Taxpayer picks up tab to replace up to 30 barred Qld teachers
Risque messages, sex with former students, drugs, inappropriate photos on school camp, and even one teacher hiring a motorcycle to drive a former student around after calling in sick. Here are the teacher suspension cases that rocked Queensland schools.
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Taxpayers have forked out millions of dollars this year in wages for up to 30 suspended teachers, principals and their replacements.
Although the state government was waiting until the end of the year to release the exact number of suspensions in 2023, it is believed at least 30 teachers have been sidelined since January while waiting for the outcomes of professional hearings.
An Education Department spokesman said the number of suspended employees was fewer than 0.1 per cent of the department’s 96,000 workforce, or about 96 people.
That figure was likely to be higher with the Queensland College of Teachers’ annual report claiming 115,002 approved teachers as at December 31, 2022.
There were 11 cases and appeals related to suspended teachers before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal since January including that of a male teacher barred indefinitely after he was found to have had sex with a recently graduated female student in 2019, calling in sick, hiring a motorbike and driving her around.
Other cases included a male teacher who had his Queensland College of Teachers suspension upheld after sharing drugs with a female high school student and that of a male teacher cleared for inappropriately touching a student he had failed in a physics exam.
The Teachers Professional Association of Queensland said it was helping 22 teachers suspended in 2023 and was supporting a further seven teachers whose cases had been ongoing for more than two years.
TPAQ president and national co-ordinator Scott Stanford said taxpayers were paying more than $6.4 million a year for 30 suspended teachers on full pay and their replacements based on an average $108,000 wage of a state high school teacher.
Mr Stanford said in the past five years, there had been an alarming spike in the number of teachers suspended on full pay while they were waiting for their cases to be decided by the Queensland College of Teachers or referred, or heard, in QCAT.
“The system is at breaking point because there are so many complaints — many of which are vexatious and frivolous — and not enough resources to resolve them,” he said.
“If the current system saves any child, that’s great but suspending teachers for more than 12 months and up to three years, needs to stop because it is ruining many lives and costing the taxpayer millions.
“We estimate all of the teacher suspensions could cost taxpayers nearly $10 million annually taking into account the cost of employing about two investigators per case.”
Mr Stanford said this year his union had dealt with the case of a male teacher who was exonerated in February after a two-year investigation for inappropriate touching.
The case revealed the man had failed a student in a physics exam.
Another male teacher of 20 years, known for setting strict rules inside a classroom, has been waiting nine months for a Queensland College of Teachers outcome after being accused of improper conduct with a female high school student.
Mr Stanford said his union was also supporting a male physical education teacher suspended six months ago, after being accused of taking photos of female students with his phone, while taking roll call.
A female teacher suspended for more than six months, accused of grooming a male student after a group arrived at the nightclub she was at, was also being supported.
A male teacher, who had been waiting 10 months for an outcome in his suspension case after being accused by a colleague of being too close to students, was another case.
The Queensland Teachers Union has also supported many suspended teachers this year but would not reveal an exact figure.
A QTU spokesman said the union believed in open and transparent investigation of all incidents and allegations and provided assistance to all financial members on request.
The suspension figures this year were similar to last year, when the Queensland College of Teachers annual report recorded 16 registration suspensions for review along with a further 12 suspensions regarded as having unacceptable risk.
One teacher’s registration was cancelled after being convicted of a serious offence, the annual report said.
Here are 12 cases of suspended teachers in 2023.
DECEMBER 21/JANUARY 13, 2023
A Queensland teacher, accused by a regulatory body of providing cocaine to a 15-year-old he had sex with after meeting on a “sugar daddies” website, had his suspension upheld in January.
The teacher was referred to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal by the Queensland College of Teachers.
In a police statement, the 15-year-old girl alleged she created an account on a website, where men provided money and gifts for sex, using a fake date of birth as there was a requirement to be 18.
The girl alleged she told the teacher she was only 15 and he was fine with that and provided his number, the tribunal heard.
The teacher denied giving the girl his phone number, which matched that recorded on his Approved Teacher Information System Register.
The teenager alleged she and a friend met up with the teacher who drove them to a place where they bought cocaine before going to his home, the tribunal heard.
“Later, at his house, after some drinks and cocaine, the complainant and the teacher … engaged in sexual intercourse,” a police officer’s summary of the girl’s statement said.
In police body-worn footage, the teacher, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said he had not talked to or met anyone underage on the website to his knowledge, the tribunal heard.
