St Kevin’s College in Toorak’s $200 million breakaway from Christian Brother’s movement
A leading Catholic school in Toorak has walked away from the control of the Christian Brothers’ movement in a landmark deal brokered by the CBA chair.
Education
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An upmarket Catholic school will break ties with the Christian Brothers movement next month, taking with it $200 million dollars of prime land.
St Kevin’s College in Toorak, Melbourne, has won the right to become an independent school from December 1.
The school will now be run by a board made up of parents following a high-powered campaign led by Commonwealth Bank chair Paul O’Malley.
The Trustees of Edmund Rice Australia, previously known as Christian Brothers schools, agreed to the separation.
“As previously communicated, following detailed consideration, it was decided to seek regulatory approval for St Kevin’s College to transition to an incorporated school model with its own Board,” Evan Dwyer, who took over as board chairman from Mr O’Malley, said in a letter to parents on Thursday.
“I am now delighted to announce that we have received regulatory approval to adopt this model.
“Accordingly, as of December 1, 2023, St Kevin’s College will be transferred from the current
proprietor Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia (“TEREA”) to St Kevin’s College Limited. As a result, governance responsibility for the College will transfer from TEREA to the Board of St Kevin’s College.”
The school’s land and buildings, worth more than $200 million will be transferred to a new entity owned by the school community.
The land on the banks of the Yarra River includes two large sports ovals, four tennis courts and extensive buildings.
The deal includes an undertaking that the land can only be used for education purposes.
Any legal liability for incidents at the school prior to 2007 remains with the Christian Brothers movement, which has paid out more than $200 million to victims of child abuse committed by members of its order.
St Kevin’s move to become independent raises questions about whether other prominent Catholic schools, including Sydney’s Waverley College, Ambrose Treacy College in Brisbane and Christian Brothers College in Adelaide, will follow suit.
The switch at St Kevin’s came after the school was subject to a scathing Four Corners report, which revealed that a staff member had provided a reference for a convicted child sex offender.
That report followed reports in 2019 of a video of St Kevin’s students singing a sexist chant on a Melbourne tram.
TEREA apologised to board members, including Mr Leahy and Mr O’Malley, for the way it handled the fallout from the Four Corners report, which was broadcast in 2020.
“Importantly, TEREA extends an apology to you and those School Advisory Board members who served during the period prior to February 2020,” a letter from Philomena Billington sent to Mr Leahy said.
TEREA was contacted for comment.
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