Six Islamic schools across the country operated by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils will be investigated by the federal Department of Education after a string of sackings among senior staff members and principals, allegations of financial mismanagement and concerns over the delivery of the curriculum.
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Education Minister Christopher Pyne said this week the department had commissioned an audit of all six schools to "get to the bottom of these matters".
One of the schools is in Canberra, the others in NSW, Brisbane, Melbourne, South Australia, and Western Australia.
The ACT Education Directorate said it would await the findings of the audit before taking any action.
"Outcomes from the Commonwealth audit of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, who are the proprietors of the Islamic School of Canberra, may inform the registration renewal process where appropriate," a spokesman said.
The school's registration is due for renewal later this year.
But school business manager and chairman of the Islamic Council of Canberra Mohammed Berjaoui said he was confident the schools' financial operations were "100 per cent fully compliant" with both federal and local legislation.
Mr Berjaoui said he understood there had been "some mismanagement issues" within the network of schools, including the largest Islamic school in Australia, Malek Fahd in Sydney's south-west, which educates up to 2200 students each year. These matters are currently before the court in NSW.
Mr Berjaoui said the small Canberra campus relied on about $1 million each year from AFIC to operate its Weston campus.
While student enrolments had dropped in the past to just below 50, Mr Berjaoui said the school had grown to 250 in the past two years .
Its performance on NAPLAN results in recent years had been among the top schools in Canberra according to the MySchool website.
In 2011 the Islamic School of Canberra's former administrator was subject to a three-year ACT police investigation over forgery charges. But no charges were laid.
The documents related to an application to expand the school.
"We understand there have been some issues in past years relating to an individual, but we are a successful and growing school and we have no concerns about complying with the audit." Federal auditors are due at the school next week.
Mr Pyne said he was concerned with a number of allegations reported in the media "in relation to curriculum, gender segregation, senior staff movements and financial transactions…We want to be confident that schools operate in the best interests of their students." AFIC issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon denying any financial wrong-doing.
"As a charity, AFIC's financial accounts are independently audited and lodged with the the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission and so, open to public scrutiny. AFIC has nothing to hide financially."
- with Eryk Bagshaw
