Recognising our Male Alumnae 

Achievements of our Male Alumnae 

Our recent Past Pupils of Distinction Dinner reminded me that we have had many past pupils who would be worthy nominees, many of whom may never be nominated. As a significant number of our past pupils were male, I thought I might bring a few of those to your attention, in no particular order:

Frank Dempsey

Frank (who was the lone little boy in the whole school photo in 1907 - main image) became a jockey, initially riding for his father, Tom, who was a local trainer.

Frank won the Caulfield Cup on three occasions on Lavendo, Bronzetti and Eurythmic, all before he had reached the age of 25. He was Victoria’s Premier Jockey five times between 1916 and 1924. He was late starter at Caulfield for many years and was elected to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2008.

Professor Tim Flannery

Professor Flannery, who has gained acclaim in his studies of Climate Change, was a student at Kilbreda from 1960-1962.

Currently a Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, The University of Melbourne, Professor Flannery was named Australian of the Year in 2007 and previously, until mid-2013, was a professor at Macquarie University and held the Panasonic Chair in Environmental Sustainability.

Jack Rush QC

Jack Rush QC was among a number of his family to attend Kilbreda. His mother, Geraldine (nee Cotter), was a well-loved student from the 20s and 30s who was President of the Past Pupils' Association.

Jack studied Law at Monash University, graduating in 1974, was admitted to the bar in 1976 and was made a QC in 1992. In this capacity, he acted as senior counsel to the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, following the Black Saturday bushfires.

The Sierakowskis

The name Sierakowski is well known in Kilbreda circles. The youngest of the Sierakowski boys to attend Kilbreda is Fr Michael, who is currently Parish Priest at Saints Peter and Paul, Bentleigh, having finished at Kilbreda in 1965.

Older brother Brian finished in 1951 and went on to prominence as a footballer in the VFL. Brian was a member of the famous premiership winning St Kilda team of 1966, which defeated Collingwood by a point! Brian, who was named among St Kilda’s best players that day, later played for Subiaco in the WAFL and represented WA. He became a lawyer, contributing 40 years of honorary service to the Western Australian Football Commission as an arbitrator, appeals tribunal member and Chairman of Community football. His son, David, played for St Kilda and West Coast in the AFL in the early 2000s.

Damian Smith 

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Image Credits: Professor Tim Flannery (The Climate Council), Jack Rush QC (Herald Sun), Brian Sierakowski (Herald Sun) and Fr Michael Sierakowski (Melbourne Catholics).