Sex misconduct complaints four times higher in private schools than public

Shocking new figures reveal the soaring number of sexual misconduct complaints in elite schools. We take a look at recent scandals in private and public schools — of all varieties.

Sexual misconduct complaints are more than four times higher in private schools than state schools, new figures show.

Since 2017, there have been 444 reports of sexual misconduct in independent and Catholic schools compared to 107 in the government system, data from the Commission for Children and Young People shows.

This is despite the state system educating twice as many students.

Commissioner Liana Buchanan said sexual misconduct complaints soared amid reports of the mishandling of child abuse allegations at St Kevin’s College in Toorak early last year.

Complaints soared after St Kevin’s hit the news last year. Picture: Erik Anderson

“There was a big spike in public notifications after that, especially from people approaching us directly,” she said.

Sexual misconduct involves behaviour of a sexual nature such as inappropriate physical contact, the sending of graphic texts, contact of students by teachers outside of the school, and other grooming behaviours.

In 2019-20, the commission reported a 44 per cent increase overall in sexual misconduct allegations in schools compared to the previous year.

The record increase continued into the second half of 2020, Ms Buchanan said.

She said the schools’ data was “startling” because of the difference between sectors.

“There’s a pretty marked difference – it could be under-reporting in government schools or strict adherence to the reporting procedures in non-government schools,” she said.

“Or it might be that this behaviour is more prevalent in non-government schools. It’s most possible it’s due to a mix of factors.”

In independent schools, sexual misconduct allegations and sexual offences make up 48 per cent of allegations since 2017, compared to 32 per cent in the government sector and 47 per cent in Catholic schools.

Sexual misconduct is not usually a criminal act, but can lead to teachers and others working in schools losing their working with children check.

Females make up 56 per cent of sexual misconduct victims, compared to 33 per cent male and 11 per cent other.

Only 26 per cent of sexual misconduct claims are substantiated, with 27 per cent not upheld due to lack of evidence and 16 per cent not upheld because the evidence is not deemed to be of sufficient weight.

The commission’s figures show state schools have a higher proportion of complaints about physical violence than private schools – 51 per cent compared to 31 per cent.

Despite educating more students, there were 230 allegations of physical violence in state schools

compared to 354 in private schools since 2017.

Around half of all of the commissions’ notifications are reported to Victoria Police.

Executive director of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, Jim Miles, said the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people was a central and fundamental responsibility that Catholic schools took extremely seriously, and no circumstance where there was reasonable suspicion of harm to a child would be tolerated or should go unreported in a Catholic school.

“Mandatory reporting is not only a legal requirement in our schools but forms a vital component of our overall response to providing child safe environments. It is non-negotiable.

This data highlights the vigilance of staff in our schools, and I believe also reflects ongoing training about mandatory reporting responsibilities,” he said.

“Catholic education has done much to strengthen its wellbeing and protection environment and continues to work both internally, and with relevant authorities, to review and improve policies and practices.

“More than 20 per cent of Victorian students are educated at one of 498 Catholic primary and secondary schools across the state.”

FROM BRAWLS TO BAD HAIRCUTS: NOT ALL SCHOOL SCANDALS INVOLVE SEXUAL MISCONDUCT COMPLAINTS.

TAKE A LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE RECENT SCHOOL STORIES TO MAKE THE NEWS

2015 - GEELONG GRAMMAR’S HISTORIC CHILD ABUSE CASES

The elite Geelong institution with boarding and tuition fees of up to $72,000 was singled out by the Royal Commission in 2015 over its handling of historic child abuse cases.

The Commission heard evidence from 13 former students at the school who were sexually abused by staff at the school between 1956 and 1989. The staff were in positions giving them almost unfettered access to students.

One student complained about the abuse and was told to keep the matter to himself. When he was overheard discussing it with other students, he was asked to leave the school. In 2018 the school’s principal Rebecca Cody said she was deeply sorry for the pain and suffering of survivors.

The elite Geelong Grammar was singled out by the Royal Commission for its poor handling of historic sex abuse cases. Picture: News Corp

2018 - TRINITY GRAMMAR SACKED PRINCIPAL FOR CUTTING A BOY’S HAIR

In March 2018 the deputy principal of Trinity Grammar in Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburb of Kew was sacked for cutting a student’s hair on school photo day.

A video of the infamous trim circulated among boys, prompting the school’s council to step in and decide the move contravened disciplinary procedures.

The longstanding teacher, Rohan Brown, was given his job back after a few tumultuous weeks which saw furious parents attack the school’s governor, hold mass rallies and publicly turn on the principal, Dr Michael Davies.

