20 Catholic School Principals Across Australia Today

Jonno White
Aug 12
11 min read

Last updated: August 2026

If you want to understand Catholic school principalship in Australia, start with the people holding responsibility for learning, wellbeing, faith, culture and the long-term direction of their communities. This list brings together 20 current principals from Catholic schools in several states and territories. It is designed as a practical starting point for educators, board members, families and people who work with schools.

As of August 2026, the leaders below work in different school sizes, traditions and structures. Some lead one campus, while others work across multiple campuses, age ranges or newly joined communities. The names are presented alphabetically by first name for easy navigation, not as a measure of quality.

Why Catholic school leadership matters

Catholic school principals carry a wide brief. They help shape the learning environment, protect the school's identity, support staff, work with families and make decisions that affect students over many years. The public role can look simple from the outside, but the leadership work is a blend of purpose, relationships, operations and judgement.

The Australian Catholic schools represented here show why context matters. A multi-campus college needs shared systems. A growing school needs structures that can keep pace. An amalgamated community needs a common story. A long-established school needs leaders who can respect tradition while helping young people meet a changing world. Those differences make the list more useful than a single model of the ideal principal.

1. Darren O'Neill

Principal, Trinity College

Darren O'Neill is the current Principal of Trinity College, a Catholic school in Western Australia. His role sits inside a Catholic secondary college that works across learning, mission and community responsibilities. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

He also serves as the Principal Representative on CEWA's Students With Disability Funding Working Party. It is a useful reminder that principalship includes system voice as well as school leadership.

2. Loretta Wholley

Principal, Genazzano FCJ College

Loretta Wholley is the current Principal of Genazzano FCJ College, a Catholic school in Victoria. She brings experience across principalship, deputy principalship and all-girls Catholic education. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

Her profile records an ACEL Fellowship Award for services and leadership in Catholic education in 2017. The combination of school leadership and sector contribution gives readers a wider view of the role.

3. Greg Miller

Principal, Chevalier College

Greg Miller is the current Principal of Chevalier College, a Catholic school in New South Wales. His work spans Catholic secondary education and the design of connected learning communities. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

His profile describes St Luke's Catholic College as bringing preschool, primary, secondary, outside-school-hours care and a high-needs hub into one learning community. That systems view matters when a school leader has to connect education, wellbeing and family life.

4. Marco Di Cesare

Principal, Marcellin College

Marco Di Cesare is the current Principal of Marcellin College, a Catholic school in Victoria. His current role is grounded in the Marist tradition and in a long connection with Catholic schooling. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

The college profile says he spent eight years as Principal of Caroline Chisholm Catholic College and oversaw significant improvements across the college. It shows how leadership credibility can grow from sustained service rather than a quick title change.

5. Ben Priest

Principal, Bunbury Catholic College

Ben Priest is the current Principal of Bunbury Catholic College, a Catholic school in Western Australia. He leads a Catholic college in the South West with experience across several education settings. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

He joined Bunbury Catholic College in 2025 after serving as Principal at Kearnan College in Manjimup. The transition from one principalship to another highlights the importance of entering a community with humility.

6. Stephen Lo Cascio

Principal, Mount Carmel Catholic College

Stephen Lo Cascio is the current Principal of Mount Carmel Catholic College, a Catholic school in New South Wales. His listing sits within a defined leadership system that connects learning, wellbeing, mission and operations. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

The college says its leadership team meets weekly to work on school improvement, alignment, quality assurance and staff development. For other principals, the practical lesson is that leadership is made visible through routines and shared responsibilities.

7. Peta Sparkes

Principal, Penola Catholic College

Peta Sparkes is the current Principal of Penola Catholic College, a Catholic school in New South Wales. She leads a school that connects Catholic education with contemporary learning and future pathways. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

Her welcome notes that Penola is one of 13 schools from around Australia developing an integrated STEM project in its curriculum. That balance helps explain why principals need to protect both identity and experimentation.

8. Paul Begg

Principal, Villanova College

Paul Begg is the current Principal of Villanova College, a Catholic school in Queensland. His role is part of a defined Augustinian school identity in Brisbane. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

Villanova is described as an independent Catholic school for boys under the care of the Augustinian Order. A clear tradition can give a school leader a stable base for decisions about learning and culture.

