Labor urges inquiry into student radicalisation


NSW Deputy Opposition Leader, Linda Burney, said the Baird government’s state-wide audit of prayer groups in the state’s schools had not done enough to address the issue of student radicalisation.
 
Burney said a parliamentary inquiry was needed to investigate existing regulations of prayer groups and explore ways of better supporting teachers and students.
 
The move follows last week's shooting attack on a NSW Police employee by a 15-year-old student.

"The government's last audit found nothing to report to police – we need something more thorough to establish how best to prevent radicalisation in schools," Burney told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Last Friday, Arthur Phillip High School student Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar fatally shot NSW police employee Curtis Cheng outside the state's police headquarters.

"To see a 15-year-old commit such a horrific act is truly disturbing," Burney said.
 
"We need to be sure that students are never exposed to this kind of radicalisation in schools. We need to know how the education department is managing the risks now and how it can do better in the future."
 
A spokeswoman for NSW Education Minister, Adrian Piccoli, said the government was working in consultation with police on the issue of radicalisation and would announce new measures at a later date.
 
"There is a range of programs that we are looking to implement both in the Muslim community, in our schools, and together in the broader community. There is a role for all of us to play," NSW Premier, Mike Baird, said on Wednesday.