Key facts
- Committee found sexual assault allegations at Redeemer Baptist School were not handled appropriately and children faced significant risk of harm.
- Committee recommended NSW police and the office of the children's guardian investigate the allegations raised in the inquiry.
- Committee found staff lacked essential workplace rights and the school failed basic standards of good governance.
- The report said the school receives millions in public funding while withholding wages from a workforce that claims benefits.
- A Redeemer Baptist School spokesperson previously said the school fully co-operated with regulators and had an unblemished 45-year compliance record.
- The school did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the report's release.
A New South Wales parliamentary committee has recommended that Redeemer Baptist School, a private religious school in western Sydney, be barred from enrolling new students while it is under investigation by the NSW education standards authority. The recommendation came in a report tabled in state parliament on November 10, 2026.
The committee found the school, run by the Redeemer Baptist Church, breached basic child safeguarding standards, that sexual assault allegations were not handled appropriately and that the school put children at significant risk of harm. It also found staff lacked essential workplace rights and that the school failed to satisfy basic standards of good governance.
Former students and teachers told the inquiry about a string of allegations, including students being made to share beds with teachers and the principal once wandering naked through a common area. The committee recommended that NSW police and the office of the children's guardian investigate the allegations raised in the inquiry.
Committee chair and Greens MP Abigail Boyd noted the school was scrutinized by parliament in 2006 but that no procedures were put in place to monitor what she called a high-risk situation. Boyd said the school received about $6 million a year in government funding and had deep political ties with both state and federal politicians. She said people who had escaped the school appeared terrified of its leaders.
The committee also criticized a lack of regulatory oversight, including from the education authority, and said allegations of persistent Centrelink fraud and tax practices needed proper investigation. The report said it was troubling that an asset-rich school withholds wages from a workforce that claims benefits while receiving millions in public funding.
A Redeemer Baptist School spokesperson previously said the school had fully co-operated with regulators and took its child safety obligations extremely seriously, citing an unblemished record of compliance over 45 years. The school did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the report's release.