Yipirinya principal Gavin Morris charged over ‘historical aggravated assaults’ on children

Gavin Morris, principal of the prominent school for Indigenous children in Alice Springs, has been charged over allegations of aggravated assaults on multiple children.

Alice Springs based Yipirinya School principal Gavin Morris on the school grounds. Picture: Grenville Turner

The principal of a prominent school for Indigenous children in Alice Springs has been charged over allegations of “historical ­aggravated assaults” on multiple children.

Outspoken principal of Yipirinya school Gavin Morris was ­arrested by Northern Territory police on Thursday and charged with five counts of aggravated assault late in the evening.

He spent most of Thursday in custody in Alice Springs before he was released on bail to appear in court next Tuesday

It is understood that in the past week a number of staff and students were visited by police and interviewed before Mr ­Morris was arrested on Thursday morning for the alleged ­offending, which police say ­occurred “on multiple separate occasions in 2023”.

“On the 20 June, 2024, police received reports of historical physical assaults on children at the school.

“It is believed the ­alleged assaults occurred on ­multiple separate occasions in 2023,” a spokesperson for Territory police said.

“The six victims were aged between eight and 13 years old at the time of the assaults, and police will allege the man was an employee of the school at the time.

“The man was arrested this morning and is expected to be charged later today.”

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler has been briefed on the matter by NT ­Education Minister Mark ­Monaghan.

The allegations are not of a sexual nature.

A Yipirinya School staff member said that over the past week police had approached staff about an alleged incident from two years ago in a building used for childcare.

“The kids got in through an unlocked door and smeared paint all over the place,” the staff member said.

“They didn’t smash any windows; the door was unlocked and they helped themselves inside and had a field day.“

The staff member had never seen or heard complaints about Mr Morris mishandling or being rough with children.

“I just heard he was arrested for that. I’m so shocked, I couldn’t believe it.

“We stand by him and we back him 100 per cent.”

Mr Morris, who is also on the Alice Springs Town Council, has been outspoken after revealing the horrifying extent of the crisis engulfing Indigenous children in central Australia, at times ­detailing incidents where children have sometimes been returned to school in ­handcuffs or wearing ankle bracelets.

In one case, a 12-year-old and his mates led teachers on a wild pursuit through the town in a ­stolen minibus.

He spoke out in a desperate plea to help students like his who were “in absolute crisis”, saying staff routinely had to contact magistrates to have bail conditions varied for children as young as 12 so they could participate in after-school ­programs.

He added, however, that his students saw the school as “a place of ­culture” and “a place where they want to be”.

On Thursday morning at a press conference, Ms Lawler said she was “very concerned” about the allegations.

“I know Gavin, obviously, as education minister I’ve worked with him because he’s a principal of an independent school in the Northern Territory.

“He’s worked very hard in that school to improve attendance and drive the outcomes in that school,” she said.

“I don’t have the full details around why he’s been arrested and that matter now, obviously, if he’s been charged, will be one that we will monitor closely.

“I’m very concerned, very ­concerned … I know all teachers know that through teacher ­registration you cannot manhandle a child, you can’t touch a child … so the consequences of any man­handling of a child is that you lose your teacher registration and if you lose your teacher ­registration, you can’t teach in a Northern Territory school

But we have mutual recognition across Australia,” she said.

A representative for Yipirinya School declined to comment.

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