National Catholic Education Commission Leaders Forum Parliamentary Reception
Can I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land we’re meeting on.
Can I also acknowledge Archbishop Anthony Fisher, my friend Deb O’Neill, a proud product of a Good Sams education, and Nicholas Moore – we’ve known each other forever but I’m told you’ve now become papal knight, which among other things gives you the right to ride your horse into any church in the world.
Thank you for the invitation, Scott.
To have you working in the education system and to get to work with you is a treat.
I had a look back today at a speech I made a few years ago at the Leaders Forum.
It was about AI and what we could learn from Catholic schools that could be applied across the whole system.
A lot has happened since then.
It’s something I’m sure all of you have been thinking about.
And it’s something the Pope has been thinking about too.
In his first papal encyclical Magnifica Humanitas from earlier this year, His Holiness talked about the influence AI and digital tech were having across society.
And the role education has to play as a type of antidote.
He warns that digital media “fosters a culture of immediacy and hyper-stimulation”.
Whereas “education is a long journey requiring patience.”
I’ve been talking a bit the last few weeks about the need for a digital detox in schools.
The evidence shows the more kids are online, the more likely they are to fall behind.
This is why NSW announced yesterday limits on screen time, Victoria have already done something similar and many Catholic schools are doing this too.
This is about what works. But it’s also about values.
Because we live in a world where technology is being used to push some pretty toxic stuff on our kids.
This is something the encyclical talks about too.
To combat the poison they’re exposed to online, the Pope says we need to teach children to respect the dignity of others.
Dignity and humanity have always been at the core of Catholic education.
I’ve quoted Michael Blake, the headmaster at St Joseph’s College, twice in Parliament in the last two weeks.
Last week, I quoted his speech to Joeys boys on the treatment of women.
“I want every young woman who encounters a Joeys boy to be safer because you are there. Not merely safe from you — safer because of you.”
Today, I quoted what he said to the Tele on the weekend.
“The content you can get through these algorithms is just horrific. It’s sexualised violence, and attempts to normalise it and pushes it onto the feeds of girls and boys.”
This is a headmaster who cares about the adults his students will become and the impact they will have in their community.
There are a couple of Joeys old boys from my staff here tonight and they bring this ethos to their work in my office.
One of them, Joe, gets a bit of it from his dad Ray Collins as well, a stalwart of Catholic education and a former Executive Director of the NCEC.
It’s the social justice mission that’s so important to Catholic education in this country.
It’s been at the heart of what you do for more than 200 years.
Changing the lives of millions of students.
Many of them in the bush and the regions.
Many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds.
One of those children who you helped was named Anthony Albanese.
He often talks about how St Mary’s Cathedral College told his mum just ‘pay what you can’ when she couldn’t afford the fees.
This is why when the Prime Minister talks about no one being held back and no one left behind, it’s personal.
It’s what he learnt from you.
It’s what I’m trying to do across the whole education system.
Education is the most powerful force for good in this country.
And it’s never been more important than it is today.
Helping kids discover their own dignity and humanity and teaching them to respect the dignity and humanity of others.
That’s what Catholic schools do every day right round the country.
So, thank you. I’m grateful to work with you and I look forward to having more of a chat on Wednesday.