9. Mark Flaherty

College Principal, Xavier College

Mark Flaherty is the current College Principal of Xavier College, a Catholic school in South Australia. He leads a multi-campus Catholic college with campus heads and assistant heads sharing the work. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

The leadership page shows his college working across Evanston, Gawler Belt and Two Wells campuses. Multi-campus leadership makes clarity of roles and consistent culture especially important.

10. Tanya Appleby

College Principal, MacKillop Catholic College

Tanya Appleby is the current College Principal of MacKillop Catholic College, a Catholic school in New South Wales. She leads a K to 12 setting where different age groups need both shared direction and distinct support. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

The college lists separate heads for the Senior, Middle and Junior Schools within its leadership structure. The structure shows how a principal can create one culture without pretending every stage of schooling is the same.

11. Paul Clohesy

Principal, Trinity College Colac

Paul Clohesy is the current Principal of Trinity College Colac, a Catholic school in Victoria. His current work is informed by principal and deputy principal experience across Catholic secondary schools. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

Before joining Trinity College Colac, he served as Principal of Mt St Patrick College Murwillumbah and Deputy Principal at St Joseph's College Geelong. It is a grounded example of how leaders carry lessons between communities without copying one school into another.

12. John Christie

Principal, Marymount College

John Christie is the current Principal of Marymount College, a Catholic school in Queensland. He leads a Catholic college in Burleigh Waters with a formal leadership team around the principal. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

His published qualifications include a Master of Education in Leadership, a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor of Engineering. The mix of education and engineering study is a small example of the varied backgrounds school leaders bring to the work.

13. Robert Henderson

Principal, Aquinas College

Robert Henderson is the current Principal of Aquinas College, a Catholic school in Western Australia. He brings a long Catholic education leadership path to an Edmund Rice school in Perth. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

His appointment announcement records earlier principal and headmaster roles at John XXIII College, Ipswich Grammar School and Christian Brothers' College Fremantle. The path shows why school leadership benefits from experience across different school communities.

14. Jon Franzin

Principal, St Virgil's College

Jon Franzin is the current Principal of St Virgil's College, a Catholic school in Tasmania. He leads a Catholic boys' college that is bringing early years, primary and secondary education into one structure. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

The college's current welcome describes a K to 12 model across two campuses for more than 1000 boys aged four to 18. That breadth makes continuity of culture and transition a practical leadership challenge.

15. Ryan Greer

Principal, Lavalla Catholic College

Ryan Greer is the current Principal of Lavalla Catholic College, a Catholic school in Victoria. He leads a Marist Catholic college that links academic opportunity with wellbeing and future pathways. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

His welcome describes individual pathways, career counselling, pastoral care and on-site personal counselling as part of the college's support for students. The example reinforces that a principal's brief reaches beyond classroom results.

16. Michael Turner

Principal, St Benedict's Catholic College

Michael Turner is the current Principal of St Benedict's Catholic College, a Catholic school in New South Wales. He leads a growing systemic Catholic high school in the South West growth centre. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

The college describes a comprehensive Years 7 to 12 program, a positive-psychology wellbeing program and a community of more than 1000 students. Growth makes the principal's work partly about building structures that can keep pace with a changing community.

17. Brett Van Berkel

Principal, Catholic College Sale

Brett Van Berkel is the current Principal of Catholic College Sale, a Catholic school in Victoria. His listed remit captures the breadth of Catholic school principalship in one concise role description. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

The 2025 contact guide names faith development, learning, wellbeing, financial, compliance and strategic development among the principal's responsibilities. It gives readers a practical picture of the job behind the public welcome and school events.

18. Joseph Mount

Principal, FCJ College Benalla

Joseph Mount is the current Principal of FCJ College Benalla, a Catholic school in Victoria. He combines long service in the college with a new principal appointment in a significant school year. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

His appointment followed three periods serving as Acting Principal and arrived as the college marked 125 years of Catholic education in Benalla. That combination makes continuity and renewal visible at the same time.

