Christian Schools Australia has congratulated its inaugural Chief Executive Officer, Stephen O’Doherty, on being awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in this year’s King’ Birthday Honours List.
Prior to commencing his role at Christian Schools Australia in 2002, Mr O’Doherty had been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seats of Ku-ring-gai and then Hornsby, serving in the NSW Parliament for a decade from 1992. During that time, he held the positions of:
- Shadow Treasurer, 2000-2001.
- Shadow Minister for Community Services and Disability Services, 1999-2000.
- Shadow Minister for Education and Training, 1995-1999.
His previous working life was spent in the media, most notably in commercial radio in Sydney. His passion for radio continued through community and Christian radio, especially in his involvement with Hope Media in Sydney.
Throughout his life Mr O’Doherty has also been involved with music and the arts. His passion for the Golden Kangaroos Hornsby Concert Band is well known, however he has also been involved as patron of Studio ARTES (Northside), a NDIS registered service offering creative and life programs for adults with disabilities since 2000. More recently Mr O’Doherty has been heavily involved in the Christian media and arts sector in a variety of governance roles.
“It was an honour to be handed over the baton as CEO of Christian Schools Australia from Stephen”, said Dr Daniel Pampuch, current Chief Executive Officer of Christian Schools Australia, “he laid the foundation as inaugural CEO for the strong and growing organisation we are today”.
“Stephen’s dedication to serving the community in a variety of roles as an expression of his deep Christian faith is very obvious, and this recognition today is well deserved.”
Christian Schools Australia (CSA) is the largest association of Christian schools in the country and has member schools educating over 86,000 students and employing over 13,500 staff at more than 200 locations across Australia. CSA member schools provide high quality education within an authentic Christian learning community.
