Gold Coast primary school teacher accused of ‘indecent’ treatment of child

A senior teacher at a Queensland primary school is suspended from working with children after he was charged with the indecent treatment of a child, a tribunal has heard.

Pimpama State Primary College. Picture: Jerad Williams

A senior teacher at a Queensland primary school has been charged with indecent treatment of a child, a tribunal has heard.

Darren Philp, who teaches at Pimpama State Primary College, was charged with one count of indecent treatment of a child by police on January 23, several years after a complaint was received alleging he had behaved inappropriately with a child.

The charge was mentioned in the Magistrates Court on February 14, the commission heard.

Details of the laying of charges were revealed in a decision of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission published on Wednesday August 2.

“I agree though that (Mr Philp) cannot work … in school settings while the allegation against him remains unresolved. That is clear,” Commissioner Roslyn McLennan ruled.

Pimpama State Primary College . Picture: Jerad Williams

She stated in her written decision that Mr Philp was entitled to receive his full pay while he was suspended from teaching, pending trial, and it was unfair and unreasonable to deprive him of an income.

She ordered the education department to reimburse him for the pay he “has been deprived of” since February 28 this year.

She said it would be unfair for Mr Philp to “be lurched into dire straits financially and denied the income he relies on to support his family for an undefined period”.

“People are presumed innocent until the required standard of proof has been discharged to determine otherwise. The proceedings may yet exonerate the appellant. We do not know,” Commissioner McLennan stated in her decision.

“The allegation against the appellant has not yet been tested. While the QPS have laid charges, all that is required for that to occur is that the police officer “reasonably suspects” a person has committed an offence,” she stated.

For more than two years, since February 2021, Mr Philp has been suspended from duty by the education department on full pay.

But on February 15 this year the department decided to stop paying him, the commission heard.

The suspension without pay was due to run until August this year, the commission heard.

Mr Philp submitted that the financial impact of the decision to suspend him without pay would have dire consequences on him and his family.

His teacher registration has also been suspended by the Queensland College of Teachers since January 24, the day after he was charged by police.

An internal education department investigation into the allegations against Mr Philp has not begun and cant start until any trial is over or the charges are otherwise resolved, the department told the commission.