Dozens of swastikas were removed at Brighton Secondary, court told

The principal of a Melbourne secondary school has apologised in court to a student who says he left because of antisemitic bullying by fellow students

Brighton Secondary College’s principal has told the Federal Court he did his best to limit a proliferation of hate symbols graffitied around his school, telling staff to remove dozens of swastikas as they were detected.

Principal Richard Minack oversees a school that has been accused of failing to protect Jewish students under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Racial Discrimination Act.

Five former students – brothers Joel and Matt Kaplan, Liam Arnold-Levy, Guy Cohen and Zack Snelling – are suing the government-run school and the state of Victoria for negligence and allegedly failing to protect them under the convention and the act.

Their lawyer, barrister Adam Butt, has told the court the school failed in its duty of care for the students and that the “state has been vicariously liable for this”.

More than 40 swastikas were drawn around the school between 2013 and 2020. On Monday, Minack told the court that staff inspected students’ desks for swastikas and erased them as they were discovered. However, there was no documented process for removing hate symbols from the school.

Dozens of swastikas removed from Melbourne school, court told (SMH)

‘I’m prepared to apologise’: Principal says sorry to student in antisemitic bullying case (SMH)

Photo: Brighton Secondary principal Richard Minack (Brighton Secondary prospectus)