He said the girls were using cannabis at his house but he did not know anything about cocaine, the tribunal heard.
When shown a photo of the girls sitting in his lounge room with a plate that had a white substance on it which the girls said was cocaine, he said: “I don’t know if it was cocaine”.
The College of Teachers suspended the man in November 2022 and referred the matter to the tribunal to decide whether he posed an unacceptable risk of harm to children and whether to continue the suspension.
The teacher told the tribunal the allegations were unsubstantiated and he strongly refuted them.
“He added that there is ‘no evidential basis to these allegations’ and no criminal action has been taken,” the tribunal said in a decision published in January.
He denied seeking or buying any drugs for himself or anyone else or knowingly engaging in any inappropriate or sexualised communications or behaviours with any child or young person.
A senior school teacher for more than 20 years, the man provided nine character references.
The tribunal said a disciplinary proceeding was the appropriate vehicle for a proper consideration of any disputed facts.
The tribunal’s Professor Ned Aughterson ordered the teacher’s suspension to continue citing the evident age of the girl as shown in the photographs.
“(The teacher) does not say that she appeared to be 18 years or over or not of school age, but rather simply states that the ‘sugar daddy’ site is for over 18s,” he said.
The college was ordered to initiate disciplinary action or authorise an investigation of the matter.
That outcome is still pending.
JANUARY 13, 2023
A former approved teacher, suspended after social media posts, was denied a review of his suspension after a Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruling in January.
QCAT senior member Professor Ned Aughterson denied the review and found the teacher had surrendered his registration.
The Queensland College of Teachers suspended the man’s registration on May 13, 2021
claiming it reasonably believed the teacher posed an unacceptable risk of harm to children.
The suspension referred to social media posts said to have been made by the teacher, which alleged there were people and entities plotting against him or conspiring to cause him harm.
The suspension notice expressed concern about the teacher’s state of mind and his ability to discharge his duty of care to students in a classroom.
In line with Education Department procedures, the matter was referred to QCAT for review.
Two days later, the teacher gave notice of the surrender of his teacher registration and also advised that he did not intend to return to teaching and there was no reason for the matter to progress to QCAT.
The college advised the tribunal that the teacher was no longer registered and as a “former approved teacher” there was no need for a review and asked for all documents to be destroyed, which the tribunal did.
But 17 months later, on October 14, 2022, the teacher applied to QCAT for a review of the decision to suspend his registration.
In his ruling, Professor Aughterson said QCAT had no jurisdiction over “former approved teachers”.
“In relation to a ‘former approved teacher’, there is no registration to suspend.”
FEBRUARY 21, 2023
A female teacher at the Gold Coast was given clearance to work with children after a ruling in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal in February, 2023.
The teacher was suspended in 2017 with the ban lifted in 2019.
However, in 2021 the Department of Justice and Attorney-General denied her a Blue Card, which allows teachers to provide child-related services outside of their teaching role.
The Department ruled that her case was “exceptional” and it would not be in the best interests of children to grant a blue card.
The teacher, who is now 31 and back in the classroom, appealed the 2021 decision, and denied any sexual or grooming behaviours and indicated her actions were those of an inexperienced new teacher.
QCAT member Louise McDonald upheld the appeal and said the case was not exceptional.
The Queensland College of Teachers had suspended the high school teacher’s registration in January 2017 when she was 24 on the basis that she posed an unacceptable risk of harm to children.
QCAT hearings in 2017 found the teacher’s behaviour did not satisfy the standard generally expected of a teacher when dealing with a 14-15-year-old female student.
The tribunal heard that the teacher, a graduate when the relevant conduct occurred in 2015 and 2016, had talked on the phone and arranged a meeting in a park after midnight with the student.
The teacher had also talked to the student about the student feeling suicidal but had not reported the conversation.
The tribunal heard she had accepted a gift from the student and allowed the student to attend her home and a birthday party.
The pair had attended a coffee shop, Sushi Train and had trained alone at Mt Warning and Tallebudgera, according to QCAT documents.
The tribunal also heard the teacher took the student to a physiotherapy session and photographed her being massaged and gave the student gifts including a Pandora bracelet, an imitation leather jacket and a Typo-brand pencil case.
A police investigation was carried out from July to August 2016, interviewing the student and examining the student’s phone but no charges were laid.
Police records showed that in the interviewing officer’s view, the student appeared to be trying to protect the teacher.
