The New South Wales’ Department of Education has confirmed it is investigating complaints of caste-based discrimination being taught in the Hindu Special Religious Education program in the state’s public schools.
In a letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia last month (see below), a spokesperson confirmed that the department had met with community representatives who raised concerns about the teaching of caste in SRE.
“Department representatives are continuing to work with key stakeholders to investigate caste-based discrimination in NSW public schools and to explore ways to strengthen supports for students who may be experiencing it,” wrote Nell Lynes, Director of Multicultural Education.
“Discrimination has no place in NSW Public Schools. The department’s Anti-racism Policy states that students are to learn in a supportive environment free from prejudice and discrimination.”
The response followed calls – including from the RSA and Greens member of parliament Abigail Boyd – for the Minns government to take the allegations seriously and investigate them.
Last year, the RSA reported that a community group, Periyar Ambedkar Thoughts Circle of Australia (PATCA), had claimed children in Hindu SRE were being seated according to caste hierarchical order.
At the time, the minister and department ignored questions from the RSA on whether they would investigate, with a spokesperson for the department saying in October that approved providers of SRE were responsible for the materials and pedagogy used by their instructors.
In response to questions at budget estimates earlier this year, Prue Car, the education minister, suggested she was unaware of allegations of caste being taught in Hindu scripture classes in public schools. She added that it “would greatly concern me” if the issue had been brought to her attention.
In recent years, the RSA has also been raising concerns with the department about the teaching of anti-science and anti-evolution materials in Christian SRE classes, and the teaching of hellfire and warnings against children changing their identity or forming certain friendships in Islamic classes.
In her letter late last month, Ms Lynes reiterated the government’s line that SRE providers were responsible for class content.
“As previously advised, the NSW Government is supportive of Special Religious Education (SRE) and Special Education in Ethics (SEE) in line with Section 32 and 33A of the Education Act 1990. It is the responsibility of the approved provider to authorise the materials and pedagogy used by their SRE teachers,” she wrote.
“Concerns about specific SRE content, including caste-related teachings and anti-science teachings, should be directed to the relevant approved provider(s).
“Approved providers are responsible to recruit, train and authorise SRE teachers. The training is required to include child protection, classroom management and how to implement the approved provider’s authorised curriculum in an age-appropriate manner.”
In March, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman also raised concerns with Minister Car and the department about the practice of Catholic SRE providers recruiting teenagers from their own schools to teach SRE in public schools.
Mr Gladman argued that allowing teen missionaries to take over public school classrooms – without even needing Working With Children Checks (WWCC) – was inappropriate and indicative of the “free for all” in the program.
In response, Ms Lynes said a volunteer aged under 18 must be supervised by an SRE/SEE teacher on a school site.
“A volunteer under the age of 18 does not need a WWCC, but must complete the approved provider’s volunteer authorisation form that has been signed by the volunteer’s parent, the volunteer’s school and an authorised representative of the approved provider or the department’s Declaration for child related workers,” she said.
Minister Car has continued to back SRE despite collapsing participation rates forcing many children to miss out on learning time and despite increasing demands for reform from key public education stakeholders and parents and carers.
In March, the Minns government joined with Liberal and National MPs in praising SRE during a parliamentary debate.
In 2017, the New South Wales government pledged to implement new accountability measures after a review of the SRE program found examples of inappropriate content being taught to children.
The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively lobbying for secular reform of scripture programs in public schools. Follow our campaign here.
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Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.
Photo by Sonika Agarwal on Unsplash.
Letter from New South Wales Department of Education, 21 March 2025
Dear Mr Gladman,
I write in response to your email of 6 March 2025, to the Hon Prue Car MP, Deputy Premier, and Minister for Education and Early Learning, regarding the Special Religious Education program. The Deputy Premier has asked me to respond on her behalf.
As previously advised, the NSW Government is supportive of Special Religious Education (SRE) and Special Education in Ethics (SEE) in line with Section 32 and 33A of the Education Act 1990. It is the responsibility of the approved provider to authorise the materials and pedagogy used by their SRE teachers. Concerns about specific SRE content, including caste-related teachings and anti- science teachings, should be directed to the relevant approved provider(s).
