Catholic Education Services

Serving and supporting the Diocesan mission in education is Catholic Education Services (CES). As the education office for the Cairns Diocese, this diocesan agency operates under the authority of the Bishop and the governing relationships authorised by him.

As an executive arm of the Diocese, CES assists the Bishop in directing pastoral action through educational administration and support and is delegated to undertake responsibilities which serve, support and advocate for all educational ministries.

Its overall responsibilities are articulated in its delegations which in turn are pursued by dedicated people and supportive structures. Our relationship with school communities is an interdependent one, with mission as our collective focus and carriage of responsibilities that are complementary.

Within a ‘stand-alone’ education system offering services to families seeking a quality Catholic education for their children, a number of significant obligations and responsibilities are managed and facilitated by CES.

As part of the diocesan family of schools, although each school may be self-managing, it is not self-governing. Each school operates according to the mandate of the diocesan Church, and its leader, the Bishop of Cairns. The Bishop delegates responsibility for the provision of Catholic education and leadership and strategic management of the system of schools to the Executive Director of Catholic Education Services, and works through the Education Board of Governance to set and monitor policy and practice.

The Executive Director and CES staff members manage and facilitate a number of significant obligations and responsibilities:

To develop, establish and model the distinctive Catholic Identity within schools and colleges
To develop and monitor Strategic and Annual plans
To provide Human Resources support to schools, colleges and CES
To support and enhance Learning and Teaching within schools in areas such as Student Services, Curriculum, and Resource and Information Services.
To coordinate communication and collaboration within and beyond Catholic Education
To provide oversight of the financial and physical resources of schools, colleges and CES
To develop and maintain communication, decision making and associated management systems
To act for and on behalf of the Diocese in all matters related to employment within Catholic Education
To support the professional development of all staff
To represent and advocate for Catholic Education
To be accountable to the Bishop, Vicar and Board of Governance through seeking authorisation, consulting and informing on matters of Catholic education within the diocese.

Mission

Catholic Education Services expresses its mission as follows:

We are a community of people who support the mission of the Church in the provision of quality, innovative education. We provide leadership, service, and stewardship to those involved in the life project of Catholic education. We seek to be a positive influence in our work within the Church and in the broader community. In the spirit of Christ, we undertake our work through life-giving relationships founded on collaboration, communication, integrity and respect. We look to the future with enduring hope that the human potential for growth and goodness will be realised.

Leadership Team

Members of the Catholic Education Services Executive Leadership Team are:

Diarmuid (Durm) O’Riordan

Executive Director

Mr Diarmuid (Durm) O’Riordan returned to Catholic Education Diocese of Cairns as Executive Director in January 2025. With a career spanning 40 years in Catholic Education, Durm has served in various school and system leadership roles across different states and jurisdictions. This includes 14 years’ experience as a Catholic school principal in three schools, including a K to Year 10 school in country NSW and large coeducational and boys’ secondary colleges in southeast Queensland. Durm previously held the positions of Deputy Executive Director in both Cairns and Brisbane as well as serving as Edmund Rice Education Australia’s Director of Schools in Victoria and Tasmania.

He holds the qualifications of Master of Educational Leadership and Graduate Certificate in Education and Law from the Australian Catholic University. He also completed a Bachelor of Education from the University of Canberra and a Diploma of Teaching from the Australian Catholic University. Durm is member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Australian Council of Educational Leaders.

Ian Davis

Dip T, Grad Dip Art – RE, Grad Dip Music Ed, B Ed, Med – Leadership, MBA

Deputy Executive Director

Ian Davis joined Catholic Education Service- Diocese of Cairns in January 2017 as the Deputy Executive Director – School Development. Prior to Ian’s current role, he was a senior strategy and planning officer for enterprise governance and performance with Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE). This role with BCE involves the provision of consultancy, advice, and support services on enterprise-wide strategy and planning activities, and contributes to developing strategy and planning capability across BCE.Ian also managed BCE’s transition of Year 7 to secondary providing support to secondary principals in planning for and managing this significant move of students. Mr Davis was principal of St Thomas More Catholic School, Sunshine Beach, for five years; principal of Star of the Sea Catholic School, Hervey Bay, for 10 years; and principal of St Joseph’s School, Childers, for three years.

Andrea O’Brien

PhD, M Ed, B Ed, Grad Dip Arts (RE)

Assistant Executive Director

Andrea O’Brien PhD, M Ed, B Ed, Grad Dip Arts (RE)Assistant Executive DirectorAndrea O’Brien joined Catholic Education Services – Diocese of Cairns in January 2019 as the Director of School Effectives for P-12 & Secondary Colleges. She now holds the position of Assistant Executive Director, with responsibility for Strategic Governance. Prior to coming to Cairns, Andrea worked as a Senior Leader in School Improvement within the Brisbane Catholic Education Office. Areas of responsibility included oversight of the School Improvement Unit and internal and external school reviews, along with beginning Principal Support and School leadership appraisals. Andrea has worked in Catholic education for over 40 years, across the Townsville, Brisbane and Cairns areas. Across that time she has been Principal at Clairvaux MacKillop College, at Upper Mt Gravatt, Ryan Catholic College in Townsville and St Margaret Mary’s College in Townsville.

Andrea is currently serving as a Board member of the Queensland College of Teachers.