Welcome to another volume in a series of communications that seeks to provide CSA member schools with updates, findings, commentary, and important school-based implications of a diverse range of research and innovation projects and articles of interest relating to Christian schooling.
Public Launch in Parliament!
Student Flourishing in Australian Christian Schools Research Report
The Student Flourishing in Australian Christian Schools Report and call to action for education policy makers and elected political representatives was launched to the general public at a function held at the Enid Lyons Alcove, Parliament House Canberra on Tuesday 26th May. Hosted by CSA CEO Dr Daniel Pampuch, It was pleasing to hear speeches regarding the report and its contents from Senator Deborah O’Neill (Labor), and the Honourable Julian Lesser (Liberal Shadow Education Minister). Several other politicians and staffers from both sides of parliament also attended the launch. Key representatives from Independent Schools Australia, a range of Christian Tertiary providers from across Australia, and other key education leaders were also in attendance.
Access the Report NOW.
The Report detailed the findings of the landmark study: Student Flourishing in Australian Christian Schools. The project was coordinated by Christian Schools Australia (CSA) with close collaboration from Research Schools International and researchers at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and explored the perceived levels of flourishing of adolescents (12 to 18-year-olds) and the specific practices that promote student flourishing across Christian secondary schools in Australia. This groundbreaking research study investigated and identified the conditions, contextual factors, and specific practices that can promote positive gains in student flourishing within Christian schools across Australia. Adopting a longitudinal survey design, 22,092 students in Year 7 to Year 12 across 57 Christian schools took part in one of the largest studies of adolescent flourishing in Australian Christian schools ever undertaken.
Findings: Six themes emerge:
1. Family: The Practices of Bonding - Student flourishing and family relationships
2. Formation: The Practices of Becoming - Student flourishing across secondary school
3. Relationships: The Practices of Belonging - Student flourishing and community
4. Learning: The Practices of Engaging - Student flourishing and learning engagement
5. Spirituality: The Practices of Expressing - Student flourishing and faith formation
6. Serving: The Practices of Embodying - Student flourishing and civic and social engagement
The findings outlined in this report provide a plethora of evidence-based practices, priorities and principles for student flourishing and highlight the crucial role that Christian schools, as people forming eco-systems, can play in cultivating the fertile conditions for students to flourish holistically: intellectually, socially, physically, and spiritually. Access to the Report is available here.
Dr Christina Hinton, Research Associate, Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and Dr Brendan Case, Associate Director for Research, Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University have compiled a short, 15-minute video recording that summarises the findings of the Student Flourishing in Australian Schools Project.
Both researchers provide a range of new insights into the findings and discuss the important implications for improving student flourishing in adolescents. To access, please click on the following link:
Data Collection for CSCP 2026 Scheduled
To continue to analyse and investigate the important longitudinal trends and themes relating to why parents are choosing Christian schools in record numbers in contemporary Australia, CSA is again implementing the 2026 Christian Schools Community Profile Survey, with the data collection process and analyses being undertaken by ORIMA Research, one of Australia’s leading public research organisations.
OVERVIEW Nearly 70 CSA member schools are again participating in this important longitudinal study, with data collection occurring in August 2026. Commencing in 2021, and replicated again in 2023, CSA in collaboration with ORIMA research, undertakes this national Christian Schools Community Profile (Parent) Survey to explore the perceptions, decision making processes, engagement, expectations and demographic profiles of the parents who in record numbers are choosing to send their children to Christian schools across Australia.
The 44-item surveys that are developed for these projects, provide a reliable and longitudinal quantitative profile of the CSA member school parent population in relation to the key determinants of school choice and explore:
- primary reasons for school choice;
- satisfaction with the school;
- engagement with the school community; and
- socio-demographic profiles of parents and school communities.
The longitudinal findings arising from these landmark surveys provide an opportunity to establish baseline evidence relating to family backgrounds, values, faith commitments, income levels and specific decision-making practices of parents within Australia’s contemporary educational milieu.
Key findings of these longitudinal analyses have included:
1. Parents are choosing schools that align with traditional values and beliefs even if they do not personally practice these beliefs.
2. Parents are seeking supportive relational school communities that cultivate well-being through well-belonging.
3. Parents value quality education that is perceived as affordable and leads to holistic student flourishing rather than solely performative outcomes.
4. Parents, irrespective of their faith commitments, continue to value spirituality for their children.
Examples of previous Christian Schools Community Profile National Summary reports are available here:
New Cardus Education Survey Australia Project Confirmed for 2026!
