The story
Founded by Parliament of Western Australia on Dec 21, 1989.1
Early discussions
Following the end of World War II in 1945, a Congregation of Holy Cross priest serving as a U.S. Navy chaplain at Naval Base Sydney was travelling between parishes to provide lectures and sermons. Cardinal Norman Gilroy, then the Archbishop of Sydney and a sceptic of secular universities, befriended the Holy Cross chaplain Father Patrick Duffy and they discussed the idea of the University of Notre Dame in the United States (NDUS) and the Congregation of Holy Cross being involved in the establishment of the first Catholic university in Australia. Father Duffy in the same year wrote a letter to the superior general of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Father Albert Cousineau, outlining its feasibility and reasons supporting it.
At the time, a fifth of the Australian population was Catholic and there was an established network of Catholic primary and secondary schools. Cardinal Gilroy believed that there was a strong appetite for a Catholic university and that it would enable the education of an "elite Catholic laity that had been the glory of the church in the United States". The archdiocese also expressed openness in providing financial support and land should the proposal be successful. In a report, Father Duffy included that almost all of the federal cabinet members were Catholic and noted the influence of Irish Australians in the governing structure of the country, resembling it with the Irish history of NDUS.
Father Cousineau and the Holy Cross' assistant provincial, Father Chris O'Toole, visited Sydney in 1946 to investigate the viability of the institution, including its opportunities and possible setbacks. While their report highlighted Australia's existing Catholic school system and potential to increase opportunities for the Catholic faith and its members, the report had also found possible obstacles. These included the lack of universal support or enthusiasm between interstate bishops, the distance between major cities, perceived competition from existing institutions and the substantial government lobbying required for support or funding. There was also the limitations of technology and the issue of distance between the American institutions and Sydney, a future cause for stagnation of progress in the university's establishment.
The Holy Cross order sent additional personnel in the following years to evaluate its plans. This included the name University of St. Mary, faculties, locations and fundraising options. The project was pursued for a few more years and 81 hectares (200 acres) was purchased in 1948 on behalf of the Holy Cross for a future campus. Ultimately, opposition from the press and the further stretching of Holy Cross resources due to the Korean War led to the required charter to establish the university not being acquired. Existing commitments in the development of educational institutions elsewhere by the Holy Cross and NDUS also limited the personnel and funding available to support the project. Despite positive reception from Pope Pius XII and the then dominance of Catholics in the governing Labor Party's hierarchy, non-Catholics were more sceptical of the plans. This included concerns from other religious denominations over the level of academic freedom at a denominational institution and the endeavour was later abandoned.
Re-emergence and establishment
In the mid-1980s, concerns were raised by the Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia and the Archdiocese of Perth that present state universities may not be able to sufficiently train school teachers and nurses to work in the state's Catholic education and healthcare network. This was partly due to the lack of public Catholic teaching colleges in the state found in the rest of the mainland, and their concern that the schools may eventually lose their Catholic identity. The idea of a private Catholic university again surfaced this time on the opposite side of the Australian continent.
Peter Tannock, who headed the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia, discussed these concerns with William Foley, the then Archbishop of Perth. They enlisted the help of Catholic businessperson Denis Horgan, also a childhood friend to Peter and founder of the Leeuwin Estate, who they hoped could provide financial assistance. Horgan, who had previously envisioned a private university in the state, was supportive of the idea so long as the institution would provide more than just teacher education, believing that a more comprehensive university would have greater fundraising potential from the state's Catholics.
A planning committee with Tannock, Horgan, Foley and Michael Quinlan, a Catholic physician, was also created and they developed a plan for a private Catholic university with multiple sites in the state that could extend to other fields including nursing and medicine. Horgan began purchasing property for the university, mainly unutilised heritage buildings in Fremantle in need of restoration, which were cheaper following the 1987 America's Cup as the colonial-era buildings didn't have many alternative use cases. However, he became insolvent that same year and the buildings were later purchased through loans and donations by the Archdiocese of Perth, Catholic Education Commission and the Sisters of St John of God.
Father Theodore Hesburgh and Father Ned Joyce, who had recently completed extensive tenures as the president and vice president of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, visited Fremantle as part of a retirement cruise and met with the planning committee in February 1988. They discussed the potential for involvement by the American university in the establishment of the planned institution. In the following months, members of the planning committee met with the newly appointed president, Edward Malloy, and other NDUS leaders in both Perth and Indiana. Malloy would later frequently visit the future university during his tenure as president, later describing founding it as a personal pride.
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An agreement was reached for NDUS to commit in becoming involved in the development and governing body of the university, provide ongoing guidance and staff and student exchanges. Increasing the confidence of the state government of Western Australia in the feasibility of the institution, the proposal received support from both the WA Labor premier Peter Dowding and Liberal opposition leader Barry MacKinnon. The institution would be named "The University of Notre Dame Australia", after its founding partner the University of Notre Dame in the United States. Notre Dame, which is French for 'Our Lady', refers to the biblical figure Mary, another namesake of the university.
