South Australia’s Education Department is reportedly interviewing children about photos taken by the then-principal but has not told parents what they depict.
Speaking anonymously, four parents from Wallaroo Mines Primary School in Kadina said they were contacted by a local department official inviting their children for interviews with an investigator in early November.
There is no suggestion the images are inappropriate and SA Police says it is not involved.
The school’s immediate past principal, Tamarin Condon, was placed on leave in October and is the subject of an internal investigation after she invited her husband Simon Condon onto the camp without authorisation.
Mr Condon worked as a student support officer but was not employed at the school of around 80 students.
Parents seek clarity over photos
A parent who sat in during their child’s interview said the investigator asked her child questions such as “Was there anything on the camp that didn’t feel right?” and “Which devices was Ms Condon using to take photos?”
“They were really interested in what sort of phone she was using, asking about the case, what colour it was, that sort of thing,” the parent said.
Another parent said one of the local department officials, Natasha Hefford, had described the photos as “nothing to be alarmed about”, while a third was told they were “ordinary camp photos”.
Wallaroo Mines Primary School is located in Kadina on SA’s Yorke Peninsula. (ABC North & West: George Yankovich)
However, questions about what they depicted remain unanswered.
“When the interview was over, I sent [my child] out and said to [the investigator], ‘I want to see those photos’,” one parent said.
“She said she didn’t know anything about them, and that I should follow up with [police], which doesn’t make sense because when they called us, they mentioned photos.
“We’re all here thinking the worst, all of this anxiety, and just getting nothing.
“At least tell us so we’re not losing our minds.”
According to two parents, Ms Hefford and another local department official, David Cowles, encouraged them to report any alleged incidents involving their children on the camp to SA Police (SAPOL).
Two parents say they have spoken to SAPOL and a spokesperson said police were aware of the matter.Â
“There is no police investigation at this time. Enquiries should be directed to the Department for Education,” the SAPOL spokesperson said.
Principal ‘not returning’ next year
On Wednesday, Mr Cowles wrote to the school community saying Ms Condon had left the school.
“The role of principal will be re-advertised statewide in Term 1, 2026, as Ms Condon will not be returning to the school,” he said.
“Recruitment will occur through a full merit selection process, with a new principal to be appointed for a 10-year term.”
A department spokesperson said the decision to “re-advertise the role … has been made in the best interest of the school for the 2026 school year”.
“It in no way anticipates any potential outcome from the current investigation,” they added.
The department said it could not comment on why parents had not been shown the photos.
School not told about previous complaints: MP
Weeks before Ms Condon was stood down, a petition circulated online demanding the department “urgently review [Ms Condon’s] leadership … due to ongoing concern about [alleged] unprofessional behaviour, child safety, and declining school culture”.
It garnered more than 260 signatures, some of those purportedly parents from another school at which Ms Condon worked.
She began at Wallaroo Mines Primary School in Term 3.
In SA Parliament last month, local MP Fraser Ellis called for changes in how principals were selected in public schools.
“I have been told by some community members that not all members of the selection panel for the Wallaroo Mines Primary decision were aware of the complaints that had been formally made by members of the school community at [Ms Condon’s] recent school stops,” Mr Ellis said on November 11.
“I have seen the online petition and I am wary of taking everything written online as true, but if some of them are, then I am sure the committee that considered whether to appoint might well have made a different decision.”
Narungga MP Fraser Ellis has spoken about the school in parliament. (ABC News)
Mr Ellis told parliament that parents informed him that an interim principal, “who had performed the role to the immense satisfaction of the school community”, had been overlooked for the job.
“I just cannot understand how a former principal who had performed the role to such acclaim … and who wanted to return to that school, could be overlooked,” he said.
Minister for Education, Training and Skills Blair Boyer said he would make enquiries about “whether or not any previous disciplinary proceedings, should they exist, were taken into account”.
Ms Condon and her husband declined to comment.