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Section 51 (2) provides that 'Where a manuscript, or a copy, of a thesis or other similar literary work that has not been published is kept in a library of a university or other similar institution or in an archives, the copyright in the thesis or other work is not infringed by the making of a copy of the thesis or other work by or on behalf of the officer in charge of the library or archives if the copy is supplied to a person who satisfies an authorized officer of the library or archives that he requires the copy for the purpose of research or study'. Keith Jennings Registrar and Deputy Prino,uf .'Thesis' includes 'treatise', 'dissertation' and other similar productions, YOU'VE TAKEN OUR SCHOOLS! The Role and Development of the Catholic Education Office Sydney, 1939-1987 J. J. Luttrell A Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Education (Honours) Faculty of Education University of Sydney 1992 ABSTRACT There has been a revolution in the administration of Australian Catholic schools since the 1960s. The administration of most Catholic schools has passed from religious congregations and parish priests to complex and predominantly lay-staffed organisations, called Catholic Education Offices (CEOs). This study examines the history of one CEO, that of the Sydney Archdiocese. Founded in 1939 as a modest amplification of the Archdiocesan Inspectorate, it has become the second largest CEO in Australia, administering a school system comparable to that of Tasmania or Western Australia. Two aspects are examined - firstly, the way its role changed to assume the administration of a system of schools; secondly, its development into a large, complex organisation. This history is conceptualised in three stages - 1939-60, 1960-75 and 1975­ 87. Before 1960 the CEO was a base office for the clerical Inspectors of Schools and a communications link between the archbishop, religious congregations, and parish priests. Inspection was its primary responsibility. In the second stage, 1960-75, the CEO ceased to be an inspectorate and rapidly assumed a major share of the administration of most Catholic schools in Sydney, thereby creating a new system and itself becoming a large, complex organisation. This rapid change was accompanied by much confusion and tension within the school system and the CEO. So the final part, 1975-87, describes a long struggle to restructure both the administrative leadership of the new school system and the CEO itself as an organisation, according to a model of corporate accountability. By 1987, the CEO's authority was both affirmed and enhanced. It now appeared that the future of Sydney Catholic schools would be strongly determined by the Sydney CEO. The same prediction might be made for the other Australian dioceses. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Abbreviations ii INTRODUCTION 1 PART I In the Church Militant c.1900-60 Chapter 1. Australian Catholics and their Schools 1900-60 14 2. Founding the Sydney CEO 1939-60 26 PART II Involvement And Complexity c.1960-75 Chapter 3. Aggiornamento 64 4. The CEO and the Early System 81 5. A Complex Organisation Develops 99 PART III Restructuring the Administration c.1975-87 Chapter 6. Curbing the Excesses 132 7. Restructuring the Systemic Administration 143 8. The New Model CEO Emerges 175 CONCLUSION 214 APPENDIXES A. Catholic Education Office Officers 1972 233 B. Catholic Education Office Officers 1977 234 C. Proposed Regionalisation of Administration of Sydney Schools - Payne Report 1978 236 D. Organisational Structure for the Administration of Sydney Catholic Schools 1964--86 ········ 237 E. Coordination of the former CEO and the former CSFO into a single Administration 1986-7 238 SOURCES CONSULTED 239 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was made possible by ready access to archive sources. At the Sydney Archdiocesan Archives John Cummins, Chantal Celjan and Mgr W. Mullins were most helpful. Likewise at the Catholic Education Office, Br Kelvin Canavan, the Executive Director of Schools, gave essential support and encouragement to the project, while Peter Donnan and Marie Lourey gave much of their time in locating sources and facilitating research. Many members or associates of the Catholic Education Office made themselves available for interviews which provided vital data and a sense of the historical period. Mgr John Slowey gave ten hours to this task. Several of these also read and commented on draft chapters. Their assistance and interest is greatly appreciated. Guiding the work were Associate Professor Geoffrey Sherington and Professor John Cleverley. Their consistent interest, comments and insights have been invaluable. Finally the author extends sincere appreciation to his fellow Marist Brothers who gave him the opportunity and support for this study. Dr Peter Codd's insights and technical assistance were especially important. Much encouragement was also given by his family and friends. Gratitude is owed to all of these. i ABBREVIATIONS A.C.E.R. Australian Council for Educational Research AMMA Assistant Masters and Mistresses Association Br Brother. CBFC Catholic Building and Finance Commission CCD Confraternity of Christian Doctrine CEC Catholic Education Commission CEO Catholic Education Office CEOL Catholic Education Office, Leichhardt. This is the central office and holds archives. CEOS Catholic Education Office, Sydney - where distinction needed from other CEOs. It includes central and regional offices. CIO Catholic Industrial Office CSFO Catholic Schools Finance Office CSSA Catholic Secondary Schools Association CUSA Catholic United Services Association DOGS Defence of Government Schools (Council) Fr Father lAC Industrial Affairs Committee IDSP Important Documents Sent to Principals (a CEOL file) ITA The Independent Teachers Association Mgr Monsignor NCEC National Catholic Education Commission P&F Parents and Friends Asssociaton PPSU Parent Participation in Schools Unit REC Religious Education Coordinator SAA Sydney Archdiocesan Archives, St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. SACS (B) Sydney Archdiocesan Catholic Schools (Board) SJCA StJoseph's College, Hunters Hill Archives Sr Sister 11 Abbreviations for Religious Congregations. The recent convention in Catholic circles is followed of using lower case letters for the initials of religious congregations and orders, to distinguish these from letters showing academic qualifications. For example one might refer to Ronald Fogarty, fms, PhD. Initials of congregations mentioned in this study are placed with the shortened or common names given to these congregations: dc Christian Brothers cm Vincentian Congregation csb Brigidine Sisters fms Marist Brothers fdnsc Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart fsc De La Salle Brothers fsp Patrician Brothers ocarm Order of Carmelites osu Ursuline Sisters rsj Sisters of St Joseph (Brown Josephites) rsm Sisters of Mercy sgs Sisters of the Good Samaritan sj Society of Jesus (Jesuits) iii 1 Introduction If one inquired who was responsible for the administration of Catholic1 schools in Australia since European settlement, the authorities cited would be Catholic bishops, parish priests, and leaders of religious congregations2 . They determined the foundation, development and organisation of schools - up to about 1965. In the mid 1960s a deputation of parish priests met the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Norman Gilroy, with the complaint: "What has happened? You've taken our schools from us!"3 Their group remonstration evoked a sense of the high importance of their schools to the Australian Catholic community. More importantly it signalled the beginning of a fundamental change in the century old administrative arrangements. Parish priests were beginning to lose control of their schools. Moreover the same complaint was surely voiced by many members of the religious congregations who, within two decades, were to surrender the administration of the majority of the schools that they had long and energetically nurtured. While the archbishop took the brunt of the priests' complaint, he personally was not to be the new manager or administrator. He and the bishops of other dioceses gradually transferred the responsibility for the administration of most Catholic schools to complex organisations which have developed in each Australian diocese. These are known as Catholic Education Offices (CEOs).