Education Queensland also conducted investigations and the Ethical Standards Unit made “no finding” as the investigation was outside the two-year period for disciplinary matters.
QCAT lifted the suspension in September 2019 after the QCT submitted it was appropriate to end the ban as the teacher had served a longer period of suspension than had been initially sought.
The Tribunal noted that since the suspension, the teacher had professional assistance and acknowledged her conduct transgressed professional boundaries.
MARCH 17, 2023
A teacher, registered since 2016, had her registration suspended by the Queensland College of Teachers in January after claims she broke a domestic violence order and pushed and punched her 13-year-old child.
The college said she posed an unacceptable risk of harm to children.
Its decision followed a domestic violence order made against the teacher in April 2018, requiring her to be of good behaviour.
But later that year she was convicted for breaking that order after an act of physical violence against her then partner, in the presence of her children, QCT documents stated.
The documents also said she allegedly physically assaulted one of her children, aged 13, and was subsequently arrested and charged with one count of contravention of domestic violence order (aggravated offence) in December 2022.
In her submission, the teacher said the 2018 and December 2022 events “did not constitute a pattern of behaviour” showing an unacceptable risk of harm to children.
In its submission, the college said the teacher’s conduct demonstrated her inability to manage and regulate her behaviour and emotions towards, and in front of, children and pushed for the suspension to remain and the request was upheld by QCAT senior member Ned Aughterson, who also called for the college to either call for an investigation or “as soon as practicable” or initiate disciplinary proceedings.
MARCH 22, 2023
A female teacher at one of Brisbane’s largest state high schools, was charged in March with grooming and indecent treatment of a child while employed.
The 28-year-old was charged with two counts of grooming and one count of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and faced Southport Magistrates Court on May 2.
It is understood the sports co-ordinator has been on leave since being charged on March 10.
Her registration details are listed on the Queensland College of Teachers as being under full suspension and the Department of Education confirmed the teacher remained on leave.
The matter was briefly mentioned in Brisbane Magistrates Court in May and adjourned to a later date.
MARCH 28, 2023
A female teacher, who was suspended in November 2021, had her registration reinstated after QCAT found she was no longer considered an unacceptable risk of harm to children.
The teacher was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm in relation to physical injuries to her baby son.
The injuries included a spiral fracture to the son’s humerus which was said to be “unexplained from a medical perspective” according to QCT documents.
Criminal proceedings against the teacher were dismissed in June 2022 after mediation and the teacher completing the Triple P Parenting Program.
The teacher said she was no longer a risk after a Parental Agreement also ended in April 2022.
The Queensland College of Teachers agreed the teacher no longer posed an unacceptable risk of harm to children and recommended to the tribunal to end the suspension.
Senior Member Joanne Browne ended the suspension in March.
APRIL 18, 2023
A former full-time high school maths and physics teacher was prohibited from reapplying for registration or permission to teach for two years after he was found to have engaged in unwelcome social media posts.
The man, 42, was teaching a female student maths and physics in 2019 and coached her at 20 tutorials after school hours in order to help improve her grades in physics. The student claimed inappropriate and overfamiliar comments from the teacher made her uncomfortable and she asked another student to accompany her to the tutorials, before they were halted.
In his submission, the teacher said he struggled to get to the end of the school term and resigned in September 2019, before leaving the country.
Documents before QCAT said the man wrote messages to the student using various social network platforms beginning on the last day of school.
One of the messages was: “I can’t just leave without you knowing that I love you. Hopefully you won’t think it is necessary to tell people and make sure I can’t teach again.”
Another said: “Hi … No doubt my message was a surprise. I would like to talk though, whenever you want, if you ever want. I was telling the truth.”
In their findings, QCAT members Steven Holzberger, Vass Poteri and Robyn Oliver said there were a significant number of instances of inappropriate conduct over six months.
They said the teacher had acknowledged that his behaviour did not satisfy the standard generally expected of a teacher.
The QCAT documents said the teacher chose to surrender his registration in February 2020 by not paying the annual fee, because he was no longer teaching in Queensland.
His reapplication for teacher registration in May 2020 was denied by the QCT in June 2020.
The tribunal said it remained concerned that the teacher had displayed little remorse and required the teacher to undergo psychological assessment with the requirement of a psychologist’s report to form part of any future application for re-registration.
APRIL 24, 2023
A teacher, who hit a student twice in the face while on playground duty, had his registration suspended for three years after a QCAT finding in April.
