Governance of St Brigid's

The Governance of schools in the Diocese of Ballarat is transitioning to DOBCEL (Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited) - a company formed to oversee the legal and compliance requirements of schools in our Diocese. The Bishop is the company and the Board conducts the work. This means that schools will no longer have the Parish Priest as their governing authority.

Over time the demands of governing (OH&S, legal obligations and responsibilities, insurance, compliance) have become larger while the number of priests and their capacity to ‘run’ schools has decreased. It was also a recommendation from the Royal Commission that parish priests no longer be responsible for the governing of schools. As a result parish Schools including St. Brigid’s  Ballan and St. Patrick’s in Gordon will become part of the new structure as of January 1st, 2021. 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). Our School Advisory Council will participate in a meeting this evening with Sandra Harvey and Kim Butler from the CEO to further understand the changes and implications of this move.