Australian Parent's Council

When Mr Paul Donnelly and his family came from England to Western Australia in 1947 he brought with him an introduction to the Archbishop of Perth from the Archbishop of Southwark in England. Without doubt this would have helped influence the WA Bishops to consider the importance of the 1944 English Education Act and the advocacy of the Catholic Parents and Electors' Association in that country, Paul Donnelly having been one of the activists in that Association.

The Parents and Friends Federation of Western Australia (PFFWA) was formed in 1954 with an original membership of twenty Catholic school associations. From its commencement it received great support from Bishop Rafferty and particularly Archbishop Prendiville who recommended strongly that all Catholic School Parents and Friends Associations should belong to the PFFWA. He believed in justice for all parents in the financing of schooling and that in approaching governments "unity is strength". Bishop Goody of Bunbury was also a supporter of the Federation.

The first Federation Council elected Mr W A Mahoney as President, Mr R P Donnelly as Vice-President, and such other stalwarts as Messrs I Keogh, C A Parkinson, J Carmody, L A Noonan, J Williams and W J Roberts. These men provided a variety of talent, a high level of commitment, dedication and organisational ability.

Mr W A Mahoney, re-elected President annually from 1959 to 1969, was an outstanding President. He served a further seven years on the executive as the Immediate Past President. Father, later Monsignor J Bourke was appointed Chaplain and attended the monthly Council meetings. He contributed to the discussions, helped to draft documents and sometimes attended delegations with the Parents and Friends .
Mr Roberts, later resident in Queensland, retained his links with the PFFWA and became the first President of the Parents and Friends Federation of Catholic Schools of Queensland in 1960.

Once established, the Federation began making representations to members of the West Australian State Parliament. These achieved immediate, if minor, success. In 1955 they obtained from the Hawke Labor Government equal treatment of non-government schools in the matter of insurance for school children and in pound for pound subsidies on the purchase of such teaching aids as radios and projectors.

The Federation continued to work steadily on the organisations' aims, conducting regular interviews with politicians, pressing the parents' claims with like minded people in other states, and increasing affiliations of school parents' associations with PFFWA.

In March 1960 the PFFWA was received by Liberal Premier Brand and Deputy Premier Watts of the Country Party. The Federation asked these government leaders for subsidies for libraries, pianos, laboratory equipment, text books as well as assistance for boarding schools. In December 1960 subsidies for libraries and pianos were granted.

1961 saw Father K O'Sullivan, SJ, who wrote the pamphlet Equality in Education, speaking to the PFFWA encouraging them to take a more active political approach to obtain educational justice. He had just come from a tour of the eastern states of Australia, speaking to packed audiences on the subject. The PFFWA increased their effort and took every opportunity to publicise their cause, to influence public opinion, and to encourage associations to call on their local candidates. They used the technique of questioning politicians on their attitude to the PFFWA requests, at all times presenting accurate facts and figures on schooling funding to substantiate their claims.

In 1961 there was a TV Session on Equality in Education in Viewpoint on TVW. This was probably the first time the issue of 'state aid' was dealt with at any length on TV in any part of Australia.

The records of the PFFWA show a consistent pattern of approaching leaders of all political parties putting the case for educational justice for all non-government school parents at State level. On some of these delegations the PFFWA representatives were accompanied by representatives of other denominational schools. The PFFWA also moved into the Federal sphere. Records show an approach by Mr Donnelly and Monsignor Bourke to the Education Committee of the Federal ALP in March 1961, putting the parents' point of view and asking for a scholarship of $20 per child in fee-paying schools.

National Bishops' Statement

The Federation maintained close links with Archbishop Prendiville who always attended the Federation's Annual Conference. They were considerably heartened when in 1961 in addressing delegates at the 7th Annual Conference in Perth he said:

"Previously there had been no unanimity of opinion in all States on what we should ask for our schools short of total aid. In some places it was suggested that we should ask for pound for pound subsidy and in other places some other basis. Until unanimity could be reached little progress could be made."

Accordingly at the meeting of the Bishops of Australia in Sydney this January the matter was discussed with the purpose of reaching a common agreement.
A resolution was made, proposed and agreed upon by the 24 Bishops of Australia under the chairmanship of the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney that aid should be asked for according to the following: 'Motion as passed at the Episcopal Conference Manly 26th January 1961."

