Save Newington College supporters ‘not ruling out’ appeal to Supreme Court decision
Aggrieved parents and past students of Sydney’s Newington College are “not ruling out” an appeal after the Supreme Court slapped down their case against the school’s council.
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Aggrieved parents and past students of Sydney’s Newington College are “not ruling out” an appeal after the Supreme Court slapped down their case against the school’s council, in the latest instalment of its long-running coeducation drama.
The lawsuit, brought by a current student of the $45,000-per-year inner west institution, had mounted an argument that the school’s original purpose – as set out in founding documents -prohibited the school’s trust funds from being spent on girls’ education.
Supported financially by an alliance of current families and “old boy” graduates, the student’s lawyers presented dictionaries and hundred of newspaper articles from the 19th century to support their case that the trust’s 1873 deed used the word ‘youth’ to mean ‘young men and boys’ – to the exclusion of any would-be female students.
As a result, they argued, any use of any money to support coeducation would amount to a “breach” of the school council’s “fiduciary duties”.
In handing down his final judgement in the case, Supreme Court Justice Guy Parker found that the terminology was used “in a gender neutral sense” and dismissed the student’s statement of claim.
“(I have) concluded that the word youth … was used in a gender neutral sense and does not mandate male-only enrolment at the College,” he told the court.
Save Newington College spokesman Ian Webster said the litigants will now review the full judgement and an appeal is “still to be considered”.
“We’re certainly not ruling it out,” he said.
Mr Webster, himself a Class of 1970 graduate who counts more than 25 Newington students in his family across three generations, said there was “real disappointment” over the “adverse decision” among the “hundreds” of parents had pitched in to support the SNC’s cause.
“(Newington boys) are not deprived of interactions with females, they all know girls … but we did enjoy our boys-only education, and it’s sad and distressing to anticipate that that will not be going ahead for much longer,” he said.
Headmaster Michael Parker, meanwhile, has “welcomed” the decision “affirming our move to coeducation from 2026”.
“We have been steadfast in our position throughout these proceedings and we remain excited to build on our rich history and traditions by taking Newington into our next era,” he wrote in a short statement to parents and staff.
“We are optimistic that today’s determination will now pave the way for our community to move forward together … uniting around our future vision for Newington College as a respected, modern and dynamic school for boys, girls, young men and young women.”
The decision is the culmination of an 18-month saga that has torn through the school community, and in particular the “passionate” old boys who claim a stake in Newington’s future.
So deep was the rift that in March 2024, members of the Old Newingtonians Union overthrew their own leadership board over the issue.
Pro-coeducation ONU president Ed Miller, who won the vote on a narrow margin last August, told The Daily Telegraph the majority of old boys are “rallying” around the school and its decisions, and that he hopes the wider school community can now move on.
Reunions have had record attendance, he said, and last year the Newington Foundation raised more than $1 million for the first time since it was established in 2021.
“I think it’s very sad that a small group of people have wasted a lot of time and money on something that any ordinary person would look at and think is silly,” Mr Miller said.
“They’ve got the right to seek legal clarity on things … but a lot of it just seems like a big waste of time and money and energy.”
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