The Grammar Schools Act 1860
The Grammar Schools Act 1860 was passed by Queensland’s first parliament in 1860 and allowed for the establishment of a grammar school in any town where £1000 could be raised locally. Between the years 1863 and 1892, ten grammar schools were opened under the auspices of the Grammar Schools Act 1860.
Toowoomba Grammar School, QLD
The Toowoomba Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding grammar school for boys, located at 24 Margaret St, East Toowoomba in Queensland.
Toowoomba Grammar School was established in 1875, the third school to be established under the Grammar Schools Act 1860.
The land on which the Toowoomba Grammar School was built remains Crown land today under perpetual leases to the Board of Trustees.
In 1920, Toowoomba Grammar School became a member school of the Great Public Schools Association of Queensland (GPS) which was founded two years earlier in 1918.
Today, the frameworks and regulations of Queensland Grammar Schools are regulated through the Grammar Schools Act 2016 and the Grammar Schools Regulation 2016. Each school is governed by a Board of Trustees, appointed by the Governor in Council. The Grammar Schools Act 2016 provides that the Board of Trustees for each Grammar School is a statutory body, and the Grammar Schools Act 2016 also regulates the business of the Grammar School Boards, the keeping and auditing of accounts and making of budgets.
History of Abuse at Toowoomba Grammar School, QLD
In 2021, a Ms Chanel Contos, a former student at a prestigious Sydney girls school, after hearing countless stories of sexual assaults through her network of friends while she was growing up, created an online petition for female students to share their stories of sexual abuse. Allegations against Toowoomba Grammar School students (amongst other prestigious schools and colleges) are among the thousands of testimonies posted on a viral petition calling for earlier education on sexual consent.
On 27 August 2021, in the matter of Brockhurst v Rawlings [2021] QSC 217, a former English teacher at Toowoomba Grammar School, Meredith Lynne Rawlings, was ordered by the Supreme Court of Queensland to pay a survivor of her abuse, Nicholas Brockhurst, more than $1.4 million due to the harm she caused Nicholas. Meredith Rawlings began a relationship with Nicholas Brockhurst when he was a 13-year-old student at Toowoomba Grammar School in 1996 and continued until 1997. At the time, Meredith Rawlings was 30/31. The relationship progressed to kissing and touching before she first sexually abused him when he was 14 years of age. The relationship was discovered when Nicholas Brockhurst’s parents found notes from Meredith Rawlings which expressed affection and included statements such as, “I love you”, “I miss you” and “I can’t wait to see you”. The Toowoomba Grammar School was informed, and Meredith Rawlings resigned. In the years after the relationship ended, Nicholas developed depression which carried into his adult life. Nicholas Brockhurst told the Supreme Court his mental health issues – which manifested in flashbacks, intimacy difficulties, excessive smoking, drinking and gambling and sleeping problems – interfered with his education and employment. Nicholas also argued that due to his age at the time of the abuse, he was unable to voluntarily consent to Meredith Rawlings’ intimate and sexual contact with him. The Supreme Court ultimately ordered that Meredith Rawlings pay Nicholas Brockhurst damages in the amount of $1,456,524.15. Meredith Rawlings, shortly after the court order, then filed for bankruptcy.
We are specialist abuse lawyers and can help you receive acknowledgement, meaningful apology and financial resolution from those institutions and systems of power that failed to protect you from harm. If you would like advice in relation to a childhood or adult sexual, physical and/or psychological/emotional abuse claim in any jurisdiction in Australia, please reach out to Littles Lawyers today.
Further Abuse Law information and case law updates can be found on our website.
