About NCEC

The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) is established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference through the Bishops Commission for Catholic Education to maintain effective liaison with the Commonwealth Government and other key national education bodies. NCEC complements and supports at the national level the work of the State and Territory Catholic Education Commissions.

NCEC has a wide range of objectives set out in its Terms of Reference.

NCEC was established in 1974, partly in response to the vastly increased activity of the Commonwealth Government in school education policy and funding from the early 1970s, and partly to reflect the Bishops’ wish for a national Catholic education policy forum at which the recently-established State and Territory Catholic Education Commissions could contribute more effectively to the national schooling debate.

The Bishops Commission for Catholic Education appoints members, other than ex officio members, to NCEC for a four-year period. Members are nominated by State and Territory Catholic Education Commissions from a wide cross- section of people.

NCEC also has a number of Standing Committees (Religious Education; Parent; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education; Employment Relations; Data; Technology) and several working parties. NCEC organises a major national Catholic education conference every five years, as well as biennial meetings of all diocesan Directors of Catholic Education and Directors of Religious Education.

A small Secretariat based in Canberra manages the work of NCEC. Most of the specific policy expertise at NCEC’s disposal is located in the larger State/Territory Catholic Education Commission offices.

NCEC seeks to influence national education policy making by:

• Working towards a national policy consensus between State and Territory Commissions that best reflects contemporary Catholic teaching on the nature and purpose of education;
• Acting as an effective contributor to the national education policy debate;
• Maintaining productive links with key members of the Commonwealth Parliament and the Commonwealth bureaucracy; and by
• Strengthening the work of the Church in education, and the Catholic identity of Catholic schools and universities.