Catholic schools offer help and support to families affected by
bushfire crisis
Families with children at Catholic schools who have su ffered in the bushfire
crisis have been en couraged to speak to their principal about f ee relief.
Catholic schools have a long history of responding to families in need, in times
of natural disaste rs such as floods and bushfires a s well as financial hardship
and disad vantag e.
Some Catholic schools in drough t-affected communiti es in Queensland for
example, have been offering f ee relief to families for many years.
N ati onal Catho lic Education Commission executive director Jacinta Collins said
Catholic schools we re at the heart of many bushfire -affected communities.
“Catholic Education has a strong and lo ng tradition of supporting families in
need, particular ly in times o f crisis, ” Jacinta said. “The NCEC encourages
families with children in our sc hools who are exper iencing financial hardship to
ap proac h their principal so schools can respond to their needs confidentially
and in a pastoral way.
“This is a time of tremen dous hardship, grief and suffering. Our exte nsive
network of Catholic schools and communities is there, for the long -term, to
journey with familie s faced with such enormous loss.
“As back -to -school ap proaches in a few weeks, sc hools will also provide
counsell ing for stud ents and families and join with parishes and Catholic and
non -Catholic agencies to offer other help and support as re quired.”
Catholic schools are the nation ‘s largest provider of education outside
government with our 1746 sc hools t eaching one in five (764,000) students and
employing more than 96,000 staff.
