School principals, teachers now face losing their job, not being re-employed under NSW hate speech rules

School principals and teachers who spread hate on social media face being sacked with no scope for being re-employed in the classroom under new rules coming into force in NSW today.

The immediate policy change which will see hate speech included in an updated code of conduct affecting the accreditation of 3000 government, independent and Catholic schools, was announced on Tuesday, a day after the start of the new school year.

Those found guilty of racial vilification, following a NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) investigation, would be sacked and no longer be able to be re-employed elsewhere in the school. But only for conduct from today onwards.

The announcement was made after Abdulghani Albaf last month stepped down as the principal of New Madinah College, an Islamic school at Young in the State’s south. This was before NESA, the independent regulator, concluded its investigation into his suitability to head a school, following a series of inflammatory posts on social media calling for the destruction of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the change was about stopping hate preacher teachers from radicalising students, confirming the changes were a response to the Bondi massacre on December 14 and not an investigation into New Madinah College.

“We think this is necessary to send a clear and unambiguous message that we will not tolerate hate and it’s not allowed in New South Wales to be in a position where you’re poisoning young minds,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“We know young minds are impressionable. We know that people who are in positions of authority, particularly educators, are responsible for shaping their views and outlooks in the years ahead and if, through that process, they are tipping bigoted, uninformed or racist information into young minds, this can have devastating effects on the cohesion in our community.”

Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car said the new code of conduct for schools was about making classrooms safe from teachers and principals who incited hatred in the community or at school, while clarifying that NESA would adjudicate decisions.

“We all believe that schools need to be safe places and in order for schools to be the safest they can be, it is not acceptable for anywhere that hate speech can be tolerated,” she said.

“NESA could direct the school to terminate employment of that staff member because it’s now in the code of conduct.”

The updated code of conduct for schools extends new laws, introduced in February 2025, that make it illegal to encourage hatred based on race, with exemptions for those discussing religious scripture. The policy change is being introduced without new legislation or regulation.

The Nightly does not suggest that Mr Albaf has breached the code of conduct or that the NESA has made any adverse findings against him, only that an investigation by NESA had been commenced in relation to his posts on social media.

Controversial principal

Mr Albaf was not a teacher before becoming the controversial principal of New Madinah College.

Instead, he was a sheikh at the Islamist Ahlus Sunaah Wal Jamaah Association at Auburn, in western Sydney, who had moved to Young a decade ago.

His inflammatory posts on social media included one in January 2024.

“May Allah destroy the Zionist terrorist regime. May they burn in the lowest pits of hellfire for their oppression aggression.”

Another in April 2024 suggested supporters of Israel have no morals.

“Zionists and all who support Zionism simply have no moral compass whatsoever,” he said.

Weeks after the Hamas-led October 2023 terrorist attack in Israel, he told his followers Israelis were “Zionist terrorists” and posted an image of a Palestinian flag over a map of Israel calling for the destruction of Israel.

“A thief never becomes an owner. May Allah rid us of the illegal occupation. May Allah destroy the oppressive Zionist regime.”

Another post in February 2024 described Israel as a terrorist state.

“For those who don’t know, it all started in 1948, not on October 7th, 2023.”

A meme from December 2023, featuring a shrugging Jewish rabbi with a Star of David said: “If I don’t steal it, someone else will.”

On Christmas Eve last year, Courtney Houssos as acting education minister announced the State’s Education Standards Authority would be given 28 days to determine if Mr Albaf was a fit and proper person to run a school.

This was 10 months after former Nationals deputy prime minister Michael McCormack, who is also the Federal member for Riverina, raised concerns about him in Parliament.

“On his social media he described me as ‘human look like animal’ and invoked ‘Allah the best disposer’. This is not Australia,” Mr McCormack said.

Mr Albaf nine years ago made a fiery sermon at condemning Muslim men for using urinals at public toilets.

“How often do we see this today? Every public, or every male public toilet now has urinals where they just stand up like animals and urinate in front of one another,” he thundered. “What’s worse is we even have Muslims using these urinals.”