19. Janelle Newman

Principal, MacKillop Catholic College

Janelle Newman is the current Principal of MacKillop Catholic College, a Catholic school in Queensland. She leads a Catholic school whose public identity is closely tied to welcome, inclusion and Josephite values. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

Her principal profile centres an inclusive, welcoming school community and a goal of helping students become confident and compassionate adults. The emphasis is a useful reminder that culture is built through the daily experience of students and families.

20. Lisa Fogliani

Principal, Aranmore Catholic College

Lisa Fogliani is the current Principal of Aranmore Catholic College, a Catholic school in Western Australia. She leads a newly amalgamated Catholic school community with a Pre-K to 12 brief. The role calls for attention to students, staff, families and the wider purpose of the school, not only its daily timetable.

Her current appointment was tied to bringing Aranmore Catholic College and Aranmore Catholic Primary School communities together around shared values. Amalgamation makes the principal's culture-building role especially clear: a new structure needs shared meaning.

What these leaders show us about Catholic school leadership

Across the 20 profiles, three patterns stand out. First, Catholic school leadership is deeply contextual. The work changes with the age range, school tradition, campus model and community history. A principal leading a new or amalgamated school has a different immediate task from a principal stewarding a long-established college, even though both are responsible for direction and culture.

Second, the strongest public role descriptions connect people and systems. They mention wellbeing, learning, mission, staff development, pathways, community or improvement rather than treating these as separate worlds. That matters because school problems rarely stay inside one portfolio. A curriculum decision can affect wellbeing. A staffing decision can affect faith and culture. A campus decision can affect family trust.

Third, experience is not one neat thing. It can mean long service in Catholic education, leadership across several schools, deep knowledge of one community, or the ability to help a new structure become one community. For anyone studying school leadership, the practical question is not which background is best. It is which experience helps this leader meet this school's next challenge with clarity and care.

How to use this list

Use the list as a reading map rather than a roll call. Open the official school page for the people whose context is closest to your own, then look at the structures around the principal. What is delegated? Which leaders hold responsibility for learning, wellbeing, mission and campus life? What language does the school use when it describes its purpose?

If you are a school leader, choose one profile and ask what it suggests about your own next conversation. You might compare how your team describes its shared purpose, how it supports transitions between age groups, or how it turns values into everyday decisions. If you work with a school, use the questions to make your brief more specific before asking for outside help.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Catholic school principal do?

A Catholic school principal leads the school's learning, wellbeing, faith, culture, people and day-to-day direction. The exact balance varies by school, but the role usually includes working with staff, students, families, governing bodies and the wider Catholic education system.

How many Catholic schools are there in Australia?

There is no single number that covers every Catholic school authority and independent Catholic school in one simple public list. The safest way to answer a local question is to use the relevant Catholic education office, diocese or school directory for the state and school type you mean.

What makes a strong school principal?

A strong principal makes the school's purpose clear, builds trust, protects student learning and turns competing needs into sensible decisions. The work also requires the humility to listen, the courage to address problems and the discipline to keep shared priorities visible after the planning meeting ends.

Are Catholic school principals part of a wider system?

Yes. Many Catholic schools work within diocesan or congregational systems, while some independent colleges have their own governance arrangements. Principals therefore lead a local community while also working within policies, traditions, accountability requirements and support structures that sit beyond the school gate.

How can I learn from school leaders without copying them?

Start by studying the problem each leader appears to be solving, not just the visible program or title. Ask what was true about the school's community, history and structure, then translate the principle into your own setting. Good leadership learning transfers a question or practice, not a costume.

Conclusion

A Catholic school principal's work is both practical and deeply human. The leaders in this list show different ways of holding that responsibility, from bringing campuses together and building pathways to protecting identity, learning and belonging. The common thread is not a single style. It is the steady work of making purpose visible in decisions, relationships and routines.

If you are trying to strengthen school leadership, begin with one honest question about the next term. What does your community most need its leaders to make clearer, calmer or more consistent? Write the answer down, discuss it with the people closest to the work, and choose one small action you can see in practice.

A practical next step

If your school leadership team needs clearer roles, stronger alignment or a more practical way to work together, I can help. I facilitate leadership sessions that turn good intentions into shared language and next actions. To explore a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Brisbane-based leadership consultant, keynote speaker and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and the author of Step Up or Step Out. He works with schools, corporates and nonprofits around the world. To enquire about a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

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