The Applecross Senior High School canteen has been serving the school community for over six decades. The current executive committee is actively implementing changes to the canteen’s management structure, including complete privatisation of the canteen to external private enterprise.
On the 23rd of June, 2025, a special meeting was convened by the executive committee of the Parents and Citizens Association. That meeting was convened due to the perceived ongoing burden of administration and governance demands from the canteen on the current P&C. The key options on the table included outsourcing the canteen to an external provider or forming a dedicated canteen subcommittee.
The overwhelming majority vote favoured forming a dedicated subcommittee. Since that vote, the subcommittee hasn’t been formalised, and their terms of reference haven’t been ratified. The executive committee has acted directly in contradiction of this vote by taking actions against the will of the people.
Quick Facts
- The canteen generates a profit in excess of $30,000 annually for the P&C
- Has achieved 76% green food items as reported by FoodSNAP (fresh School Nutrition Advisory Program)
- Is widely well regarded by students
- Has operated for 64+ years
- Has contributed back to the school by sponsoring the art award
Yet, the Executive Committee have taken action to classify the long-serving canteen management as incapable and are transitioning the current canteen operation to private management. This process has been ongoing since June and is just cause for distress for anyone who wishes for students of the school to eat cheap, nutritional meals or who is otherwise invested in the canteen’s future.
Areas of Concern
Recent months have seen several developments that have raised questions and caused undue damage within the school community:
After an order from the school to change the menu, a significant quantity of food items classified as “red” were immediately removed from sale, resulting in unnecessary resource waste. The executive team then redistributed these items – which they had deemed completely unacceptable to sell to the point of requiring them to be immediately pulled off the shelves – to another committee. If the food is unacceptable for consumption such that it must be pulled from shelves, then why should it be distributed to students?
WACSSO, the “peak body representing parents of public school students in Western Australia”, has in our view turned their back on the complaints and failed to appropriately act or mediate. They have completely failed to take any meaningful action and have instead turned away inquiry.
Complete failure to table executive meeting minutes.
Scheduling of interviews during active canteen service hours has created entirely unnecessary operational disruptions.
Bulk sending of emails in a manner we consider to be intended to overwhelm.
Members of the school and executive committee raising their voices and shouting during meetings, as well as removing concerned individuals on the grounds of ‘conflicts of interest’.
The executive committee failed to maximise profit by not establishing requested lines of credit with suppliers.
Unnecessary questioning of already audited profits.
Failure to comply with duties to notify of change of treasurer.
Firing and standing down of long-serving employees of the canteen without verbal or written prior notification or just cause.
These are only some of the destructive actions taken.
A team of volunteers have been fighting relentlessly for the canteen, but now your help is needed. They are actively privatising the canteen, and now is the time for the community to speak up.
How to Get Involved
Please ask critical questions regarding this situation and make your voice heard by sending an email to the Applecross SHS P&C Association, CCing Angie Thomas (Principal) and Toni Jones (Vice Principal). Please remember to follow the school value of mutual respect.
Community members are strongly encouraged to share their perspectives on these developments.
Need to get in contact with us? Reach us at hi@axshscanteen.com. Any comments provided will be assumed to be made on background, so please be clear if you have any alternative wishes regarding attribution.