The federal education department has revealed Sydney’s prestigious Cranbrook School is refusing to hand over a review into its handling of child safety and other issues, claiming legal professional privilege over the document, as the government’s investigation into the institution blows out to almost eight months.
The all-boys school is being assessed under the “fit and proper test” as to whether it is eligible to receive federal funding.
The department’s investigation was sparked by a Four Corners report in March that featured allegations of a toxic culture, workplace bullying and abuse.
The ABC program also reported then-headmaster Nicholas Sampson kept on and promoted a male teacher who had sent sexually explicit messages to a former female student.
Cranbrook’s school council held an emergency meeting after becoming aware of those revelations and when the council approached Mr Sampson, he then offered his resignation.
Mr Sampson reached an undisclosed settlement with the school which acknowledged he had reported the incident when he became aware of it.
Cranbrook refuses to hand over report
Days after the ABC stories aired, the school announced it would engage law firm Thomson Geer to conduct an independent review, with a focus on how it handled “serious concerns” over the past 15 years and invited people to submit their concerns through a whistleblower platform.
Last month the school released a statement outlining the findings of the review.
It apologised for “past failings” and said that 76 reports, mostly positive, were made by current and former students, parents and staff during the review process.
A handful of those were related to child sexual abuse.
Labor senator Tony Sheldon said during Senate estimates on Thursday the education department wants access to that the report and information gathered.
“This is very serious that Cranbrook is not making that documentation available to the education department at this point,” he said.
Department deputy secretary Meg Brighton told the hearing they were seeking internal advice on how to approach the matter.
“At the moment Cranbrook is not furnishing that to us because they are expressing concern around legal professional privilege,” Ms Brighton said.
“We are doing some work internally we think that review is relevant to our considerations and our investigation.”
Cranbrook School has previously been criticised over its cooperation during the federal investigation. (ABC News: Heath McPherson)
A Cranbrook spokesperson said: “Cranbrook has been providing documents and information as requested by the department and we will continue to work cooperatively with them.”
Ms Brighton said there were “quite significant sanctions” the department could impose if the school does not hand over requested documentation, including on payments it receives from the government.
“They might decide they are no longer a fit and proper entity to hold the status of an approved authority,” she said.
“It’s always in the best interests of the parties that they furnish us with whatever documents we have asked for.”
She noted the department requested a lot of documents, most of which had been handed over.
Mr Sheldon urged the department to ensure the school is “clean and open and accountable to their student, parent and teacher cohort”.
School banked $34 million in federal funding
This is not the first time the private school has been criticised over its cooperation during the federal investigation.
Documents revealed during senate estimates in June showed Cranbrook had failed to meet two deadlines to respond to questions from the department, which included information on bullying and harassment policies.
During that hearing it was revealed the school had banked $34 million in federal funding over the past decade.
“Obviously, we would hope the school would be more cooperative in this matter,” Assistant Minister for Education Anthony Chisholm told the parliamentary committee at the time.
“I understand why the public would be concerned about it and we’re concerned about it,” he said at the time.
Senate estimates heard the investigation that began back in March may be finalised in a matter of weeks, despite this recent setback.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has been contacted for comment.
