Gordon & Bungaree Parish News

Parish Update

At our fortnightly Parish Leadership meeting last week, we welcomed Tracey O’Neill (Chair and Director of DOBCEL) and Fr Andrew Hayes (Deputy Chair of DOBCEL) to explain what this means as far as the Parish of Gordon is concerned. Diocese of
Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL) is the company established by Bishop Paul Bird to become the governing body for schools in the Ballarat Diocese. DOBCEL will manage and operate Catholic schools in the Diocese of Ballarat, including the employment of current and future staff at Catholic schools and the Catholic Education Office in the Diocese of Ballarat. Parish schools, including St Patrick’s Gordon and St Brigid’s Ballan, that are part of the new structure, as of January 01, 2021, will now be governed by a diocesan company, DOBCEL rather than by the Parish Priest on behalf of the parish. The principal and staff will be employed by the company. Education policy in the Diocese will now be set by DOBCEL rather than by the Ballarat Diocesan Schools Education Board (BDSAC). Everything else about the school should remain essentially the same. All school land will remain the property of the Parish held in trust by the Roman Catholic Trusts Corporation (RCTC). The property will be recorded on the DOBCEL’s balance sheets as lease hold improvements and right-to-use assets. Members of the transition team will meet with the two principals to determine what property remains under Parish and what will be
deemed school land. DOBCEL will assume all liabilities and debts. Any debts will continue to be serviced from school income and loans. This is a new and exciting chapter in the life of Parishes and Parish Catholic schools and if you would like to know more you can visit their website on https://ceob.edu.au.