2019 - WILD BRAWL AT BERWICK COLLEGE

A vice-principal from Berwick Secondary College sparked a wave of controversy after he allegedly restrained a 16-year-old schoolboy during a violent brawl which was caught on video. 

The video filmed on school grounds shows a student trying to drag the vice-principal off another student — as the senior teacher appears to hold the student in a headlock in a desperate bid to break up the fight — before other teachers and students rush in.

The vice principal received a wave of support from students, with dozens of students defending his actions. A number of students were suspended and the incident was reported to police. 

A still from shocking video footage of the wild brawl at Berwick Secondary College in 2019. Picture: Supplied

2020 - MAZENOD COLLEGE BRAWL 

A Year 11 student from a Catholic boy’s school in Melbourne’s southeast was “senselessly beaten” by three other teenagers at a school camp.

The vicious assault took place at a Year 11 Mazenod College Careers and Industry camp, which was held at City CYC in Collins St, Melbourne.

A group of four students attacked the boy, punching him to the ground and kicking him in a frenzied attack, which left him bloodied and bruised. The horrific incident was also filmed by several students and circulated social media.

Mazenod College principal Tony Coghlan said as a result of the incident, three students were “no longer enrolled at the college” and a fourth had been suspended for behaviour “inconsistent” with the values of the college.

2020 - ALBERT COLLEGE SWIMMING CARNIVAL BRAWL 

A schoolboy was taken to hospital following a vicious fight at a school swimming carnival in February 2020.

It was believed a long-running dispute between the two Albert Park College students turned physical at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. Stunned parents and students watched on as punches were thrown before police arrived to break up the brawl.

The father of a boy suspended over the incident came forward saying he was “appalled and dismayed” at the school’s handling of the incident.

2020 - ST KEVIN’S COLLEGE HANDLING OF CHILD ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

The leading Catholic boys’ school was plunged into crisis in early 2020 after it became public that then headmaster and dean of sport gave referees to an alleged child sex offender, Peter Kehoe.

At the same time, St Kevin’s staff gave little support to Kehoe’s victim when he came forward with serious claims against Kehoe, his athletics coach.

Kehoe was subsequently convicted of one charge of grooming a child, who was in year nine at the time.

During 2020 a raft of senior teachers left the elite institution, including Simon Parris, a maths and dram a teacher, who admitted to storing hard-core gay pornography on his work computer, giving boys hugs and tweeting about wet dreams.

In 2019 the same school hit the headlines after students were filmed singing a sexist chant on a Melbourne tram.

St Kevin's students were filmed on a tram chanting. Vision: ABC

2021 - WESLEY COLLEGE SEXUAL ASSAULT AND MISOGYNY CRISIS

Leaked footage of male students making highly offensive remarks about women and joking on a bus that people “should’ve bombed the women’s march” sparked an uprising among female students from up-market Wesley College.

The girls urged their peers to “name and shame” their attacks via an online form.

The college received more than a dozen instances of alleged sexual assault, harassment and disrespect of girls by male peers.

Students said they were “slut shamed”, groped by male students, physically abused and had compromising photos of them circulated on social media.

The school called in counsellors, trauma specialists and respectful relationships educators to overhaul its student culture.

Wesley female students have said they were “slut shamed” and groped by male students. Picture: Supplied

2021 - TEACHERS BEHAVING BADLY

The Herald Sun revealed in May a Scotch College music teacher and a primary teacher selling cannabis to kids were among a wave of educators being dumped from Victorian classrooms.

The number of sacked teachers has surged in recent years, with more than 20 so far in 2021, 33 in 2020, 23 in 2019 and 15 in 2018.

A spokeswoman for the Victorian Institute of Teaching said new levels of community awareness and increased powers had contributed to improving child safety.

She said the recent Royal Commission, rollout of the Reportable Conduct Scheme and realignment of the Working with Children process “has resulted in an increase in the number of cases reported to VIT in recent years”.

2021 - PRIVATE SCHOOLS OVERREPRESENED IN ONLINE SEXUAL CONSENT PETITION

In 2021 Sydney women Chanel Contos started a petition asking girls to share their stories about the need for sexual consent to be taught in schools. She received more than 4000 responses from young women, mainly from a handful of elite boys’ schools in Sydney.

The respondents included stories about sexual abuse and harassment involving around 80 Victorian schools. Some of the state’s most expansive and well-known private schools were over-represented in the list of schools containing alleged perpetrators of shocking sexual acts.