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The First Catholic School
The first catholic school to be funded by local catholic settlers was founded by Mary and Michael Burke. It was located in Brisbane near where St Stephen's church is today. The first Catholic school in Victoria, established in Melbourne in 1840 by Father Patrick Geoghagan, taught entirely by lay teachers. -
The First Permanent Church
The settlement's first permanent church was established, this was St Stephens.St Stephen's Chapel, sometimes called the Royal Chapel of St Stephen, was a chapel in the old Palace of Westminster which served as the chamber of the House of Commons of England and that of Great Britain from 1547 to 1834. -
The Cathedral of the Diocese
In 1860, St Stephen's was proclaimed the cathedral of the Diocese after separating from New south Wales to become the colony of Queensland.Two and a half years later, on the feast of Stephen in 1863, James Quinn laid the foundation stone of a bigger cathedral.After eleven years of construction, the cathedral was finally opened, though it took 10 more years before it was completely finished. -
The First Catholic Secondary School
Bishop James Quinn, 5 priest and 6 sisters of Mercy, made their way to Brisbane. Bishop Quinn didn't like the amount of poverty, so he started to train Catholics in economic and social status. Mother Vincent Wishy and the sisters of Mercy established the first catholic secondary school, All Hallows. They made rapid progress in establishing a catholic education system.On 14 April 1859 Quinn was appointed bishop of Brisbane. -
Free, Compulsury and Secular Education
The Irish, Catholic and English protestants decided to keep church and state separate. There were laws made to provide free, compulsory and secular education for children and to remove state funding to religious schools.The Act came the closest to establishing all three of these conditions, at the same time was the Victorian Education Act of 1872. In some states there was no free education until the 20th century. By 1880 here was 35 catholic schools funded by the community. -
Advancements in Australia
Mary Mackillop and five other Sisters of St Joseph arrived in Queensland on 31 December, 1869, at the invitation of James Quinn, first Catholic bishop of Brisbane and founder of the Catholic Education system in Queensland. They began teaching in catholic schools, and by 1870 there were 4 St Mary's Schools in Brisbane.Federation was put into place, there was a new Archdiocese and Archbishop and a lot of technological advancements. Such as women being able to vote. -
More Catholic Schools
Following the death of Archbishop Dune, Archbishop James Chui could see the need for catholic schooling. He invested in large tracks of land around Brisbane and by 1930 he had established 28 new schools. -
The Conscription Debate
World War 1 had big consequences for catholic education. The split between Protestants and Catholics worked up during the Conscription debate. Twice during the First World War Australians were asked to vote in a national referendum on introducing conscription.The 1916 referendum failed when 51 per cent voted no. In 1917 the war continued.The conscription debate divided the nation.Catholic schools continued to teach still with no government funding. -
Lay Teachers
Father Bernard O'Shea was appointed as diocesan inspector and in 1948 his role was renamed as diocesan director of catholic education. He became influential in the catholic education of Brisbane. Catholic education continued to struggle with the demands of their mission throughout the post-war and the number of religious orders began to decline. The number of lay staff being employed increased. -
THe Goulburn School Strike
Major changes happened in school funding after the Goulburn school strike. The catholic schools strike of 1962, which started over the state of some school toilets at OLMP, grew to include the very manner in which schools were funded. As such, it was a significant event in not just Goulburn’s history but in that of the entire nation. -
The Whitlam Government Policies
The Whitlam government policies resulted in equal pay with the state and catholic school teachers.It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when it defeated the McMahon Government in the 1972 federal election after a record 23 years of Coalition government.The Whitlam Government remains the only federal government in Australian history to be dismissed by either a monarch or viceregal representative. -
The First Australian Archbishop
The first Australian born Archbishop, Francis Rush, was appointed in1973.Over the next seven years 12 catholic schools were established alongside the Queensland Catholic Commission, who took care of the funding of catholic education. After 40 years as director of Catholic education, Father Bernard O'Shea was replaced by the first lay director Vince O'Rourke.
