Former Survivor star sues elite school for alleged sexual abuse

A former cast member of Australian Survivor is suing an elite Queensland private school for alleged abuse that included being locked in a sick room and dosed with sleeping tablets.

Rachel Downie.

A former cast member of reality television hit Australian Survivor and the 2020 Queensland Australian of the Year is suing an elite private school for alleged sexual abuse at the hands of a music teacher in the mid-1980s.

Rachel Downie, who is now a child-protection advocate, is suing Rockhampton Grammar School for at least $5m in compensation, alleging that the abuse she endured and the school’s failure to appropriately address her complaint caused her significant ongoing loss and injury.

According to a claim filed in the Supreme Court of Queensland last year, Ms Downie was a 14-year-old Year 10 student when she attended private after-school music lessons with the teacher and was subjected to exposure and penetrative sexual abuse.

In her statement of claim, Ms Downie claimed the school egregiously mishandled the situation once she had alerted it about what had allegedly occurred.

Having reported the abuse to the school’s head of boarding, she was allegedly locked in the school’s sick bay for three days, inappropriately dosed with sleeping tablets, and was denied contact with her friends and family.

Ms Downie further alleges that she was then forced to recount the incidents in the deputy principal’s office, in front of a group of unknown men.

Ms Downie also alleges that while the teacher was dismissed the day after the report of sexual abuse, he was subsequently relocated to another grammar school within Queensland, where he continued to teach – a claim that has been denied by The Rockhampton Grammar School.

The claim states that the school failed to reported the incident to Queensland Police or any other appropriate authorities and alleges that the school also took no further steps to support and protect Ms Downie, who was subsequently also subjected to severe bullying as her peers became aware of the situation.

Rachel Downie as a schoolgirl in 1983

Ms Downie, now in her 50s, is revealing her identity for the first time in relation to the claims. She was a contestant in series six of Australian Survivor in 2021 and was recognised as the 2020 Queensland Australian of the Year for the online platform ‘Stymie’, which she developed to enable children to confidentially report bullying, self-harm, suicide ideation, sexual harm and family violence

Her claim states that the Rockhampton Grammar School failed to take reasonable steps to ensure her safety and wellbeing, failed to safeguard her from the risk of abuse by its employees, and failed to comply with its statutory obligations.

In a defence lodged with the court, Rockhampton Grammar School denied the alleged abuser was employed as a teacher and it had no liability to pay exemplary or aggravated damages to Ms Downie. It said the school had informed Ms Downie’s parents of her complaint and her parents had “autonomy to report the abuse to the appropriate authorities.” The school terminated the employment of the teacher a day after her contemporaneous complaint.

Due to the passage of time and the absence of contemporaneous documentation, the school claimed it did not now know the reasons for her being placed in the sick bay, what medication may have been administered to her, who recommended the administration of such medication or the reasons for the administration of such medication. It admitted that Ms Downie had made a contemporaneous complaint to the school of an incident on the previous day in which the alleged abuser has masturbated in her presence.

In a letter to parents this week, Rockhampton Grammar School headmaster Dr Phillip Moulds said the matter did not relate to any current student or staffmember. “The Rockhampton Grammar School strongly condemns abuse in any form and takes any allegation of abuse, past or present, extremely seriously,” said Dr Moulds in the letter. “We appreciate that this process is deeply distressing for the former student, and we support their decision to come forward. While we cannot change the past, as a school we are committed to supporting those who are impacted by unacceptable historic actions.”

Her lawyer Travis Schultz, managing partner of Travis Schultz & Partners, said while it isn’t appropriate to comment on the specifics of her case, schools must recognise their vicarious liability for the actions of their staff towards students.

“The law imposes an obligation on employers to manage risks arising out of the conduct of their employees, especially in environments where there is a foreseeable risk of harm, such as schools,” Mr Schultz said.

“This duty of care requires implementing proactive measures to identify, mitigate and respond to risks to protect those under their care and when an employer fails to uphold this duty, it can be held accountable under the law for any harm.”

Rachel Downie is suing for alleged sexual abuse at Rockhampton Grammar School

Originally published as Former Survivor star sues elite school for alleged sexual abuse