New South Wales police have called on principals of private schools to take a more active role in addressing sexual assault allegations involving their students. During a crisis meeting on Friday, Detective Superintendent Stacey Maloney, commander of the NSW Police Sex Crimes Squad, advised school leaders to directly engage with victims and their parents to encourage formal reporting to police.
The meeting, attended by over 100 independent and Catholic school principals along with representatives from the NSW Department of Education, was convened in response to a viral petition highlighting inadequate consent education. The petition, started by former Kambala student Chanel Contos, has garnered more than 20,000 signatures and 4,000 testimonies of sexual assault allegedly committed by high school students.
Maloney urged principals, particularly those from Sydney's eastern suburbs and north shore, to build closer ties with local police commanders to streamline reporting processes. Following the meeting, NSW police stated that school leaders committed to establishing a statement of intent to address sexual violence, focusing on consent education, reporting protocols, and student welfare.
The testimonies, many from students who graduated from elite private schools over the past decade, describe incidents at parties where male students took advantage of intoxicated female peers. Schools repeatedly mentioned include Scots College, Cranbrook, Sydney Grammar, Waverley College, Kambala, Kincoppal-Rose Bay, Monte Sant' Angelo, and Pymble Ladies' College.
In response, the NSW education minister, Sarah Mitchell, has arranged a meeting with Contos, who also addressed principals of 10 eastern suburbs private schools this week. The Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW) has established a student safety and consent team to address concerns, with its president, Geoff Newcombe, acknowledging the need for improved approaches to ensure student safety.
