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Our College
Who are we?
Three Villages
One Community
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Our Location
50 Separation St, Northcote VIC Australia 3070
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Our Members and Governing Council - The heart of Good Samaritan Education and its Members as they carry the responsibility of ensuring that the ecclesial nature of Good Samaritan Education is maintained and nurtured.
The Members have the task of living and modelling the spirituality of communication that derives from being part of the Church communion.
Good Samaritan Education consists of at least 15 Members who are admitted in accordance with the requirements of its Statutes: one nominated by each of the Bishops of the five dioceses in which Good Samaritan schools are situated; three Good Samaritan Sisters nominated by the Superior.
From among this group, a minimum of seven Members are elected by their peers to the Governing Council. The Governing Council is authorised to act in the name of Good Samaritan Education. Each Good Samaritan Education Member is also a Member of the Company for either one or two Good Samaritan schools and, as such, is involved in the life of the school communities.
Each of the ten Good Samaritan Colleges is incorporated as a public company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001. Each company has been formed for purposes beneficial to the community and is governed according to its Constitution. The Company Members of each College are appointed by the Governing Council. They represent and are accountable to Good Samaritan Education through the Governing Council. They represent and are accountable to Good Samaritan Education through the Governing Council for ensuring that the charism of Good Samaritan Education is central to all of the educational endeavours of the College.
The Board of Directors of each College company provides governance in that College community. Directors are appointed by the Company Members and the Board is accountable to them for the conduct of the ministry of the school. The role of Director in a Good Samaritan school offers an opportunity to work in partnership with others in the ministry of education within the mission of the Church.
The Principal is appointed by the Board with the approval of the Company Members and the Governing Council. S/he is responsible for the leadership and management of the College according to the policies of the Board and is accountable to the Board for her or his performance.
Each College is accountable to Good Samaritan Education for the Catholic ethos and mission of the College, embodied in the Good Samaritan Benedictine tradition, and for the administration of the temporal goods assigned to it for its work.
Each College has due autonomy according to its Constitution and exercises its mission within a particular local community, administering its temporal goods according to local circumstances. All Colleges operate collaboratively and contribute to the common good of Good Samaritan Education.
"Serve one another with love”
Mr Michael O'Brien, Chair of Board
Diploma of Accounting
Various roles and experience with Campbell Soup including Accounting, IT Manager, Operations Manager, Financial Controller, Factory Manager – Shepparton, Managing Director – Mushroom Division and Managing Director - Australasia. Independent Consultation – Business Development for Juice Bars Franchises, Rubbish Collection Public Company, Golf Accessories Manufacturing and Sales Company. Deputy Chair of Board – Catholic Ladies College; 11 years as Chair of the Building and Maintenance Committee – Catholic Ladies College.
Mr Damian Casamento, Chair of Property
Diploma of Teaching – Institute of Catholic Education, Mercy Campus; Bachelor ofEducation – Phillip Institute of Technology, Coburg Campus; Graduate Diploma of Education (Religious Education) – Australian Catholic University, Mercy Campus; Graduate Diploma of Education (Educational Administration) – Hawthorn Institute of Education; Master of Education- Melbourne University; Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Studies (Student Welfare) – Melbourne University; Masters of Business Administration – Executive – Australian Catholic University, St Patrick’s Campus.
34 years in Primary education including classroom teaching, leadership roles (Religious Education Leader and Deputy Principal) and 19 years as a Principal of two Primary Schools. Executive roles on Victorian Association of Catholic Primary School Principals. Member of various school boards and parish committees.
Mrs Michelle Fischetto, Deputy Chair of the Board, Chair of the Governance Committee
Master of Project Management, RMIT (2003); Bachelor of Business with Distinction (Property Valuations), RMIT (1993); Management: Leader as Coach, Performance Management, Strategic Thinking; Property: Certificate in Access Appraisal – Buildings, Property Risk and Compliance Management; Safety: OHS for Supervisors and Managers, Safety Leader, The Victorian Track Safety Awareness – Level 1.
Michelle is a qualified Property Valuer and Project Manager with 30 years+ in the field. Her career has spanned various industries, local and state government including Department of Education, the private sector and the not-for-profit sector including the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. As a past student of Santa Maria Michelle is eager to ‘give back’ to the school that encouraged and gave her the confidence to develop her career. Michelle has an adult son, her two sisters attended Santa and her niece is a current student.
Dr Elizabeth Dowling, Board Director
Doctor of Education, Australian Catholic University; Master of Religious Education, Australian Catholic University; Master of Educational Leadership, Australian Catholic University; Bachelor of Education, Australian Catholic University; Diploma of Teaching, Institute of Catholic Education.
Liz has made a sustained contribution to Catholic education over a range of sectors including primary, secondary and tertiary education. Her extensive teaching, research, leadership and service roles within the higher education sector follows substantial leadership and curriculum development in educational settings, including primary, P-12 as well as a Curriculum adviser for MACS. In the tertiary context, Liz was awarded the ACU recipient of the Catherine Moran Prize, awarded to the author of the PhD thesis which makes the most significant contribution to research, scholarship and ethical practice in Education.
Dr Aquinas J. Purcell, Chair of the Finance Committee
Cert IV Workplace Health and Safety, (Melbourne Polytechnic), Bachelor of Economics, (Monash University), Bachelor of Business, (Swinburne University), Graduate Certificate in Fraud Investigation, (La Trobe University), Master of Business Administration, (La Trobe University), Doctor of Philosophy, (Victoria University) and Fellow, CPA, (CPA Australia).
Appointed Board member, Santa Maria College (2022). Former Chief Auditor, CPA Australia (2007-2018) and currently an audit and risk consultant. Independent Audit Committee Member Latrobe City Council (2022).
He has 40 years of ‘hands-on’ and executive management experience in internal audit, risk management/compliance, internal control and performance audits from banking and finance (ANZ, Colonial), aviation (Australian Airlines) and public sector health (Latrobe Regional Hospital, Royal Women’s) P-12 education, local government and tertiary education (RMIT University). He has been a sessional academic and author.
Ashwin D'Costa
Bachelor of Laws – Deakin University, Burwood Campus, Bachelor of Commerce – Monash University, Clayton Campus, Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
34 years in various IT, Finance and Risk Roles in National Australia Bank, Westpac Bank, ANZ Bank amongst others. Specialist in process improvement and helping organisations to utilise their data to increase efficiency and productivity. Leadership positions in high school parent associations.
Natalija Visic, Board Member
Company Director - Australian Institute of Company Directors, Risk Management - Australian Institute of Management, Certificate IV Compliance Management - Australian Compliance Institute, Bachelor of Business, Marketing - Victoria University, Advanced Diploma Business, Marketing - TAFE/Melbourne Polytechnic, Associate Diploma Business, Marketing – TAFE/ Melbourne Polytechnic.
Natalija began her career in marketing, advertising, market research, and sales, gaining over 5 years of experience. She later transitioned to the financial services sector, where she held various leadership roles in operations, compliance, risk, quality assurance, process improvement, training and communications for more than 17 years. Over the last 7 years, Natalija has served as the Executive Director of Risk, Compliance, and Child Safety in the education sector. Currently, she holds positions as a Board Director on two boards.
