18 May 2020

The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Most Rev Peter Comensoli is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Jim Miles as the new Executive Director of Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM).

“The Executive Director of Catholic Education Melbourne leads a school system larger than some public school systems in Australia, and one of the largest globally,” Archbishop Comensoli said.

“We cast the net widely and received first class applications from Australia and overseas. Jim has stood out as the leader for us into the future.”

“At heart he is a man of faith, and I am looking forward to working closely with Jim as we make our schools centres of excellence in the Gospel and in education.

“Jim joined CEM in 2015, and has served as the Acting Director since November 2018. During this time he has displayed a firm commitment to the common good in the life of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, enhancing subsidiarity and solidarity in school communities, and shown himself to be a humble and thoughtful faith leader.

“As a husband and parent with his own involvement in parish and Catholic school communities, Jim has proved himself as a thoughtful listener to everyone involved in education, including principals and teachers, clergy and parents,” Archbishop Comensoli said.

“Important to Catholic schooling, Jim has consistently strived to ensure the student is at the centre of everyone’s concern and care, and has encouraged academic excellence as a key focus of the Catholic education vision.”

Jim said he was thrilled to step up to this responsibility at this time, and helping Catholic schools to embrace the four missionary priorities of the Archdiocese: families, young people, local communities and the poor and the broken.

In both CEM and the Catholic Education Commission Victoria (CECV) Jim has strongly advocated on behalf of families across our state who value a strong Catholic education for their children.

“It’s an honour to be appointed to serve and lead over 150,000 students and nearly 20,000 teaching, support and office staff who make up the Catholic Education Melbourne community,” Jim said.

“Catholic education has a transformative power, grounded in faith, and committed to shaping the minds of our young people as they become vibrant and active contributors within our society.”

“I look forward to strengthening the educational opportunities of the students entrusted into the care our schools.”

“The new Executive Director for Catholic Education Melbourne comes in at a time of great change,” Archbishop Comensoli said.

“This appointment will be a great blessing in Melbourne and Victoria.

“Jim has already shown calm and resolve in steering Catholic schools through the COVID-19 situation and the rapid changes in learning environments this created, and serves on the School Governance Steering Committee overseeing governance reforms across Catholic schools in Melbourne.”

Jim Miles begins immediately, on 18 May 2020.

Further information: Michael Pountney, Acting Assistant Director, Enterprise Services at Catholic Education Melbourne on 0409 860 884

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