Australian Islamic College

School in Western Australia

31°58′50″S 115°55′58″E / 31.9806°S 115.9327°E / -31.9806; 115.9327 (Australian Islamic College (Kewdale))

(Kewdale)

31°54′08″S 115°52′27″E / 31.9023°S 115.8743°E / -31.9023; 115.8743 (Australian Islamic College (Dianella))

(Dianella)

32°03′15″S 115°57′41″E / 32.0542°S 115.9615°E / -32.0542; 115.9615 (Australian Islamic College (Thornlie))

(Thornlie)

34°53′32″S 138°33′50″E / 34.8921°S 138.564°E / -34.8921; 138.564 (Australian Islamic College (Adelaide))

(Adelaide)

InformationTypeIndependent co-educational primary and secondary day schoolDenominationIslamicEstablished1986; 38 years ago (1986)

FounderAbdallah MagarEmployees400YearsK–12Enrolment4,000

(2021)Campuses

Kewdale (K–12)
Dianella (K–10)
Thornlie (K–10)
Adelaide (K—12)

Websiteaic.wa.edu.au

Australian Islamic College is a multi-campus independent Islamic co-educational primary and secondary day school, located in Perth, Western Australia and Adelaide, South Australia. The school was founded in 1986 by Hajji Abdallah Magar, with 50 students. As of 2021,^[update] it has 4,000 students and over 400 staff spread over sixcampuses, five in the Perth suburbs of Kewdale, Thornlie and Dianella, Henleybrook and Forrestdale and one in the Adelaide suburb of West Croydon.

History

The school was established in 1986 by Abdallah Saad Magar as the Muslim Community School on Brisbane Street in Perth.^{[clarification needed]} In 1990 a second campus was opened in Thornlie to cater for students from grades K-10, and in 1996 a third campus was opened in the northern suburb of Dianella. In 2000 Kewdale was opened on the grounds of the former Kewdale Senior High School.^{[citation needed]} On 22 June 2017, the Adelaide campus was opened on the site of the former Islamic College of South Australia in the Adelaide suburb of West Croydon.

Controversies

In 2007, Australian Islamic College was raided by 28 fraud squad officers and ten investigators from the Department of Education, Science and Training investigations unit.^[1]^[2] Abdallah Saad Magar and the Principal Aziz Magdi were charged with fraud offences against the governments of Australia and Western Australia.^[1]^[3] The charges related to falsifying records to indicate that more students were attending the school than actually were and thereby obtaining money for the school to which they were not entitled. The amount that was alleged to have been obtained fraudulently was A$3.16 million.^[3]^[4] Both were found guilty in the District Court on 31 March 2010.^[5] Abdallah Saad Magar appealed the conviction to the Supreme Court, however his application was denied.^[6]

In June 2010, Australian Islamic College posted an article in Wake Up Call, issue 172, written by a year 12 student defending the misappropriation of funds. The article stated that "when a man does all this [fraud] for Islam in the western society, when he does it for the guidance of the Muslim children – I cannot call that fraud".^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Taylor, Paige; Gosch, Elizabeth (31 January 2007). "Police raid leading Islamic college". The Australian. Archived from the original on 20 December 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "Police raid Islamic college following allegations of serious fraud against the federal government". Australian News Commentary. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b Buckley-Carr, Alana (28 June 2008). "Islamic school on fraud charges". The Australian. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ Sonti, Chalpat (27 June 2008). "Islamic College trio charged over $3m fraud". WAtoday. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ Campbell, Kate (31 March 2010). "Islamic college leaders guilty of fraud". The West Australian. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ Taylor, Belle (27 May 2011). "College fraud appeal denied". The West Australian. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ Mowlavizada, Husna (28 July 2010). "Speech by Current Year 12 Student". Wake up Call (172). Australian Islamic College: 6. Retrieved 4 May 2021 – via Issuu.