A private Christian school in Brisbane has been found to have discriminated against a five-year-old Cook Islands boy for threatening to expel him for having long hair, grown for cultural reasons.
The Australian Christian College Moreton was ordered to apologise to Cyrus Taniela, after it told his family the boy's hair must be cut by the start of semester two on Monday, or he'd have to leave.
His mother, Wendy, took the matter to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, saying Cyrus's hair was being grown for a traditional hair-cutting ceremony. The school denied it was discriminating against Cyrus and said it would treat any student disobeying school rules the same.QCAT member Samantha Traves ordered the school to end its bid to expel Cyrus and send a written apology to his family for its actions.READ MOREMs Traves also rejected the school's argument that allowing Cyrus to attend class with long hair could lead to"a loss of discipline" and"further pressure on the principles underlying the uniform policy".
However, Ms Traves rejected Cyrus's family's bid for compensation, saying there was no evidence he had suffered any emotional distress and the college had allowed him to attend school while the court battle played out.
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