NSW tribunal orders Malek Fahd Islamic School to repay $11m

Malek Fahd Islamic School is considering fresh options after losing its appeal to Civil and Administrative Tribunal NSW over paying back $11 million to the NSW Government.

The Malek Fahd Islamic School in Greenacre is the largest of the three campsuses in NSW. Picture: Jonathan Ng

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Malek Fahd Islamic School at Greenacre has been dealt another blow after the Civil and Administrative Tribunal NSW rejected its appeal not to pay back $11 million in funding from the NSW Government.

The tribunal, in its decision handed down on September 5, said Malek Fahd Islamic School must repay $11 million it received from the NSW Department of Education because it operated “for profit” in 2014 and 2015.

The school, which has more than 2700 students at its Greenacre, Beaumont Hills and Hoxton Park campuses, said it will now consider other options, including a possible appeal to the Federal Court.

Malek Fahd Islamic School board chairman Dr John Benne said he was surprised by the tribunal’s decision. Picture: AAP

The school had last year resolved all funding issues with the Federal Government restoring the school’s approved authority status and along with it millions of dollars in funding.

It is no longer under the control of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) which established it in 1989.

An audit in 2016 found the school’s board, then run by AFIC, was not spending all of the money on educating its students.

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The tribunal said the school relies heavily on funding from the federal and state governments.

Dr John Bennett, the chairman of Malek Fahd Islamic School’s board, said the tribunal’s decision was a surprise “but the school will continue to operate as normal”.

“The board and its legal counsel will carefully consider the decision to determine its course of action,” he told The Express.

“The school challenged the committee’s decision to recommend to the Minister for Education the school be required to repayall money it received from the NSW Government in 2014 and 2015.”