Queensland's Department of Education says it is powerless to investigate claims an independent school in the state's Far North is failing in its duty of care to students and staff.
Last week, a 17-year-old boy was hospitalised with head injuries following a brawl between students, some of whom police allege were armed with metal bars, at Djarragun College, in the southern suburbs of Cairns.
The ABC has since been told by multiple sources another brawl erupted between female students days later.
Parents and staff have told the ABC that violence and other serious behavioural issues are commonplace and result from the school executive's failure to address cultural tensions, particularly within the boarding environment.
In response, Djarragun College executive principal Michael Barton said the school was "working tirelessly to support students and families to meet the complex factors of trans-generational adverse structural impacts".
His full statement can be read here.
Indigenous Education and Boarding Australia (IEBA) chief executive officer Greg Franks said his organisation was aware of myriad complaints about the school's alleged failure to provide a physically and culturally safe environment.
Mr Franks said it was incumbent upon both the Department of Education and the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NSSAB) to investigate the claims and issue a public response.
"There should be a response, and that being made public would assure us all that there is action being taken," he said.
"If [the department or NSSAB are] dealing with Djarragun directly, that doesn't help anybody be reassured … if you're a parent and you can't see what's being done, there's no assurance in that.
"[The department] needs to state publicly what it is doing so we can all then see whether that's the right thing, whether it's going to fix the problem, or at least know on what time frame they're going to be fixed."
No jurisdiction, department says
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said because Djarragun College was an accredited non-state school, it would be left to the executive to meet its obligations in relation to student and staff safety.
"Neither the Minister for Education nor the department has jurisdiction to investigate complaints about non-state schools as these schools operate independently from the government," the spokesperson said.
The department acknowledged it had been contacted in relation to concerns about Djarragun College, but referred the complainant to the NSSAB.
The NSSAB is an independent statutory body responsible for the accreditation and ongoing monitoring and regulation of all non-state schools in Queensland.
The board may investigate non-state schools to ensure their compliance with legislation if there is evidence that prescribed accreditation criteria have been breached.
The Department of Education spokesperson said strict confidentiality provisions in the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2017 limited the amount of information NSSAB was able to provide about investigations into schools.
Calls for new guidelines
Mr Franks believes the alleged problems within Djarragun College highlight broader issues around the lack of national guidelines for Indigenous boarding schools.
"Our organisation believes strongly that we really do need to have some Indigenous-specific cultural guidelines to help boarding facilities know what [are] good practices and what are the minimum expectations," he said.
A spokesperson for the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) said it welcomed further discussions with IEBA and other interested parties.
Mr Franks said IEBA was also in favour of refinements to ABSTUDY to attach performance indicators to the funding boarding schools received for remote students.
"There are no expectations in terms of the educational outcomes for the dollars the Commonwealth puts in, and there should be," he said.
"So in any situation where boarding students aren't attending the classrooms, that is truly a failure within that school for its inability to get a kid from their bed in the morning into the classroom for the first lesson."
A social services spokesperson said the department was not considering changes to ABSTUDY to incorporate KPIs for attendance and learning outcomes.
