Faith, Justice and Formation

Clean Up Australia Day: Giving Back to the Place We Call Home 

Last Sunday, 1 March, boys from Year 5 to Year 12 participated in the annual SPC Clean Up Australia Day, the nation's largest community-based environmental event. Over the past 30 years, the event has seen 35 million hours devoted to the cause; that's a staggering 365,000 ute loads of rubbish! If only we didn’t leave rubbish behind, we wouldn’t have to clean! 

On Sunday, the boys cleaned up from Marion Street to Rochester Street, Strathfield, covering approximately 175,429.7 m². Every piece of litter picked up made a difference in preserving the environment we live and learn on. 

Many boys couldn't help but notice how clean the streets of Strathfield were in comparison to our school – perhaps a goal for us to work on??!!

Thanks to all involved and those who care for our common home every day.

Simon Nadile

Sustainability Prefect

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is a justice initiative. It is about equality, respect, dignity, and much more – all of which are Christian values. It is not about cupcakes and flowers, but about authentic commitment to ensuring the same human rights apply to women as to men all around the world.

Our lives are tied up with the lives of all others around the globe. We cannot truly enjoy the freedoms we have if others are oppressed. Our EREA Touchstone of Liberating Education states that we need to use our learnings and experiences to ‘open our hearts and minds, so that we are hope-filled and free to build a better world for all.’ We need to be the light in the world to bring women out of darkness and to ensure their rightful place in God’s harmonious creation.

We have come a long way in terms of rights for women in Australia. I have been lucky to benefit from all the great women (and men) who have gone before me and sacrificed a great deal to ensure I live a pretty comfortable and equal life, though it’s not always easy.

On the flip side, when I see news about many of my female peers around the world I am horrified and cannot help but think about what I can do to help. I am lucky that both my mother and father instilled this sense of social justice in me and taught me to not diminish my worth. No doubt our families are doing the same for their sons and not just their daughters. Women can only be equal when men live and operate in this space. This can be as simple as not accepting an offensive joke about women or more challenging in who we serve and how.

When we look at countries like Pakistan and Syria, we see the rights of women stripped, dehumanising them. Afghanistan is getting worse for women rather than better under Taliban rule. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be so oppressed, but I cannot turn a blind eye. We are so blessed. For if we are to have peace in our world, we need to ensure quality of life for all, and if not for all, then it is for nobody.

As we approach International Women’s Day, the St Patrick’s College community will be focused on the United Nations Global Theme for 2026 - Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls. We will hear from a guest speaker on the oppression of women in their home country and all boys will engage in a Pastoral Care Lesson centred on the rights of women in a particular nation, focusing on the injustice and looking to how we can contribute to a better world for all.

This day comes from a time when women needed to pursue greater rights, but it’s also a celebration of all that women have offered the world. I’m often asked why there isn’t an international men’s day. While there are definitely oppressed men around the world due to race, religion and economic status, men in our society have not started in the same position as women. They have generally started from a position of power, which still exists in our community today in many different ways. If men are oppressed in their lands, women generally do it even tougher. As a faith community we still stand for all who suffer injustice, men and women alike. But this day is to address millennia of inequality. It would be like saying – ‘We have National Refugee Day, why don’t we have a day for people who are not refugees?’, which reflects a lack of understanding what the day is about. To be a feminist is simply to agree with equality for all, so let us all ensure that we care for the other and treat everyone we encounter with the same respect and dignity, just as Jesus did. He embraced women and men to work for and be part of the Kingdom. We are all created in God’s image, thus inherently equal.

I know how much the women in our community do to ensure a great education and experience for the young men of the College. May you all be blessed in your work! But may all of us recognise the need to bring equality to all that unfolds – keep your eyes out for ways to share the load and embrace all members of our community as equals.

Gillian Daley

Director of Identity