Ballarat Grammar parents accuse school of ignoring a toxic cycle of violence

Australia Broadcast Center

15 hours ago

Readers are advised this article includes details of bullying and violent abuse some may find distressing.
When Louise and Michael (not their real names) sent their son to prestigious boarding school Ballarat Grammar, they expected a first-class education and a nurturing environment for young men worthy of the $50,000-a-year price tag.
Instead, they allege, their son was subjected to physical abuse from other students in 2023 and 2024 as part of an "insidious" culture former students say has existed at Ballarat Grammar for decades.
They're among 12 families the ABC has spoken to, all of whom allege a toxic culture that allowed their sons to be subjected to, or groomed to inflict, physical punishment on other students at the boarding school over the past three years.
Some parents allege that Ballarat Grammar's reluctance to address the violence has created a vicious cycle in which some young students are victims until years 11 and 12, when they become perpetrators of the same abuse they endured.
In December last year, it is alleged, Louise and Michael's son was awoken in his boarding house at 3.30am and lashed four times across his back with a belt.
He was dragged from bed by four Year 12 students and taken with other students to Ballarat's Lake Wendouree.
The bullied students were made to swim in the lake, then forced to eat dog food and sour milk.
"Then were told to pair up and crab fight in the mud and the vomit from what they'd just consumed," Louise said.
Several other parents corroborated Louise's allegations about what took place at the lake.
A letter detailing this abuse was sent to Ballarat Grammar, but Michael and Louise said they received no response.
"Someone needs to be accountable," Michael said.
Louise said their son received between 150 and 200 lashings with a belt in his time at the school, was burnt on the leg with a heated coat hanger and thrown into ice-cold showers against his will.
The 12 families the ABC has spoken to detailed similar abuse, including multiple accounts of boys whipped with belts, force-fed food that was off, and stripped naked and made to swim in Lake Wendouree in the dark.
The ABC is aware that many incidents of abuse in the past three years were carried out on victims who later became perpetrators, continuing the cycle of abuse at Ballarat Grammar.
The ABC is also aware of at least 10 families engaged in separate legal action against the school over alleged abuse dating back to the 1970s.
Lawyer Angela Sdrinis said her law firm "has acted for a number of former students of Ballarat Grammar who allege abuse by teachers and other students".
"The evidence from our clients is that Ballarat Grammar has had a problem with child-on-child abuse since at least the late '70s," Ms Sdrinis said.
Jane (not her real name) said she put her son in the care of Ballarat Grammar for the past several years and the school did not keep him safe.
She alleged that, over the past two years, her son was subjected to false imprisonment and physically assaulted with rocks, with most assaults taking place "after students were stripped of clothes and blindfolded".
She said her son alleged that two staff members were known to be in rooms when students were choking on food and vomiting as a result of bullying and did nothing about it.
"They walked straight past," Jane said.
In February, reports emerged of allegations of student-on-student abuse at the school, prompting an independent inquiry into its culture.
Ballarat police say their investigation into alleged assaults at Ballarat Grammar's boarding facilities in 2023 and 2024 is ongoing.
This week, Ballarat Grammar launched its third investigation in five months into allegations of "serious misconduct" in its boys' boarding houses.
The "independent staff investigation" was instigated because "new information has come to light as part of our internal processes" and "during the investigation some staff members may not be on campus", the school said.
"Not one staff member has been held accountable for this," Jane alleged.
"Ballarat Grammar allowed a culture of violence, [and] now we as a family suffer the consequences.
"Ballarat Grammar has failed in their duty of care."
The Victorian Registration and Quality Authority is investigating Ballarat Grammar's boarding licence.
The ABC has seen a letter from Ballarat Grammar sent to families in February offering support to children, which said it had "engaged Ballarat Psychology Clinic to provide telehealth appointments immediately".
Headmaster Adam Heath defended the school's efforts to improve its culture and said changes recommended during a review of boarding practices by boys education expert, retired teacher Bradley Fenner had already occurred.
"Through both investigations and feedback from students, parents and staff, it became clear that a broader cultural shift was also needed," Mr Heath said in a statement.
"We have already implemented 31 of the 32 key actions following recommendations from the Bradley Fenner report."
He said he acknowledged the seriousness and sensitivity of reports to the school this year and said that when concerns were raised, "the school acted immediately".
The actions include stronger supervision and staffing, enhanced training and oversight, upgraded security, and improved communication, reporting, cultural education and leadership.
The one remaining recommendation was to rebuild or "significantly reconfigure" one of the boarding houses, which is instead being considered by the school "in the context of longer-term infrastructure planning".
Minister for Education Ben Carroll told the ABC bullying and disrespectful behaviour was "unacceptable" in any Victorian school.
"All schools are expected to have strong policies and procedures in place to address incidents of violence or bullying, including reporting these incidents to the relevant authorities," Mr Carroll said.
The minister did not answer questions about whether broader policy changes and oversight were needed for independent schools.
Farmer Amity Latham attended Ballarat Grammar and sent her two children to live and study there.
But in January she removed her son from the school after reports of student-on-student abuse at the boarding house.
Since then she has clocked up more than 4,000 kilometres in the past two months to get specialist treatment for her son as a result of his abuse.
"Our families worked really closely with the school and provided them with the information that they sought and we really hope that the reports and the findings and the recommendations lead to much better outcomes for rural communities and farming families like ours," she said.
"It's imperative that boarding schools are accountable for best practice child safety policies to prevent increasing pressure on an already fragile rural health care sector."
Other parents have been less forgiving in their assessment of the process.
Sandra (not her real name) is the mother of a current student allegedly abused at Ballarat Grammar.
She said someone from the school had to take accountability for the culture, instead of expelling and making scapegoats of the students.
"They punished the very students who had already endured a toxic boarding house culture, one where new boarders were often faced with an impossible choice: take part in dangerous, humiliating dares or submit to strapping, or suffer complete social exclusion from their peers.
"It was an epic failure on the school's behalf."
Journalist Michael Short was a boarder at Ballarat Grammar in 1976 and said he experienced serious mental and physical abuse.
"It was a culture of bastardry," Mr Short said.
Mr Short said he received a settlement from the school, mostly related to the abuse he suffered from priests and teachers, but also from fellow students.
But that's not the case for former student Renato Manius, who was a boarder at Ballarat Grammar from 2003 to 2007.
He has chosen not to take legal action, but said the school had never taken accountability for the bullying he endured.
Mr Renato remembers being woken at 4am in the first week of his first year at the school.
"They made us watch that for about 20 minutes [then] they would then turn the lights on and shame those that were aroused.
"[We] were very young kids, confused and frightened."
Mr Manias is angry the abuse is continuing 20 years later.
"I've been in contact with some students that were [boarding] with me," he said.
"They haven't been able to fulfil their potential after school because they were aggressively bullied during those years, and that had pushed them to the path of alcoholism and drugs."