The teacher was employed full time in a high school when he physically assaulted a 14-year-old Year 9 student.
The man was charged with one count of assault occasioning bodily harm in March 2019 and was subsequently convicted after pleading guilty.
The teacher was ordered to pay a fine of $1500 and no conviction was recorded in the District Court.
The Queensland College of Teachers suspended his registration in March 2019 and referred the matter to QCAT, which initially continued the suspension.
The incident, caught on CCTV, showed a male teenager walking in the “out of bounds” area on a path leading out of the school.
The teacher, who did not know the student, called out asking him where he was going.
The student initially ignored the call but finally said he was going to the shop because he was hungry.
The teacher took a photo of the student, who did not have the full uniform on and the student swore at the teacher before striking him and knocking the teacher’s phone, hands, arms and chest, near his shoulder.
The student raised his arm as if to strike the teacher again, and the teacher punched him a second time and jumped out of the way.
During the altercation, the student yelled at the teacher that he was going to get fired.
In deciding the sanction, the tribunal found the teacher had not upheld the standards of the teaching profession.
Documents tabled in QCAT showed that the 39-year-old teacher had no criminal history and an otherwise exemplary record as a teacher.
Various character references said the actions were completely out of character, and he was embarrassed and ashamed of his actions.
QCAT said cancellation of the teacher’s registration was required to sufficiently address general deterrence and maintain public confidence in the teaching profession and disciplinary system.
The teacher was also forced to write a letter of apology to the victim.
JUNE 26, 2023
A former approved male teacher at a southeast high school was indefinitely barred from reapplying for registration or permission to teach in June.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal made the ruling after the Queensland College of Teachers gave 11 grounds for disciplinary action.
The QCT claimed the man, who was 30 at the time, had a sexual relationship with a former female student not long after she graduated from high school in November 2018.
QCT documents also claimed the man had been interviewed about a previous relationship with a former student while he was working at a different school in 2013, when he was 24.
The documents also claimed he engaged in dishonest conduct and set up a fake email account as the Manager of Professional Standards and Student Protection, sending an email to the school in 2019 saying he was under investigation.
The documents said on more than one occasion, the man allowed the former student to attend his house where they had sex and stayed in a hotel at a holiday location with the former student where they had sex.
In February 2019, three months after the student had graduated, the man took a day off sick, hired a motorcycle and took the former student for a ride, according to the QCT documents.
The documents also stated the man had sent the former student a selfie photograph of his torso while wearing a towel.
The QCT’s Professional Conduct Unit provided a comprehensive investigation report in September 2019, which gave details of the claims.
In its reasoning, the tribunal said the man had resigned and surrendered his Queensland teacher registration, or permission to teach, in June 2019, after the school notified the QCT of the alleged relationship.
“He had been warned in 2013 of the seriousness of breaching boundaries by having intimate relations with students and former students,” the tribunal said in its ruling.
“He went on to repeat the behaviour in 2018. He clearly was aware that his behaviour was unacceptable as a teacher, but this did not deter him.
“He has not made any submissions, and has not provided any evidence as to steps that he has taken to change his behaviour.
“There is no indication as to any educational courses, psychological treatment or counselling by him after the surrender of his registration in 2019.
“We accept the submissions of the QCT that the appropriate sanction in this matter is that an indefinite prohibition be made.”
JUNE 27, 2023
A 59-year-old female teacher was denied a blue card by the Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
She is currently employed in a high school as a substitute teacher in the Northern Territory, where she has the appropriate authorisation to work. But she cannot return to work as a teacher or a tutor in Queensland without a blue card, which she previously held.
The Department issued a negative notice on January 15, 2021.
QCAT documents presented at a hearing in June, showed the woman had a criminal history related to illicit drug use.
Documents submitted to QCAT by the Queensland College of Teachers said the teacher had not disclosed her marijuana use to the principal of a Queensland school where she had applied for a job as a relief teacher in 2020.
In her defence, the teacher said she had been treated unfairly because she needed the marijuana for pain relief.
In her findings, QCAT member Pam Goodman said the teacher’s conviction for a drug offence in 2018, although not a serious or disqualifying offence, was relevant.
“Drug offences are highly relevant to employment, or the carrying on of a business that involves or may involve children,” the findings said.
“Quite apart from the obvious risks if children were able to access the drugs, there is a significant risk to children if the applicant were to be under the influence of drugs while working with children.”