Discrimination has no place in NSW Public Schools. The department’s Anti-racism Policy states that students are to learn in a supportive environment free from prejudice and discrimination. It requires all staff to complete mandatory Anti-Racism Policy training and every NSW public school to have a trained Anti-Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) who assists the principal to lead anti-racism education and address incidents of racism.
In addition, the department has released a new, system-wide Anti-Racism Strategy to strengthen and reaffirm its efforts for countering racism and religious intolerance in NSW public education. This 12-year commitment will deliver actions to prevent racism in our schools and workplaces; and ensure strong and clear responses to racism if it occurs.
The religious intolerance helpline, launched in August 2024, is available to all members of the school community who experience or witness bullying or intolerance due to religion, faith, beliefs and spirituality. For more information, please visit: https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/multicultural-education/religious-intolerance. A broad range of professional learning is available for teachers and schools leaders to raise awareness about racism and its impacts and to build schools’ capacity to prevent it from occurring and to address it when it does.
The department has met with community representatives who have raised concerns about the content of some SRE lessons which may result in caste-based discrimination. Department representatives are continuing to work with key stakeholders to investigate caste-based discrimination in NSW public schools and to explore ways to strengthen supports for students who may be experiencing it.
The department also has quarterly meetings and ongoing consultation with faith leaders through the NSW Faith Affairs Council’s Education Working Group to discuss the needs of students and families in schools and where concerns reported by families may be raised.
Approved providers are responsible to recruit, train and authorise SRE teachers. The training is required to include child protection, classroom management and how to implement the approved provider’s authorised curriculum in an age-appropriate manner.
A volunteer under the age of 18 does not need a WWCC, but must complete the approved provider’s volunteer authorisation form that has been signed by the volunteer’s parent, the volunteer’s school and an authorised representative of the approved provider or the department’s Declaration for child related workers. A volunteer under 18 years is to be supervised by an SRE/SEE teacher on a school site.
Catholic Schools NSW is responsible for students who attend Catholic schools in Sydney. For more information, you can visit their website at https://www.csnsw.catholic.edu.au.
Should you require any further information about SRE and SEE, you can visit the department’s website at https://education.nsw.gov.au/religion-and-ethics or contact the department’s Principal Project Manager, SRE and SEE, by telephone on [details removed] or email at [details removed].
Sincerely,
Nell Lynes
Director, Multicultural Education
RSA letter to Minister Car and Department of Education, 6 March 2025
Dear Minister Car,
I’m writing on behalf of the Rationalist Society of Australia in regards to the Special Religious Education program.
Teaching of caste
We note that in response to questions at budget estimates late last month you suggested that you were unaware of allegations of caste being taught in Hindu scripture classes in public schools.
However, we raised this issue directly with you on 1 October 2024 and received a reply from your department on 21 October 2024.
Is the Minns government taking these allegations seriously and investigating them?
What steps are you taking to address this issue and other concerns about divisive content in SRE – such as the teaching of anti-science and anti-evolution materials in Christian classes, and the teaching of hellfire and warnings against certain friendships in Islamic classes?
Teenage instructors
We are deeply concerned that some SRE providers are using teenagers to lead SRE instruction in public schools.
According to this article in Catholic media, a number of Year 10 students – likely aged 15/16 – from a Sydney Catholic high school are giving up their own school time to deliver Catholic SRE in two local public primary schools.
It is surely inappropriate for SRE providers to be sending teenage missionaries into public school classrooms, especially when these teens are not required to hold Working With Children Checks.
Also, it is exploitative for Catholic schools to be using their own students as missionaries, with these teens having to give up their own school time to take part.
Teenagers have not yet had an opportunity to mature in their own worldviews and make independent decisions about religion. For many young people raised in Catholic families and schools, we know that they will walk away from the faith once they reach adulthood and have had an opportunity to reach their own conclusions about religion.
This practice further highlights how the SRE program is essentially operating as a “free for all” for religious missionary work and without proper accountability and oversight by the state government.
Parents and carers across New South Wales will no doubt be very concerned that the Minns government is wiping its hands of any responsibility for what’s happening in the SRE program.
Regards,
Si Gladman
Executive Director,
Rationalist Society of Australia