Bombshell revelations in ‘toxic clash’ between axed St Paul’s principal and church

Shock new details behind the ousting St Paul’s principal Paul Browning have been revealed, including revelations he continued to defy orders from the powerful Anglican Church.

• ‘School divided’: Teachers seek counselling

Axed St Paul’s principal Paul Browning continued to commercialise a controversial multimillion-dollar learning program he planned to sell globally himself, defying orders by the Anglican Church.

This is among a secret suite of bombshell revelations underpinning the “toxic clash” between Dr Browning and Archbishop-elect Jeremy Greaves that led to one of the most spectacular sackings of a headmaster in recent times.

Paul Browning was axed as principal of St Paul’s School after 15 years.

Dr Browning was abruptly cut from the elite Brisbane school last week, with a group of furious staff and parents accusing the church of “blindsiding” them, leading to protests to have him reinstated.

The Courier-Mail can exclusively reveal the school was instructed in April by the church to stop any commercialisation of the Realms of Thinking program as it would jeopardise federal government funding to all 11 of the Queensland schools it governs.

But in his final weeks, Dr Browning travelled to Sydney and Ipswich to talk with schools about the program.

Dr Browning’s refusal to cease marketing Realms of Thinking left the Anglican Schools Commission – of which Bishop Greaves is chair – no choice but to oust him.

“The church decided to bring forward Dr Browning’s departure to the end of Term 3 after he refused to stop his plans to commercialise Realms of Thinking,” a church spokesperson said on Friday.

Students and parents gathered at the corner of St Paul’s School protesting against the sacking of principal Paul Browning.

They said it had nothing to do with the payment of compensation to historic victims of child sexual abuse, as Dr Browning has maintained.

In an April 20 letter to St Paul’s, the church said it had received federal government advice that commercialising Realms of Thinking would be considered “operating for profit” and therefore risk total government funding to its schools. These include Churchie, The Southport School, St Hilda’s and Toowoomba Anglican.

It also said the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board “raised identical concerns and extended it to breaching the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2017”.

“In the circumstances we are not able to support any commercialisation of Realms of Thinking and direct all marketing material be removed from platforms,” said Anglican Church Southern Queensland general manager Tim Reid.

Sources say Dr Browning – who was advised in March his contract would not be renewed for five years from 2024 – became “obsessed” with monetising Realms of Thinking and set a “frenzied pace” to finalise its development before year’s end.

Cori Sandys-Brooke was one of the many parents protesting the sacking of the school principal Paul Browning.

This included interstate trips and the school organising four conferences to be held next March in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

Dr Browning told The Courier-Mail four world-leading experts – from Cambridge, Oxford, Winchester and Melbourne universities – had been lined up to attend the conferences, “such is the support globally for Realms of Thinking”.

The University of Melbourne has also been engaged to develop a method of assessing and credentialing the tool – at an undisclosed cost – so it can be adopted by schools.

Griffith University currently has a contract with St Paul’s to provide project management on Realms of Thinking IT.

Dr Browning has said the millions raised from Realms of Thinking would pay compensation to child sexual abuse survivors, after the findings of the 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

St Paul’s was lambasted by the royal commission over its past inaction against pedophile counsellor Kevin Lynch and pedophile music teacher Gregory Robert Knight during the 1980s and 1990s.

Kye Macdonald was one of many parents who protested at the sacking of Paul Browning.

On August 21 this year, Dr Browning wrote to the Anglican Schools Commission requesting all the intellectual property for Realms of Thinking as part of his severance package so he could “commercialise it independently as my new employment prospect”.

He offered to lease it to St Paul’s for at least five years free of charge at an estimated saving to the school of $451,000.

In his letter – a week after the church sacked the St Paul’s council – Dr Browning requested a meeting with senior church officials.

He subsequently told The Courier-Mail no meeting occurred and the church sent an email saying it would explore his proposal as long as he signed a nondisclosure agreement. He said he would never sign such an agreement.

The Courier-Mail can confirm Dr Browning did receive a response from the church on August 24, indicating it was open to considering giving him the IP once due diligence investigations had been conducted into Realms of Thinking.

The church also said due to the investment the school had made that a licence in perpetuity would be appropriate. There was no mention of Dr Browning being asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

It can also be revealed that in a draft business plan put to the church mid last year, Dr Browning proposed he be given 10 per cent ownership of Realms of Thinking.

Its creator Gabrielle Kempton would be given 12.5 per cent, investors 40 per cent, St Paul’s School 27.5 per cent and supportive parents and past pupils 10 per cent.

At this stage, insiders say the still chair of St Paul’s council, Reverend David Ruthven, raised concerns “as to what Paul’s intentions were”.

