Executive Director officially farewelled

More than 200 people filled St Monica’s Cathedral this week to officially farewell Executive Director of Catholic Education, Bill Dixon, who will soon retire after 10 years in the role.

The farewell included a Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Cairns, Rev Joe Caddy AM, followed by a series of reflections and memories shared.

Those attending included Mr Dixon’s family, friends, politicians, church and educational leaders, principals, teachers and many others whose lives were touched by his work throughout Queensland for more than 40 years.

Thirty of those years were dedicated to the service of the Catholic Church, in various roles in Toowoomba, Brisbane and Cairns, after initially working in the banking industry and the Queensland Government.

Mr Dixon was appointed as Business Manager at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Toowoomba in 1997, before his first move to Cairns in 2004 as Business Manager of St Andrew’s Catholic College at Redlynch. In 2007, he moved across to the Catholic Education office, looking after capital works and new schools.

His work in the capital field led to a relocation to Brisbane and a role at the Queensland Catholic Education Commission, before finally returning to Cairns in 2014, initially as Deputy Executive Director of Catholic Education, before moving into the top job later that same year.

Since then, Mr Dixon has presided over the growth and consolidation of Catholic Education in the Far North. Under his leadership over the past 10 years, there has been unprecedented growth, with student numbers increasing by 20%, to a total of over 12,000 students in 2024. This means the Catholic Education sector accounts  for around 30% of total primary and secondary students in the region – one of the highest market shares in Australia.

In that period, Mr Dixon has opened four new schools for the diocese: Holy Spirit College in Manoora (2015), MacKillop Catholic College at Mt Peter in 2016, St Joseph’s Primary School in Weipa in 2016, and Newman Catholic College at Smithfield in 2022.

He will officially retire at Christmas, with the new Executive Director, Diarmuid O’Riordan, to commence in the role in January 2025.

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