Fred RiversBallarat Grammar's boarding community was effectively shut to new enrolments after the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) stepped in following a series of hazing incidents in 2025 — including the "strapping" of younger students by older boarders. The case is one of the most visible recent examples of what researchers and regulators have long identified: boarding schools carry a structurally elevated risk of harm, because students live on campus 24 hours a day, removed from their families and under the care of adults who are not their parents. What legal rights do students and families have when an Australian boarding school fails in its duty of care?
A New Legal Landscape in 2026
The legal environment governing boarding schools changed significantly at the start of 2026. Two major reforms came into force in Victoria:
The Child Safe Standards scheme commenced on 1 January 2026, applying to all Victorian schools and requiring them to have rigorous child protection policies, mandatory training, and clear reporting obligations. Schools that fail to meet the standards face regulatory action, including the kind of enrolment prohibition applied to Ballarat Grammar.
The Reportable Conduct Scheme commenced on 1 July 2026, requiring schools to report and investigate all allegations of child abuse by employees and relevant personnel — including volunteers and religious ministers. This scheme closes a long-standing gap where allegations could be handled internally without independent oversight.
Most significantly, the Justice Legislation Amendment (Vicarious Liability for Child Abuse) Bill 2025 passed the Victorian Parliament on 17 February 2026. This legislation extends vicarious liability to organisations for the abusive conduct of people working in roles "akin to employees" — including volunteers, contractors, and clergy — even where no formal employment relationship exists. For boarding schools, which frequently rely on non-staff supervisors, chaplains, and residential mentors, this is a fundamental change in legal exposure.
The national picture is also moving. The ACT and several other jurisdictions now require boarding facilities to comply with Australian Standard AS 5725:2015, which sets a minimum standard for the physical, psychological, and welfare conditions of boarding students.
What Constitutes a Breach of Duty of Care?
Schools in Australia — including boarding schools — owe a non-delegable duty of care to their students. This means that even if harm is caused by a third party such as a contractor or volunteer, the school cannot escape liability by pointing to someone else's conduct. The duty requires schools to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm.
In the boarding context, courts and tribunals have identified a range of circumstances that can constitute a breach:
Physical harm between students: Where a school fails to properly supervise boarders, enabling hazing, bullying, or assault, and where the school knew or should have known the risk existed, liability can follow. The Ballarat Grammar case illustrates this: the hazing pattern was not isolated, and the VRQA's decision to stop new enrolments reflects a systemic failure of supervision and culture.
Sexual abuse by school staff or others: This is the most serious category, and the most consequential under the new vicarious liability laws. Schools can now be held directly liable for abuse by people in positions of authority over boarders, regardless of the formal employment structure.
Psychological harm: Bullying, social exclusion, and intimidation that a school fails to address — despite being aware — can give rise to a duty of care claim. Courts assess whether the school's response was reasonable, not whether the harm was caused intentionally.
Inadequate physical environment: The AS 5725:2015 boarding standard covers physical safety, hygiene, and welfare facilities. Where a boarding school falls below these standards and harm results, this can form part of a negligence claim.
What Can Affected Families Do?
If a student has experienced harm at a boarding school, several legal pathways are available:
Formal complaint to the regulator: In Victoria, complaints about boarding schools can be made to the VRQA or the Social Services Regulator (which assumed responsibility for oversight from 23 February 2026). Other states have equivalent bodies.
Civil claim for negligence: A student or their family can bring a negligence claim against the school, seeking compensation for physical injury, psychological harm, and associated losses including medical expenses and lost future earning capacity. The new vicarious liability provisions in Victoria significantly broaden the range of circumstances in which schools can be held financially responsible.
Working with Children Check failures: If someone who harmed a student should not have had unsupervised access — for example, if the school failed to obtain a required Working with Children Check — this can be relevant both to the negligence claim and to any criminal investigation.
Reporting to police: Where conduct is criminal — assault, sexual abuse — police involvement is appropriate and does not preclude a subsequent civil claim.
Choosing the Right Expert Help
Duty of care claims against schools involve complex law, and outcomes depend heavily on the specific facts, the applicable state legislation, and the category of harm involved. A lawyer specialising in institutional abuse, child protection, or negligence can assess the strength of a potential claim and advise on time limits — which vary by jurisdiction and can be affected by the age of the victim at the time of harm.
With 15,600 students currently boarding in Independent schools across Australia — 71% of them from rural and regional areas — and 16% identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, the population affected by boarding school duty of care failures is substantial and often in circumstances that make access to legal support more difficult.
Victoria's Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, which underpins the new Child Safe Standards and the 2026 Reportable Conduct Scheme for schools, is publicly accessible at legislation.vic.gov.au and provides the legal framework for understanding boarding schools' obligations to students in that state.
This article addresses legal issues of a serious nature. If you or someone you know has experienced abuse or harm at a boarding school, seeking confidential legal advice and, where applicable, contacting police or the relevant regulator is recommended.
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