Catholic Outlook Magazine | Lent & Easter | 2023 Issue

Shaped by a working life that includes social and
public policy advocacy in Victoria, supporting school
leadership teams for the Catholic Education Office
in Western Australia, addressing global injustice at
Caritas Australia and the last six-and-a-half years
leading the St Vincent de Paul Society in NSW, Jack
brings a strong focus on Catholic values, social
outreach and mission.
Raised in Melbourne, Jack is an avid AFL supporter.
He studied in both Melbourne and Sydney and is a
family man who enjoys spending time with his wife
Fiona and their two daughters.
Jack says his faith, Catholic identity and values are
an important part of his life and what he brings to
each role that he undertakes.
“The offering we have for the world is God who
offers the event of Jesus with a fullness of life and is
a sign to all of love, service and accompaniment,”
Jack reflects.
He highlights the work of the CSPD Jarara Cultural
Centre with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students and their families, welcoming students
with disability and a strong focus on wellbeing as
exemplary strengths of the Diocese.
“To go to the edges means we are all confident
that the core offering we have is strong and that
we have great confidence to make a difference to
those who have been denied voice, participation,
access and resources.”
As he begins his work in the new role, Jack says he
is very keen to meet with school communities and to
learn more.
At the beginning of 2023, Catholic Education
Diocese of Parramatta became known as
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese.
“My Dad was a physicist in the nuclear age, and he
served in the Second World War. He had a robust
intellect and curiosity about faith and meaning.
He saw God in all things, he knew a God who is
incarnational, evolving and cosmic. I come from a
place of faith that offers openness. Since my days as
a young teenager, I have loved being present in the
local community and collaborating with people who
know suffering.
“My work has always taken me to these places
and my faith has reinforced that desire for change,
love and service.
“Western Sydney excites me because it never
underestimates the human aspirations and flourishing
of its community. It is hungry for access, for equity
and for all boats to rise. It flourishes because it has
the largest community of First Australians wanting
voice and it has the largest community of the most
recent arrivals who have often experienced lack of
voice as they left countries and to give voice and
hope to their families.”
He says Catholic schools can provide a
constructive, supportive and safe place for important
conversations including about the referendum on the
Indigenous Voice to the Australian parliament later
this year.
“These conversations are about the future of young
people in our schools and the Australia that they
are to be active citizens within,” he said.
Your place
to go places
ACU Blacktown
Visit
acu.edu.au/
blacktown
CRICOS 00004G | PRV12008
29