‘Makes me sick to my stomach’: Students speak out about strapping scandal

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Boarders at a prestigious regional school at the centre of a “strapping” scandal were pressured to keep quiet about the claims, an independent investigation has found.

Ballarat Grammar last year expelled two senior boarders over allegations that junior students – some as young as year 7 – were assaulted as part of a hazing culture going back decades that included beatings with straps.

Ballarat Grammar School.Joe Armao

On Thursday, the school released a report by workplace cultural firm Intersection, after they questioned students, staff and parents about the school’s culture and examined the boarding houses where “strapping” happened.

The school also said at least five staff members left in the wake of the scandal, although it would not confirm the circumstances of their exit.

Current and former students told the report’s authors that there was an unwritten rule for boarders: “What happens in boarding, stays in boarding.”

This was reinforced by peer pressure and speaking up was considered disloyalty, with students who did raise concerns being labelled a “snitch”, the report found.

Those students risked social exclusion or retaliation, and parents said children were reluctant to share experiences because it was normalised.

This culture of silence limited information to day school staff, parents, some boarding staff and the school’s leadership, while reinforcing the internal cohesion of the boarding house.

“It reinforced the internal cohesion of the boarding house by positioning loyalty to the group above individual wellbeing or external accountability,” the report found.

Students who took part in the review said there was a judgmental atmosphere at the school, with a sharp divide between those who were boarders and day students. Many felt they were unable to raise concerns about bullying or strapping to their teachers.

“I find the boarding side of the school, especially boys, to be absolutely nasty and that whole community to be absolutely brainwashed by each other’s egos,” one day student told the authors of the report.

“Naming the day students ‘Scrags’ ... the way the girl boarders say people who snitch on child abuse are ‘snitches’ and ‘strapping should come back, it’s totally harmless’, and ‘people just need to harden up and not complain, take the straps, how else will there be a hierarchy in the House’... it makes me sick to my stomach.”

Others revealed they experienced sexism and racism from not just students, but teachers.

“[A male teacher] said women are often just better in the kitchen instead of the classroom as they are better at following recipes than learning complex thinking,” one child explained.

“The boys laughed and thought it was hilarious, but it truly hurt.”

That student told other teachers, but their complaint was never followed up on, and they were not offered support following the incident.

Another said a female teacher told girls their dresses were too short, and it was “unfair to the male teachers at the school” because it put them in an uncomfortable position and there was “no control over what they might do”.

Ballarat Grammar principal Adam Heath.Ballarat Grammar.

“I also think lining all of the girls in a year level up and walking past, crouching looking at their dress lengths is objectifying them, and when put in these situations I felt overwhelmingly uncomfortable,” the student said.

The report also noted that standards of behaviour were not applied consistently and communication was uneven.

“Trust in leadership has been eroded, particularly since the boarding incidents became public,” the authors found.

Intersection carried out 126 one-on-one interviews and focus groups attended by 107 students. Its investigators also received 198 written submissions, 299 student survey responses and 146 staff responses, and carried out 32 follow-up meetings.

Ballarat Grammar was barred from accepting new boarders in October last year, on the orders of the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority. But the body lifted the prohibition for this school year and put interim conditions in place.

The school ordered the independent probe after The Age revealed last year that senior students allegedly abused younger pupils in the Dart House boarding facility.

Victoria Police were also called in over claims junior students – some as young as 12 – had been assaulted by older students. Four former students were later formally cautioned.

The school installed CCTV cameras in its residential areas and hired overnight private security guards to protect the younger children as they sleep.

However, students referred to these guards as “night crawlers”, and some described them as strangers who they did not know well enough to approach.

The report made 44 recommendations that were accepted that included the restructure of boarding houses by age band to reduce the power differential, addressing gender dynamics in boarding, and for the school to “reset the parent-school relationship as an educational partnership, not a service-provider arrangement”.

Principal Adam Heath said they were committed to the recommendations, and were working tirelessly to nurture safety, wellbeing and dignity. He also apologised for some findings he acknowledged were confronting for members of the school’s community.

“We are deeply sorry that some of our current and former students, staff and families have, at times, felt hurt or unsupported.”

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Caroline Schelle is an education reporter, and joined The Age in 2022. She previously covered courts at AAP.Connect via X or email.