30 October 2024

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) and the Rerum Novarum Foundation have celebrated the winners of the Rerum Novarum Awards 2024.

The awards were presented at an event at the Catholic Leadership Centre on Wednesday 23 October. Congratulations to the following award-winners:

• Gold: Killester College, Springvale – Op Shop Initiative Students in the Year 11 VCE Vocational Major class established, opened and are running Brigid’s Blessing – the Killester Community OpShop: Where Compassion Meets Community. The initiative seeks to promote sustainable practices and address concerns around the cost of living.
• Silver: Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, Braybrook – Native Garden Bed After conducting a survey, students in Caroline Chisholm’s Eco-committee concluded that the community wanted to increase biodiversity in the school grounds. As a result, they created a native garden bed.

Aligned with Australian Catholic Bishops Conference social justice statements and encyclicals of the Catholic Church, the Rerum Novarum Awards ask students in Years 9 to 12 to address a social justice issue in their community. Using the ‘See, Judge, Act’ method, students apply the principles of Catholic social teaching to their project. Entries include a research paper, project impact report and video presentation. Seed grants of $1,000 are available to schools to develop their projects, with further grants awarded to the winning entries.

Entries for the 2025 Rerum Novarum Awards will open early next year.