Documents submitted by the Department of Justice said the woman had an exceptional case and it “would not be in the best interests of children” for her to be issued with a Blue Card because of illicit drug use; misuse of prescribed medication; and mental health management.
In her defence, the woman submitted that she felt remorse and regret, and understood the negative effects associated with using cannabis around children. She said she had replaced her cannabis use with relaxation methods.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal refused to allow a male teacher back into the classroom after claims he had acted inappropriately with a female student while on a school camp.
QCAT senior member Professor Ned Aughterson found the man continued to pose an unacceptable risk of harm to children in September.
Documents submitted to QCAT stated the man had been a teacher since 2006 and was suspended in July after the Queensland College of Teachers formed the view that he posed an unacceptable risk of harm to children.
The college’s reasons included engaging in inappropriate and or overfamiliar and or sexualised physical conduct with a student and inappropriate conduct with a student along with sexualised communications with a student.
Evidence provided to QCAT included two handwritten statements from the student outlining her interactions with the man along with a photograph of the student sitting next to the teacher with her head on his shoulder.
Screenshots of phone text messages were also included.
The tribunal noted it could not draw a conclusion from the single photograph but said there was a “clear divergence” in the versions given by the student and teacher.
In her statement, the student referred to “inappropriate verbal and physical behaviour” from the teacher and claimed he had touched her on multiple occasions, including on her upper thigh and groin.
The student’s statement also said the teacher had made comments suggesting sexual interaction. She also said that at first she enjoyed the attention and banter, but later became “uncomfortable”.
The teacher’s submission said he was happily married and had never been accused of anything similar in his 16 years of teaching.
He said he always maintained healthy boundaries with students, and had taught underage female netball teams for years.
In order to lift a suspension made by the council, the tribunal was not required to be satisfied there was an unacceptable risk of harm.
The teacher can apply for a review of the decision.
NOVEMBER 2023
A Queensland woman suspended from teaching after admitting to being “intimate” with a recently graduated Year 12 student can now reapply for her professional registration.
The teacher did not directly teach the student at the school, but was the coach of the student’s sibling’s sporting team.
The intimate relationship lasted no more than three months.
The teacher, known as “Teacher LQN” for legal reasons to protect the student’s identity, was brought before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal by the Queensland College of Teachers to decide when she could reapply for her registration.
The details of the QCAT hearing and orders made were published last week.
The teacher was first registered in Queensland in December 2014.
From 2015 to 2016, she taught at her first school, then moved to her second school in 2017, worked at her third school from 2018 onwards, before being employed at a fourth Queensland school in 2020.
In October 2019, the QCT was notified by the third school of alleged inappropriate conduct towards a former student.
In September 2020, the QCT suspended the teacher’s registration.
The allegations were that the female teacher had “personal dealings of an intimate nature” with a year 12 student who graduated at the end of 2018 from the school she worked at.
It was alleged the “intimate” dealings took place between June and August in 2019.
Of the six allegations made, the teacher agreed with five, while the sixth was unsubstantiated.
The QCT asked for the teacher’s registration to be cancelled and that she not be allowed to reapply for a period of four years from the date of the suspension, which was September 3, 2020.
The QCT also asked for the teacher to be required to include a psychological report addressing specific issues if she were to reapply for her registration.
In reply, the teacher told QCAT it was appropriate for her to be allowed to return to teaching and she asked for an order ending the suspension of her registration.
Among the factors taken into consideration during the QCAT hearing was that the teacher’s then-partner died in February 2018 and she was later diagnosed with an adjustment disorder, mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
“There is no indication of previous inappropriate dealings by the respondent (Teacher LQN), unrelated to this particular former student,” QCAT also noted in its judgment.
The order cancelling the teacher’s registration and prohibiting her from reapplying ended on November 3, 2023 due to it being backdated from the original suspension.
In addition, the teacher completed a customised program on professional practice and professional boundaries.
She also had a report from her treating psychologist highlighting their confidence in her capacity to recognise “ethical and legal boundaries”, as well as “identify problematic situations” to ensure there is no risk of harm to students in the future.
This QCAT order was made on October 4 but the judgment was published in November.
That order cancelling the teacher’s registration and prohibiting her from reapplying ended on November 3, 2023 due to it being backdated from the original suspension.
The teacher can now reapply for registration, but she must include a report from her treating psychologist addressing whether it is their opinion that she can identify and manage potential professional boundary issues that may arise in the future.
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