The Dunny That Dun It!

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday April 27, 1999

By LUKE BURGESS

`FIX up your toilets or we'll close your school!'

The school in question, Our Lady of Mercy College, and seven other catholic schools in Goulburn, did just that.

On a `bitterly bloody cold' morning in July 1962, 2200 displaced catholic school children queued outside the town's already crowded public schools.

In the words of a former 1962 student Michael Burgess, `It was an unbelievable sight, to see a huge swarm of students overwhelm the local state high school'.

With accommodation for only 640, it meant that 1560 students failed to be chosen in the ballot for the limited number of vacancies available in the state schools.

This action, which was to continue for six weeks, raised an awareness of their plight, both nationally and internationally. It began what became known as the `Schools' Dispute', a battle between the state and catholic parents seeking equality of treatment in the financing of their children's education.

In early 1962 there was no funding from either state or federal governments: all that catholic schools received from the Government was 200ml of milk per student per day ? for primary school students only.

Now, because of that protest, Governments allocate hundreds of millions of dollars Australia-wide to non-government schools. According to the 1996 Australian Census figures, combined Commonwealth and State recurrent funding for schools equates per student to: $3426 per non-government and $5300 per government school student.

The Goulburn strike forced the Government to rethink its policy of funding for catholic schools.

What this means today is that non-government schools are considered an essential part of education in Australia.

This year marks the 37th anniversary of the introduction of state aid to non-government schools.

© 1999 Newcastle Herald

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