Terrorism investigation: Canberra school reported student’s essay to counter terrorism authorities
A Canberra high school student was interrogated by counter-terrorism authorities after an essay he wrote raised concerns about his “radical Muslim ideology”.
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A Canberra high school reported a year 11 student to counter-terrorism authorities after he handed a “concerning” and “unbalanced” essay that argued violent terrorism against Western governments was inevitable.
The student unsuccessfully sued the school for racial discrimination, claiming subsequent searches of his bags, detention and interrogation by Border Force officials at Sydney airport was “intimidating, stressful and traumatic”.
An ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision, handed down last week and made public on Wednesday, reveals the student submitted the controversial essay — which was ultimately given a failing grade — as part of the International Baccalaureate program.
In the essay, the student argued Western interference in the Middle East had resulted in a rise in Islamic terrorism in Australia and around the world.
The student also pulled out of a school trip over the summer holidays between year 11 and year 12 and instead began planning an overseas trip, alone, which the school principal developed suspicions about.
Most details of the trip, including where it was to, the name of the student, the school and its staff cannot be published after the Australian Federal Police applied for a non-publication order.
In a report to the National Security Hotline, the principal described the student’s essay as showing a “radical Muslim ideology”.
“We are now concerned it may be part of a much bigger picture,” the notification said.
While at Sydney Airport just over a week after the principal alerted authorities, the student was taken off to a side room, had his phone, laptop and bags searched, and was interrogated for more than two hours, mostly about his studies, his political views and his religion and his family.
He was also questioned when he returned to Australia.
In rejecting the student’s discrimination claim, the tribunal found the principal’s report to the hotline was legitimate, “soundly based” and was an “appropriate precautionary action”.
The school was also not liable for Border Force’s decision to detain and interrogate the student, the tribunal found.
“We are satisfied that any young person, or any race or religion, who displayed those behaviours, would be a cause of concern for his or her teachers,” the tribunal found.
The tribunal rejected the principal’s claim to authorities that the essay contained “radical Muslim ideologies” but said the essay “would nevertheless have been of concern”.
