” students about Stockdale-Hall, showing his crimes were was “widely known throughout” the faculty.
Stockdale-Hall served prison time for abusing 10 children in the 1970s and 1980s – in 2004, Blackfriars set up a phone hotline for students to call in and report his past actions.
Blackfriars has denied all of the claims, and rejected allegations of a cover-up as “totally untrue”.
In its response to the $1.5 million claim, the school denied it owed one of the students a duty of care to protect him from being sexually abused.
The cases are ongoing and have yet to be finalised.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, help is available from the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service on1800 RESPECT.
Survivors and their families can also access a free, confidential peer support service through the Survivors and Mates Support Network atsamsn.org.au.
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