A Brisbane high school principal has offered sympathies to the parents of a gay student who took his own life but says staff did not know he was being bullied.
Amanda Unsworth said her 13-year-old son Tyrone had been constantly called names like "faggot" and "fairy" since grade five and took his life on Tuesday, according to The Courier-Mail.
Aspley State High School principal Jacquinta Miller says the school was unaware of any bullying against the grade seven student.
"Let me be very clear: no allegation of bullying against this young person was made to our school," she said in a statement.
"Neither the student nor his family ever came to us to say there was a problem of any kind.
"If they did, we absolutely would have stepped in."
Ms Unsworth said her son was attacked with a fence paling less than a month ago by a fellow student.
The incident occurred outside the school grounds and the attack was so violent he required surgery and was too afraid to go back to school.
"I feel like these people who were bullying Tyrone are the cause of why he is not here any more. They pushed him to the edge," Ms Unsworth told The Courier-Mail.
Ms Miller said the school had been aware of an incident outside school hours that had been reported to police.
She sent the school's "deepest sympathies" to Tyrone's friends and family and said it had support networks in place to assist students facing any issues.
"The safety and wellbeing of everyone in our school is our highest priority and we do not tolerate bullying in any way, shape or form," she said.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.
MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.
Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au.
Local Aboriginal Medical Service available from www.vibe.com.au.
