Daily London
This will apply to independent, government, and Catholic schools throughout the state.
It will give the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) the power to direct schools to act on any reported issue, and even fire a teacher who’s considered to have breached the code of conduct.
”We all believe schools need to be safe spaces,” Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car said.
“This is a common-sense change. The vast majority of schools this will never apply to.”
Minns agreed, saying the “vast, vast, vast” majority of educators in the state were in the job for the right reasons.
He denied it was an attack on freedom of speech, and said it would not forbid the discussion of issues like the Gaza invasion in classrooms.
Nor, he said, would religious schools face any new limits on quoting religious texts – unless the person quoting those texts was doing so in order to publicly incite racial hatred.
Meanwhile, the government today will also introduce legislation to strengthen powers councils have to deal with illegally-operated prayer halls, including enhanced shutdown powers.
”This legislation will mean the penalties are severe and the actions the council can take are decisive,” Minns said.
“Everybody has to do their bit, and this is just one area or change we can progress in order to keep the public safe.”
Councils will also be directed to consult with police on receipt of any development application for a place of public worship – already a common step, but one which will be formalised.
Planning Minister Paul Scully said penalties for individuals and corporations who breached public worship laws would also be doubled.
The announcements came ahead of the scheduled visit to Australia and New South Wales by Israeli President Isaac Herzog next week.
Herzog is likely to visit Bondi and meet members of the Jewish community targeted in the December 14 terror attack that killed 15 people.
Minns said senior members of the government had been in talks with police in the lead-up to the event.
While he didn’t go into details – saying instead Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon was likely to make an announcement soon – he indicated protest restrictions would likely be in place during Herzog’s visit.
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