The Federal Department of Education has revealed that Sydney’s prestigious Cranbrook School is refusing to carry out a review of its handling of child safety and other matters, citing professional secrecy over the document, as the Department’s investigation government over the institution lasts almost eight months.

The all-boys school is being evaluated under the “aptitude and aptitude test” to determine if it is eligible to receive federal funding.

The department’s investigation was sparked by a Four Corners report published in March, which outlined allegations of a toxic culture, bullying and abuse in the workplace.

The ABC program also reported that then-principal Nicholas Sampson retained and promoted a teacher who sent sexually explicit messages to a former student.

The Cranbrook School Board held an emergency meeting after learning of these revelations and when the board approached Mr. Sampson, he 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 submit report

Days after the ABC stories aired, the school announced it would hire law firm Thomson Geer to conduct an independent review, focusing on how it handled “serious concerns” at the for the past 15 years and invited people to submit their concerns via a whistleblowing platform. .

Last month, the school released a statement outlining the review’s findings.

He apologized for “past failures” and said 76 reports, mostly positive, were written by current and former students, parents and staff during the review process.

A handful of them were linked to child sexual abuse.

Labor senator Tony Sheldon told Senate estimates on Thursday that the Department for Education wanted access to the report and the information collected.

The department’s deputy secretary, Meg Brighton, said during the hearing that they were seeking internal guidance on how to approach the issue.

“At the moment Cranbrook is not providing this to us because they are expressing concerns about professional secrecy,” Ms Brighton said.

“We are doing some work internally and believe this review is relevant to our considerations and investigation.”

A Cranbrook spokesperson said: “Cranbrook has provided the documents and information requested by the department and we will continue to work cooperatively with them. »

Ms Brighton said the department could impose “pretty significant sanctions” if the school failed to hand over requested documentation, including on payments it receives from the government.

“They could decide that they are no longer a suitable entity to hold approved authority status,” she said.

“It is always in the best interest of the parties that they provide us with all the documents we have requested.”

She noted that the ministry had requested a lot of documents, most of which had been provided.

Mr Sheldon urged the department to ensure the school was “clean, open and accountable to its students, parents and teachers”.

The school has accumulated $34 million in federal funding

This is not the first time the private school has been criticized for its cooperation during the federal investigation.

Documents revealed during Senate estimates in June showed Cranbrook failed to meet two deadlines to respond to the department’s questions, which included information about bullying and harassment policies.

During that hearing, it was revealed that the school had accumulated $34 million in federal funding over the past decade.

“We obviously hope that the school will be more cooperative on this issue,” Deputy Education Minister Anthony Chisholm told the parliamentary committee at the time.

“I understand why the public is concerned about it and we are,” he said at the time.

According to Senate estimates, the investigation which began in March could be finalized in a few weeks, despite this recent setback.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has been contacted for comment.