Trinity Grammar student sent racist messages to AFL player and fights expulsion

The parents of a Trinity Grammar School student who sent racially abusive Instagram messages to Port Adelaide star Willie Rioli say the school’s decision to expel him was extreme.

Willie Rioli was sent a racist slur by a Victorian private school boy. Picture: Paul Kane

The parents of a Trinity Grammar student who sent a racially abusive Instagram message to AFL star Willie Rioli say the school’s decision to expel him could cause “an insurmountable level of psychological harm”.

The school’s council will review the boy’s expulsion after the parents lodged a formal grievance.

The student, who sent a direct message on Instagram to the Port Adelaide player containing offensive racial slurs, is remorseful for his actions.

The boy’s mother told the Herald Sun her son “tried to recall the message seconds later, realising it was the wrong thing to do”.

The parents self-reported the message to the AFL Integrity Unit and their son voluntarily underwent cultural awareness training.

Mr Rioli has spoken publicly about receiving racist messages but has not requested charges to be laid and Victoria Police is not investigating the matter.

Screenshots of racist messages were shared by Mr Rioli on his own social media channels.

The AFL has not suspended the boy or stopped him from attending football matches despite warning that racial vilification could lead to lifelong bans.

A boy was expelled from Trinity Grammar School in Kew after it became aware of he had sent the post. Picture: Mark Stewart

However, the boy was told to leave Trinity Grammar after leaders at the school became aware of the Instagram post.

Principal Adrian Farrer told the boy’s parents that such “threats and aggression and racial slurs are completely unacceptable, irrespective of context, and are a direct violation of our policies including our student code of conduct”.

The boy’s parents believe their son’s expulsion from the school exposed him to “an insurmountable level of psychological harm”.

In a letter to the school, they say their son has “accepted responsibility for the incident and taken material steps to address his conduct”.

“The message was not directed to the school or a student at the school, did not mention the school, and there has been no connection made between the post and the school,” the boy’s mother said.

“We accept the comments were racial slurs and unacceptable, but disagree and do not accept that this means his departure from the school was necessary.”

She said the boy was still dealing with the impact of losing a close friend from suicide during Covid and in December 2022 was the subject of an aggravated burglary by five armed youths in a stolen car.

The school offered the boy counselling and assistance in enrolling him in another school but has not allowed him to return.

Under the school’s complaints and grievances policy, parents may request a matter is referred to the school council, which is the final authority of matters concerning the school.

The parents were advised this week that this review will now take place, with an outcome expected by mid-month. They are not ruling out lodging a complaint with the Victorian Institute of Teaching because they believe one school leader unfairly targeted their son, continuously reprimanding him for minor breaches of the school’s uniform policy and other trivial misdemeanours.

They feel the incident with Mr Rioli was used to justify the student’s ultimate removal from the school.

A spokeswoman for Trinity Grammar said: “We acknowledge that, at times, students’ behaviour can be in contrast to the values of the school. The school will always seek to respond in a way which upholds its values and ensures our students’ safety”.

Originally published as Trinity Grammar student sent racist messages to AFL player and fights expulsion