Some sources have declined to be named because they are still connected with the school where they say some senior leaders staunchly support Dr Browning and are campaigning for his reinstatement.

In June, Dr Browning lodged a whistleblower complaint with the Anglican Schools Commission over his contract non-renewal.

It was ruled invalid by a senior Queensland judge as it was not supported by legislation.

Dr Browning then filed a bullying complaint against the ASC’s executive director Sherril Butterworth. It is pending.

Bishop Greaves in April said the commercialisation of Realms of Thinking had no bearing on the decision of the ASC not to renew Dr Browning’s contract. However, in a statement on September 15 he said it was a major factor.

On Friday Dr Browning said: “Realms of Thinking is an approach to teaching to equip young people with the skills they need to thrive in a world dominated by artificial intelligence, and all the money was never coming to me.

“We proposed a number of models to see if one would meet the federal requirements so all the money could flow to the compensation of victims of child sexual abuse.

“The school’s liability is growing and at the moment stands at $7.2 million.

“We kept building the software (of Realms of Thinking) for the benefit of the students at St Paul’s and to reduce teacher workload – and to raise money for the victims.”

Dr Browning said in 2022 the Diocese gave him permission to commercialise it.

“In April this year I was told by the church to cease all advertising and I didn’t continue it. I was told if a school was interested in the program we could offer it free of charge if we couldn’t find a solution to commercialise it that met federal requirements,” he said.

“The school followed all instructions from the ASC and we were still working on building the software for the students and staff.

“I also take no profits from the sale of my book (Principled: 10 Leadership Practices for Building Trust) – they go to a scholarship fund for the children of victims of abuse. I get nothing.”

A spokesperson for the Anglican Church said in early 2023 it became clear the relationship between employer and employee had broken down and Dr Browning’s employment was untenable.

“Dr Browning was not happy with the decision of the Anglican Schools Commission communicated to him in March and sought to challenge it, which prevented the church from announcing his departure in a more appropriate way,” the spokesperson said.

“The decision we wouldn’t renew Dr Browning’s contract was kept confidential at his request. He chose to peremptorily make the announcement without consulting the ASC or church during confidential, good faith negotiations.”

The spokeperson said this communication was upsetting to many members of the community and would have been managed better if Dr Browning had consulted the church.

“The church deeply regrets the unhappiness this announcement has caused and hopes that St Paul’s can soon start to look towards the future.”

They said Realms of Thinking remained with St Paul’s which continues to deliver the program within the school.

“It has been suggested that the commercialisation would have funded payments to sexual abuse survivors. This is not the case. Payments to sexual abuse survivors are not part of this issue.

“It is church policy that families of sexual abuse survivors be entitled to a refund of school fees along with any other redress or compensation. This has not changed. This is not just St Paul’s, but is true for all Diocesan owned schools. Since 2020 these payments have been made directly by the schools.

“We are concerned that the erroneous comments about funding for sexual abuse claims could have a negative affect of past and future victims who may not feel confident to come forward. We encourage them to do so.”

ST PAUL’S SCHOOL TIMELINE:

July 2008: Paul Browning begins as principal of St Paul’s School.

February 2017: St Paul’s slammed by Royal Commission over past inaction against pedophile counsellor Kevin Lynch and pedophile teacher Gregory Robert Knight.

August 2018: Dr Browning named School Principal of Year (non-government) in 2018 Australian Education Awards.

August 2019: Dr Browning given Miller-Grassie Award for Outstanding Leadership in Education; named one of 50 most influential people in Australian education.

March 2020: Dr Browning’s book Principled: 10 Leadership Practices for Building Trust published.

December 2020: Church tells St Paul’s it must fund compensation claims for victims of historical child sexual abuse.

Mid-2022: Dr Browning requests a 10% ownership of Realms of Thinking from the Church in a draft business plan.

March 2023: Dr Browning told by the Church his contract would not be renewed for another five years from 2024.

April 2023: St Paul’s school council meets Anglican Schools Commission to discuss ways to retain Dr Browning as headmaster. ASC tells school to immediately cease marketing Realms of Thinking as federal government advice says failing to do so risks funding for all 11 schools.

June 2023: Dr Browning files whistleblower complaint against ASC. Complaint thrown out by a judge. He then lodges a bullying complaint against ASC. This is ongoing.

August 2023: Dr Browning flies to Sydney to market Realms of Thinking to an elite school. He then writes to Church officials requesting all IP for the tool as part of his severance package, offers to lease it back to St Paul’s free of charge but with a value of $451,000.

September 2023: Dr Browning is told to finish up at St Paul’s on Sep 15. Dr Browning informs school community on Sep 14 of his departure. The Church then writes to the school community outlining Realms of Thinking as a major factor in Dr Browning’s dismissal.