The Federation and Canon Law

The Federation acts under the auspices of the Archbishop of Hobart.  In accordance with his desire for Catholic Schools in Tasmania to give witness to its most important role as an agency of the Catholic Church in Tasmania the Archbishop has endorsed the establishment of a Federation of Parents and Friends:

          (i)           to promote the mission of catholic schools;
          and
          (ii)          to foster a true spirit of community.

As prescribed under Canon Law 321-329 the Federation is seen as a “Private Association of the Christian Faithful”.

Canon 328 requires such Associations “to take care that their associations co-operate with other associations of the Christian Faithful where it is expedient and willingly assist various Christian works, especially those in the same territory”.

Canon 793.1

Parents and those who take their place are bound by the obligation and possess the right of educating their offspring.  Catholic parents also have the duty and right of choosing those means and institutions through which they can provide more suitably for the Catholic education of their children, according to local circumstances.

793-2

Parents also have the right to that assistance, to be furnished by civil society, which they need to secure the Catholic education of their children.

794-1

The duty and right of educating belongs in a special way to the Church, to which has been divinely entrusted the mission of assisting persons so that they are able to reach the fullness of the Christian life.

794-2

Pastors of souls have the duty of arranging everything so that all the faithful have a Catholic education.

795

Since true education must strive for complete formation of the human person that looks to his or her final end as well as to the common good of societies, children and youth are to be nurtured in such a way that they are able to develop their physical, moral, and intellectual talents harmoniously, acquire a more perfect sense of responsibility and right use of freedom, and are formed to participate actively in social life.”

796-1

Among the means to foster education, the Christian faithful are to hold schools in esteem; schools are the principal assistance to parents in fulfilling the function of education.

796-2

Parents must cooperate closely with the teachers of the schools to which they entrust their children to be educated; moreover, teachers in fulfilling their duty are to collaborate very closely with parents, who are to be heard willingly and for whom associations or meetings are to be established and highly esteemed.

797

Parents must possess a true freedom in choosing schools therefore, the Christian faithful must be concerned that civil society recognizes this freedom for parents and even supports it with subsidies; distributive justice is to be observed.”

The Federation:

• Is a voluntary organization,
• Operates as a collective and inclusive organization across its three tiers of affiliated school Parents & Friends Associations, Regional bodies and State Council,
• Recognizes that parents have various gifts and skills to offer their school communities and each other,
• Provides opportunities for personal and collective growth.

The objectives of the Federation are:

• To encourage parents to fully participate in their children’s education,
• Promotion of education generally across the government and non-government sectors,
• Furtherance of Catholic education,
• The advancement of the common interest of Catholic schools,
• To actively advocate for parents and students,
• To respond to the needs of School communities,
• Promote inclusive and genuine consultative processes at all levels of schooling and associated policy making & political processes,
• Provide development opportunities for parents & affiliated School P & F associations,
• Encourage and support collaborative relationships between Parents and Teachers.

State Council

State Council consists of:

   i) a President, Secretary and Treasurer elected at the Annual General Meeting,

   ii) the Immediate Past President,

   ii) one delegate each nominated by the Knights of the Southern Cross and the Catholic Women's League,

   iv) one Vice-President and two ordinary members from each of the three regions elected at the regions Annual General Meeting,

   v) up to three persons, appointed by Council, whose skills are considered to be needed by the federation, and who are not otherwise

eligible for membership of the Council.

State Council

• operates is a spirit of unity, cooperative mutual support to enable office bearers to achieve the Federations objectives,
• is responsible for the preparation, publication and distribution of the Federation’s newsletters and other documents,
• develops and monitors appropriate personnel practices including Workplace Occupational Health & Safety and Equal Opportunity principles,
• is responsive to the needs & priorities of School communities as expressed by affiliated School Parents & Friends Associations,
• members will be proactive in establishing effective communication strategies throughout the three levels of the Federation,
• values its relationship with other organizations within the Catholic Community & their potential to contribute to Catholic Education,
• supports & collaborate with the Tasmanian Catholic Education Commission & Catholic Education Office in their missions whilst representing an independent Parent perspective,
• may utilizes the services of person(s) who are suitability registered to undertake tasks as required.

Executive

The Executive shall consist of the President, the Immediate Past President, three Vice-Presidents, the Secretary and the Treasurer, who between meetings of the Council shall have delegated power to take action for the good conduct of the affairs of the Federation.

Regions

The Regional Associations are the direct representational link between affiliated School Parents & Friends Associations and the State Council.  They therefore have key roles in developing and promoting a sense of community between School P & F Associations.  Outside of the Annual Conference of the Federation the regional associations are the means by which affiliated school parents and friends associations provide direction, guidance and feedback to State Council.

REGIONS - STATEMENT OF PURPOSE 

Australia is a world leader in the area of networking between school parents and friends' organisations, both at State and Federal levels.   All Tasmanian Catholic School Parents and Friends Associations have the potential to contribute to the maintenance of these networks, and to participate in political and educational policy making processes through their affiliation with the Tasmanian Catholic Schools Parents and Friends Federation (TCSPFF) at the State level and through its affiliation with the Australian Parents Council (APC) at the national level. (Tasmanian Catholic Education Commission's `Relationships for Mutual Support" document).

The Regional Associations are the direct organisational link between School Associations and the State Council of the TCSPFF. They there-fore have key roles in developing and promoting a sense of community between school Associations. Outside of the Annual Conference of the TCSPFF the regional associations are the means by which school Associations provide direction, guidance and feedback to State Council. At the same time they provide State Council with a primary means of liaising with individual school Associations.

The purposes of the Regional Association are therefore to promote and defend the principles of Catholic education by:

• providing a forum for the sharing of knowledge and information of common interest between the Catholic schools in their region;
• assisting school Associations to promote recognition of the important role that parents play in the education of their children;
• providing representation to State Council of the TCSPFF;
• acting as a conduit for the exchange of information between school associations and State Council of the TCSPFF;
• hosting the Annual Conference of the TCSPFF on a rotating basis with the other two regional associations; and
• facilitating opportunities for the development of members of the executives of school . P&F Associations in their region.

To enable the achievement of these purposes each Regional Association will:

• meet at least once in each school term;
• annually elect a Chairperson, Secretary and three Regional Delegates to State Council of the TCSPFF (normally, the Chairperson will be available to be one of the region's delegates) and fill other such offices as from time to time may be required to fulfil its purposes;
• where possible, provide representation on TCSPFF State Council delegations to and meetings with politicians and education authorities;
• in recognition and acknowledgment of its Catholic identity commence each meeting with a period of prayer and/or reflection; and
• operate in a spirit of collaboration and common purpose.