THE Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle remains tight-lipped about an investigation into two senior campus teachers at All Saints' College Maitland, dodging questions about allegations of "serious misconduct".
The Office of the Children's Guardian (OCG), the state's independent authority which oversees organisations to ensure the safety of children, has confirmed it had been notified about the alleged incidents.
An OCG spokeswoman said it has been contacted by the diocese about allegations that have seen two teachers put on administrative leave.
"The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has been in contact with the OCG about the matters referred to in its public statement and we can confirm that it has made the required reports," she said.
"We cannot disclose any further information about these matters at this time."
The Newcastle Herald put numerous questions to the diocese about the alleged misconduct, including whether it had been reported to police, when it expected to have an outcome to the investigation and if the two teachers in question were still receiving pay and benefits while on administrative leave.
A spokesperson for the diocese said it was unable to comment further while investigations were under way, pointing back to the public statement published on the school's website.
The diocese declined to comment on whether the alleged incidents occurred inside or outside of school hours, or name the statutory bodies the matters have been referred to.
According to the statement, which was released on March 15, investigations started after the school's leaders were made aware of one allegation on March 13.
That allegation was reported the same day and a staff member was placed on immediate administrative leave.
In its statement, the diocese said a connected but "very separate" allegation of a different nature against another staff member came to light late on March 14.
Those allegations have since been reported to the relevant authority and that staff member had also been placed on administrative leave.
It is still unclear what "serious misconduct" the allegations against the two teachers refers to.
The Herald also contacted the NSW/ACT Independent Education Union, which represents employees in non-government schools, but a spokeswoman said it does not comment on individual matters.
NSW Police have been contacted for comment.
It comes weeks after the diocese released a report which found Catholic schools and parishes across the Hunter were meeting key safety requirements to protect children and adults at risk of abuse.
The "rigorous" audit was published by Australian Catholic Safeguarding Ltd, scoped across the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle and found a 98 per cent compliance with the National Catholic Safeguarding standards.
In its statement, the diocese urged anyone with concerns to contact All Saints' College principal Brian Lacey or the Office of Safeguarding.
Support has been made available to all members of the Maitland school community through the Diocesan Employee Assistance Program.
- If you or anyone you know needs help phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue at 1300 224 636.
