Grassroots idea grows into $90 million scheme

JOHN Howard's $90 million initiative for a chaplain for every school germinated at a grassroots level on the Mornington Peninsula.

Privilege: Peter Rawlings, who devised the chaplains scheme, at Mornington yesterday. Picture: David Geraghty

JOHN Howard's $90 million initiative for a chaplain for every school germinated at a grassroots level on the Mornington Peninsula.

It was the treasurer of the local chaplaincies committee, financial planner and religious education teacher Peter Rawlings who thought up the scheme, which he then told his local federal MP Greg Hunt.

The Liberal MP for Flinders encouraged him to write to the Prime Minister, who agreed it was an idea worthy of a multi-million-dollar budget.

"I feel enormously privileged to have written a submission to the Prime Minister that, less than six months later, is a national program with $90 million attached to it," Mr Rawlings said yesterday.

"But most of all I'm very passionate about the chaplains - I have seen the results in young families and families that work - the potential for that to be replicated around this nation."

Mr Rawlings is no stranger to Canberra - he attended a budget night business dinner on May 9 and was even photographed with the Prime Minister. And he personally lobbied Treasurer Peter Costello as well as having a formal meeting with Education Minister Julie Bishop and with Mr Hunt and other parliamentarians pushing the program.

Rawlings co-founded the chaplaincies committee 16 years ago and by enlisting the financial support of local churches, schools, service clubs and the council, has seen the funding of three full-time chaplains in high schools and one part-timer working for two primary schools. He estimates the total annual cost at $200,000.

Although community reaction to the initiative was mixed yesterday, the biggest parent group in the country endorsed it.

Australian Council of State School Organisations president Jennifer Branch supported the initiative despite doubts about whether the offer of $20,000 per school to help provide a chaplain was enough.

"It will not go very far: you are probably only going to get someone for eight hours a week out of $20,000, with on-costs included."

She attempted to hose down concerns over any religious agenda. "Let's not make this a religious debate," she said.

"It's not about teaching religion in schools. It is a pastoral care issue and providing our students with another means of support."

Mr Rawlings told The Australian he had seen a need for chaplaincy when he was in schools providing religious education lessons.

He has been asked many times about the qualitative difference between chaplains and secular counsellors and is hard put to describe it, but says there is no conflict between the roles in his area.