- Priest accused of inappropriately touching children living next to Canberra primary schools
- Ex-priest Father Brian Hassett removed from next to Canberra primary schools after accusations revealed
- Bravehearts founder calls on Canberra Catholic archbishop to resign
Two parents who have pulled their children out of a Canberra Catholic school believe the school has failed in its duty of care, after it was revealed the principal knew the archbishop had moved a disgraced ex-priest next door.
The archdiocese confirmed that the principal of Sts Peter and Paul Primary School in Garran, Margaret Pollard, had known about the living arrangements of Father Brian Hassett since May 2016.
But parent Anthony Millgate said the Catholic Education Office has failed to shed light on who knew what and when, and he has pulled his daughter out of the school as a result.
"I rang them [the Catholic Education Office] on Friday to say I'd lost confidence in the principal after speaking with the principal and finding out she was aware and had been aware for some time of the priest living next door and hadn't informed us," Dr Millgate said.
"Her excuse was 'I didn't make the decision, I was only told the decision', to which I told her 'what did you do about it?' and I received silence for like five seconds, at which point I said 'your silence is deafening, you're just as responsible'."
While the Catholic Education Office will hold a forum for concerned parents next week, Dr Millgate said they had been slow to act.
"For me it's just not good enough that the Catholic Church continues to sweep things under the carpet.
"We've already lost a child and almost lost another child in an accident five years ago, we can't stand by and let this happen."
Another parent, who Fairfax Media has agreed not to name, said the principal's management of the situation had been "unsatisfactory" after the archdiocese said she had been told of the arrangement in May last year.
"Your decision not to inform us regarding this danger shows poor judgement on your behalf, a lack of regard for the safety of all of the children at the school and a complete disregard of the rights of all the parents," the woman wrote in an email to Ms Pollard on Monday.
"In particular, we believe it is inexcusable that you have not followed through with your duty of care responsibility to inform all parents of the ex-priest's living arrangements once you were notified in May 2016.
"We as parents, not you, have the right to make an informed decision on whether or not we accept and allow our children to be exposed to the risk of this ex-priest living on the school grounds.
"You took our parental right away from us by withholding that information and took it upon yourself to make that decision on our behalf. Your negligence has convinced us that you are not fit to continue as principal."
Fairfax Media has contacted Ms Pollard directly several times to give her a chance to provide her side of the story.
Instead, Fairfax Media was provided with a statement from Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Catholic Education director Ross Fox, which said the Archbishop Christopher Prowse would soon announce details of an independent review into the handling of the matter.
He said the principal had been instructed to limit the knowledge of the ex-priest's presence to senior staff.
"Taking into account the policies and procedures in place to protect children attending the school the Institute for Professional Standards and Safeguarding (IPSS) risk assessment concluded that any risk from the presence of the priests withdrawn from ministry was low," Mr Fox said.
"The principal was instructed by the IPSS to limit the distribution of the information to senior staff. The risk assessment advised the principal to remind the staff no one was to enter the school without being signed in.
"Irrespective of this process Catholic Education has not met the expectations of parents and the school community in relation to the safety of children. I unreservedly apologise for this situation and the failure to inform parents.
"The archbishop will shortly announce details of an independent review into the circumstances surrounding the handling of this matter to ensure full transparency and that such failings do not arise in the future."
Education minister Yvette Berry said the ACT Education Directorate would help accommodate students in local public schools if needed.
The minister has also asked the education directorate to look at how non-government schools are regulated "to see if there is more that could have been done".