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At ringing of the 3:04pm bell at Fairfield High School, students poured out, buses rolled up and staff drifted to a meeting.
The office shut eleven minutes later at 3:15pm by when the school was, in every practical sense, closed—even though dozens of students were still clumped around the bus stop directly opposite the front gate.
Among them that afternoon was Ben (not his real name), a 14-year-old Year 9 student with autism spectrum disorder, already burdened by anxiety and bullying concerns, waiting for his usual bus home.His classmate Troy (also an alias) had just returned from a long suspension for multiple transgressions including those involving serious violence towards other students.
Only in August he had targeted another student after school by repeatedly kicking and punching him while on the ground.
The school counsellor and a psychologist recommended a suite of risk management steps: counselling, a formal risk assessment, and enrolment in the RAGE behaviour program.
No documented risk assessment was ever completed but some monitoring had occurred including at an interview a few days earlier when Troy promised not to reoffend.
Ben was recognised by the school as vulnerable student, diagnosed with ASD. His mother had repeatedly raised bullying concerns.
On 16 October, while waiting at the bus stop, he was told Troy wanted to “speak” to him—code he understood.
He texted his mother: “I am about to get bashed.” He tried the only rational refuge: he crossed back into the school grounds. No teacher on bus duty. Office locked. No adult in sight.
His mother rang the school; the calls rolled to voicemail.
When Ben saw his bus arrive around 3:28pm, he went back out. Troy’s group blocked him from boarding, steered him down the alley and into the park, and the promised bashing followed.
The assault was filmed. He was left with orthopaedic injuries but, more significantly, a marked deterioration in his autism presentation and serious psychiatric symptoms.
His injury compensation lawsuit came before Associate Justice Joanne Harrison in the NSW Supreme Court.
Her Honour treated the school’s duty as expanded by Ben’s vulnerability and Troy’s history, and identified three key failures: the absence of a proper risk assessment implementing the professional recommendations; the failure to have teachers on “bus duty” to supervise the crossing and bus stop; and closing the office too soon, effectively denying students and parents a channel to seek urgent help after the bell.
Accepting that if any or all those precautions had been taken, the group assault probably would not have occurred and awarded compensation of $1.75 million.
The education department’s appeal contended the school’s duty of care did not stretch beyond the gate or the clock. The steps taken with Troy had been reasonable office would have prevented the assault.
The appeal judges observed that, in appropriate circumstances, a school’s duty can extend beyond the school gate and beyond the final bell.
In their view, there was no “strong possibility” that Troy’s violence and Ben’s vulnerability were destined to converge and the case sat at the borderline between scope and breach.
The absence of a formal, documented risk assessment was not of itself, fatal.
The absence of a staff presence at the obvious supervision point overlooking the bus stop while students remained in the immediate vicinity was a different issue that ultimately damned the appeal.
Expert evidence – from educational consultants Peter Meaney and Kerri Ikin – and departmental policies, supported continued supervision. The burden was minimal; the spectrum of risks (fights, traffic, predation, medical events) was broad and well-known.
The appeal court overruled some of the trial judge’s findings but upheld the damages award based on the school’s breach of duty.
Reasonable care, in the court’s view, demanded that for a short, defined window—up to at least 3:28pm—there be at least one responsible staff member available: in the office, at the crossing, or at another obvious location, able both to deter misconduct and to respond when a terrified child or parent called for help.
Categories: School Injury