Northern beaches students seek compensation for alleged sexual abuse at school
Pallavi Singhal
21 hrs ago
Former students who claim to have been sexually abused by teachers in public high schools on Sydney's northern beaches will seek compensation from the NSW government, the high-profile law firm representing them has confirmed.
Multiple allegations of sexual abuse are currently being investigated by NSW police, with assistance from the NSW Department of Education.
Danielle De Paoli, a lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, confirmed that a number of the alleged victims are also seeking financial compensation.
"We have received instructions in several matters arising from historical abuse in high schools on Sydney's northern beaches," Ms De Paoli said.
"We have been corresponding with the NSW Department of Education on behalf of claimants and are now awaiting a response prior to filing any formal claims in court."
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Alleged historical abuses in NSW schools have received new attention following the arrest of former Cromer High School teacher Chris Dawson this week for the alleged murder of his wife Lynette Dawson, who disappeared in 1982.
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However, Jane Muir, now 53, who was school captain at Cromer High in 1983, described a culture of relationships between students and teachers.
"It was a culture where teachers and the students mixed quite readily...there was a lot of underage drinking and we saw them at parties," Ms Muir told
The Saturday Telegraph.
"I was grabbed by a male teacher I was babysitting for, he tried to kiss me."
A former Cromer High School art teacher, Peter Wayne Scott, was recently convicted of 13 child sex offences committed between 1984 and 1986.