It is with great excitement that I can announce that the 2026 Cardus Education Survey Australia Project will commence in Semester 2! A consortium of Christian School Associations and Christian Tertiary Providers will be formed to coordinate the project in July. Dr Lynn Swaner, President of Cardus USA will be the chief researcher and lead for this second iteration of the survey in Australia and I will again be the Australian Project coordinator.
Background to the Cardus Education Survey Australia Project 2026
The CES was adapted for the Australian context and administered in 2019 by leading public research company ORIMA to a nationally representative sample of 4913 adults ages 25 to 39 (Millennials) who graduated from secondary schools in Australia between 1998 and 2011. In all, 3913 respondents completed the
survey online and another 1000 respondents completed it via computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) technology.
The findings released in 2021 highlighted that the formation practices that occur across Australian school sector types, in partnership with the family and local community, have a significant impact on graduates’ contribution to the common good across contemporary Australian society. The CES Australia identified six major themes relating to how Millennials from Government, Catholic, Independent and Christian schools contribute to the common good:
• Formation: The influence of school and educational experiences
• Work: Employment, vocational pathways and income
• Belonging: Involvement in associations, groups and causes
• Generosity: Giving through donations and volunteering
• Family: Marriage and relationships
• Religion: Faith and spiritual commitments and practices
Key Findings from the 2021 CES Australia Project for Christian Schools
•Christian schools were distinctive in the contribution their graduates were making to the common good – with graduates from Christian schools significantly more religious and regular in church attendance; more active in volunteering and serving in community associations; and were more involved in political parties and environmental issues than any other school sector.
•Bachelor completions, overall income and higher paying career pathways were proportionally lower for Christian school graduates – especially in non-metropolitan areas.
You can access previous the Cardus Education Survey Australia Reports and Infographic here:
It has now been 6 years since the CES Australia Report was launched and it is timely to again consider the importance of replicating the survey to track longitudinally the trends and key findings arising form a new nationally representative sample of graduates who will have graduated from Australian schools between 2005 – 2018. Much has changed within Australian society and the educational landscape since the past survey was administered and the impact of these changes will provide a fascinating insight into how these changes have impacted on graduates contribution to the common good.
The key outcomes of a new 2026 CES project would seek to:
• Provide comprehensive, detailed and reliable new analyses of data on the impact that Christian school graduates (as well as other sectors) have had upon Australian society and culture.
• Identify through valid and reliable longitudinal research how Christian schools continue to contribute to the common good within contemporary society.
• Compile a clear and well synthesised narrative and publication for school leaders, policy makers, government officials and law makers regarding the transformative outcomes of Christian schools that is supported and evidenced through longitudinal analyses.
• Present and disseminate widely a series of articles, media releases and materials, opeds and conversation pieces, on how graduates contribute to the common good in an increasingly fragmented and post-Christian public square.
2026 International School Choice and Reform Conference (ISCRC) in Rome
Daniel and I were privileged to present 2 papers at the fourteenth annual meeting of the 2026 International School Choice and Reform Conference (ISCRC) in Rome Italy in January.
The ISCRC is a global academic conference that gathers scholars who study various forms of school choice, systemic reform, and educational innovation. This includes scholarship on how school choice is enacted, the mechanisms that structure school choice programs, and both the direct and systemic effects of school choice and reform programs and initiatives.
Paper 1: The Virtue of Values: Parent Choice in Contemporary Australian Non-Government Faith Based Schools (An analysis of the Christian Schools Community Profile (CSCP) longitudinal research).
This paper investigated the key findings and also outlined the implications that such parental choice outcomes are having upon the Australian educational public policy discourse in a pluralistic educational marketplace. A discussion relating to the implications and applicability of these findings to international contexts was
also facilitated. It is hoped that this paper would stimulate rich conversation and thoughtful reflection regarding the type of parent communities that are choosing non-government faith-based schools across Australia in record numbers, and lead to improved ways of engaging and retaining families of all backgrounds across the entire private school sector, both in Australia and in international contexts.
Paper 2: Evidence based Practices that Promote Student Flourishing in Australian Private Schools. (A summary of the Student Flourishing in Australian Christian)
Schools project undertaken in collaboration with researchers from the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard and Research Schools International).
This paper summarised the six themes for Student flourishing that arose from this research and highlighted the crucial role that schools, as people forming eco-systems, can play in cultivating the necessary conditions and practices for students to flourish holistically: intellectually, socially, physically and spiritually. Building
on these analyses, this paper also outlined why holistic approaches to student flourishing and graduate outcomes are so important within contemporary education discourse more broadly, and why education reform regarding student flourishing must consider approaches that do not marginalise nor eradicate the important role that these holistic practices play in promoting student flourishing.