While retaining the clear right to expect and demand the payment of the full cost of the secular education imparted in Independent Schools, we consider that the State Government, with the aid perhaps of a subsidy from the Commonwealth Government, should pay to the governing authorities of all Independent Schools at least $10 per annum for each Primary School child and a proportionately greater amount for each Secondary School pupil. The parents of these Australian children, as tax-payers, have a right to the immediate consideration of their just claims.'"

It was left to the discretion of each Bishop how he should implement the necessary action in his own diocese. What would be done in other states was not known, but in Western Australia, with the full approval of all their Bishops, the implementation was to be placed in the hands of the PFFWA, with confidence that they would carry out the work to the satisfaction of everybody.

The Episcopal Conference Statement uses the words 'Independent Schools'.
At that time, all non-government schools were called 'Independent Schools' as distinct from government schools. There were no Catholic systems of schools, all Catholic parish schools were conducted by Religious Orders.

Bishop Goody, Bishop of the Bunbury Diocese, not only endorsed Archbishop Prendiville's confidence in the PFFWA, but also provided further support in a pastoral letter in November 1961 to all Catholics throughout the Bunbury diocese:

"It should be made very clear that we who deplore the unfair attitude of the State in monopolizing all education funds for State schools, are not asking for subsidies for any school or church. We ask the State to pay equally for the education of all children. Freedom of choice and equality of benefits in education are civil rights of all Australians. We are not begging for a donation, soliciting a grant or asking for gracious aid; we are insisting on the right of equality for all citizens of Australia irrespective of their religious beliefs."

Towards a Federal Body

The PFFWA was very conscious of the political power which would be generated by a united Australia-wide non-government school parents' movement. Records show that as early as 1959 the PFFWA had discussions with Mrs Margaret Gartland of Victoria on this issue when she attended a PFFWA Council meeting. The Council seemed to favour the idea of a Federal body being formed, provided the State Federations retained their autonomy at local level.

The 1961 Report of the President of the PFFWA on its 1960 activities contains the following extract:

"Federations in other States - It can now be reported that Parents and Friends' Federations have been established in five of the six Australian States - South Australia is the only State without a Federation. We are proud of the fact that the success of the Federation here has been partly responsible for the development of an Australia-wide movement. There are moves at the moment for an interstate conference and possibly the formation of an Australian Federation to press the claims of the parents of children in non-Government schools to share in the funds expended on education.

This development is most significant. It has long been obvious to your Council that, though Education is a State and not a Federal matter, no substantial benefits to non-government schools or to the parents of children attending them could be given by one State alone. There has been in some quarters here the feeling that we have not moved fast enough. Much as we sympathise, we realise we cannot move ahead of the rest of Australia. Only when the majority of States feel that something must be done can anything be done."

The contact with parents' organisations in other states and the movement towards uniting them is in no small part due to Mr W Mahoney and Mr P Donnelly who travelled on business to the eastern states and generously devoted some of their personal time to this endeavour. Monsignor Bourke also did his share of visiting and reporting back after his visits to the eastern states. Mr W Roberts who had moved to Queensland was also a regular correspondent as was Mrs Margaret Gartland who had moved to Victoria from Western Australia.

The PFFWA view at this stage was to hold an interstate meeting which would lead to the setting up of some form of national secretariat with rotation in various States.

By 1962 plans were well in hand for an interstate conference of State Federations in Canberra in November 1962. This date was chosen specifically to coincide with a Catholic Education Conference in Canberra.

Then the 'Goulburn Closure' occurred and a national parents' organisation was proposed. The meeting planned by the PFFWA to be held in Canberra was then abandoned.
The PFFWA was subsequently invited to attend a meeting in Goulburn on 25th/26th August 1962 to settle the form of the new national organisation proposed during the 'Goulburn Closure'. The PFFWA could not attend at such short notice and they asked Mr Cedric Gartland of Victoria to represent them at the meeting and sent him a tape recording of their views.

The PFFWA strongly emphasised that:

• the word 'Parents' was to be included in the title of any organisation
• the present consultative liaison between the States was to be preserved;
• the decision making power was to be preserved in the constituent organisations, not separately in a federal body; and
• the cost factor would render a federal secretariat impracticable.

The PFFWA subsequently sent Mr Mahoney, Mr Donnelly and Mr James as delegates to the October 1962 Melbourne Conference where the Australian Parents Council for the Advancement of Education was formally constituted. The PFFWA was one of the foundation members.