It was an honour to present these papers that reflect the scale and quality of the work that CSA has been undertaking over the past few years.
2025 State of the Sector Report: The Paradox of School Workforce Leadership
The team at People Bench have now published the 2025 State of the Sector survey findings, completed by 257 practitioners from across the country in November-December 2025. The Report explores what it’s like to do this work from the perspective of those who lead the workforce (principals, deputy/assistant principals
and other senior school leaders) and those who support the HR function (business managers and HR professionals). Australian schools are contending with overlapping workforce pressures that are reshaping what it means to staff a school. This is the sixth State of the Sector report, that engaged perspectives from leader’s in
public, Catholic and independent sectors, across a wide crosssection of geographic contexts across the country. Additionally, data was also collected from a small number of Middle Leaders.
The 2025 State of the Sector survey highlights the incredible feats of Australia’s school leaders and those who support them to develop, motivate and guide their staff to serve their school communities; it also highlights the precarity of leadership and the personal challenges leaders face in discharging their responsibilities. These findings suggest that Australia’s school workforce challenges are not just about supply and recruitment, but about how we design and support the work of leading and managing people in schools.
Addressing them will require coordinated shifts in three areas:
a) the way leadership roles are structured and supported;
b) the capability and positioning of HR and workforce functions;
c) and the maturity of the data and systems that underpin workforce decisions.
You can access the full 2025 State of the Sector Report HERE
You can also view a video recording that summarises the findings HERE
Graduation is not the Goal: It is the Commissioning
ACSI BLOG | Emily Pigott
The following blog by Emily Pigott reminds us as Christian edcuators and leaders that our graduations are not just a celebration of what students have completed. They are one of the clearest opportunities we have to ask a deeper question: What have we actually prepared them for?
If our focus stops at academic achievement, college acceptance, scholarships, or career readiness, we may unintentionally define success too narrowly. Those things matter, but Christian education has always aimed beyond academic completion. Our work has always been about formation… continue reading the blog here:
ACU Research Invitation
Dr Gabrielle Hunt is inviting participants from Christian schools to take part in a research study exploring how adults in Christian churches, ministries, and education settings understand and practise child safeguarding.
The study involves completing a short, anonymous online survey that takes approximately 10–15 minutes. The survey asks about safeguarding practices, organisational culture, and beliefs related to child safety.
Churches, ministries, and schools play a significant role in the lives of children and young people. Across these settings, there is a shared responsibility to create environments that are safe, respectful, and supportive. This research aims to better understand how safeguarding is currently understood and enacted in Christian contexts, and to identify ways to strengthen practice, organisational culture, and leadership.
You are eligible to participate if you are 18 years or older and:
• work or volunteer in a Christian church, ministry, or religious organisation; or
• work in a Christian school or education setting.
Participation is entirely voluntary. You may choose not to take part, skip any questions, or exit the survey at any time before submitting your responses. Because the survey is anonymous, responses cannot be withdrawn after submission.
If you would like to take part, the link to the survey is here: https://acu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eajDUIlNdTouIqG
The ethical aspects of this study have been approved by the ACU Human Research Ethics Committee, HREC approval 2026-4670E.
If you have any questions about the study, please contact Dr Garbielle Hunt, Research Associate Institute of Child Protection Studies Australian Catholic University at [email protected].
Grandeur of Humanity in the Age of AI
VanderWeele & Case
The following research update from Tyler VanderWeele and Brendan Case from the Human Flourishing Program discusses Pope Leo's encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence” and its implications for human flourishing in an Age of AI.
Tyler contends: The topic of AI has dominated much public discourse recently, and we thus discussed flourishing considerations for AI in our March newsletter. Many of the themes resonated with what we put forward, including the need to preserve human reason and creativity, the potential threats to human knowledge and human relationships, and on work as a pathway to flourishing. Pope Leo even comments on the importance of well-being measures beyond GDP in advancing societal flourishing…
Invitation to Imagine | Terra Caswell
Another article that wisely considers the implications for AI in a digital age for Christian schools has been posted by Terra Caswell the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education (CACE):
Christian school leaders are caught in a painful tension. On one hand, we know our students will enter a world where AI is ubiquitous. Banning it entirely feels like sending them ill-equipped into a reality we’ve refused to acknowledge.
On the other hand, we’ve watched technology erode attention spans, facilitate academic dishonesty, and replace deep thinking with algorithmic shortcuts. So we’re divided, within our schools, across our networks, and sometimes within ourselves, unsure whether our primary posture should be protection or preparation.
This uncertainty extends to our teachers, many navigating AI without clear frameworks or training.