The university was established on 29 December 1989 following the passage of the University of Notre Dame Australia Act 1989 in the Parliament of Western Australia, where it received support from both sides. The Act was given royal assent on 9 January 1990 and the university was inaugurated at St Patrick's Basilica on 2 July 1991, where it was issued a canonical statute. It was signed by the newly-appointed Archbishop Robert Healy as Archbishop Foley, despite his role in founding the university, had died five months before the inauguration.
Prior to the decision to select Fremantle as the sole campus, the state government had offered the university a 150-hectare (370-acre) land grant in the Alkimos region north in Greater Perth. Under the plan, its main campus would have been built on publicly owned land and treated in effect as any other university in the state. The state government believed that the campus could potentially increase the land value and population of the then-sparse region, creating potential income and increasing investment from the private sector. The planned land grant accounted for approximately 17% of the region (excluding the coast) and Notre Dame estimated the value of the land to be up to A$7 million in 1990.
The planning committee saw the main Alkimos campus as vital to the expansion of the university, with the existing development in Fremantle being perceived as limiting to student population growth and subsequent funding. Although the proposal was discussed extensively between the university and both sides of the state parliament, it led to a collapse of the Labor majority when the disillusioned Frank Donovan left the party. Support for the deal was later rescinded by the Liberal-National coalition and a parliamentary investigation was launched against the Lawrence government during the WA Inc political scandals. Following a motion of no confidence and the subsequent election of Richard Court as Premier of Western Australia in 1993, the proposal was formally withdrawn. As a result, Notre Dame remains the only university established in Western Australia to not receive a land grant by the state.
Growth and development
Notre Dame had 50 postgraduate students in its first year, including teachers from the state's Catholic school system, and the NDUS also sent 25 study abroad students to spend a semester at the campus. The latter program was repeated each semester and the students were accompanied by a staff member. Classes commenced in February 1992 and the first graduations were held at Fremantle Town Hall later that year. Undergraduate programs began in 1994, when the university first enrolled school leavers, with approximately 570 students during the first year. It also opened a regional campus in Broome that same year located in the northern Kimberley region. Additional schools were founded soon after opening that offered programs in other fields of study.
The university was also itself responsible for securing funding to restore and convert purchased buildings, its growth and restoration work contributing to it becoming ubiquitous with the West End heritage area of Fremantle as a university town. The influx of staff and students formed a symbiotic relationship with the city's culture and economy, and the restoration of neglected heritage buildings improved its status as a tourism precinct. The university also established its "objects" that codify its Catholic identity around this time.
Town and gown relations
Notre Dame's relationship with Fremantle had not always been free of tension. During its establishment, there was doubt as to whether a university town retrofitted into the city was feasible. It had also encountered opposition since its inception with distrust arising from local conservation groups and residents in local media towards Catholic institutions in the increasingly liberal-minded city. The secretive nature of the planning committee and its limited outreach also didn't help build relations with the community or address its concerns on conservation and urban vitality.
However, the university was not universally opposed. Peter Tagliaferri, who served as the Mayor of Fremantle from 2001 to 2009, described Fremantle before the university as a "seedy port city where booze barns are the major attraction" with strip clubs, gambling and low perceptions of security. Feelings of nostalgia towards the declining male-dominated, exclusionary pub culture had also been one of the most significant drivers towards conservation movements despite its limited impact on Fremantle's history and culture. There was also contradictory opposition against leaving the historical pubs, hotels, banks and other buildings empty or selling the heritage properties to other private owners or businesses.
The relationship between the university and the wider community has broadly improved in recent years, with the economic benefits of the students it brings from other parts of Perth being a significant driver. From 2002 to 2019, Notre Dame and the City of Fremantle had a Memorandum of Understanding in place to improve cooperation in the areas of heritage conservation, commercial and economic development.
Expansion to New South Wales
Following an invitation by the Archdiocese of Sydney, a third campus was opened in 2006 by then Prime Minister John Howard on the site of the St Benedict's Catholic Church on Broadway in Sydney. This was followed by another Sydney site in 2008 on the sites of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Sacred Heart Hospice in Darlinghurst. Pope Benedict XVI visited the latter church that same year and adjoining Benedict XVI Medical Library, which is named after him. Notre Dame was chosen partly for its prior experience in restoring deteriorating historical landmarks and high-density campus planning.
The establishment of the Sydney campus was funded primarily by the Archdiocese of Sydney and the Sydney Catholic Education Office, with additional funding from the federal government. Existing properties surrounding the sites such as Pioneer House on Broadway were also restored and new buildings were built to accommodate the future growth of the student population. The Sydney Catholic Education Office also donated property including the now-called Canavan Hall building, which houses the St Benedict's Library among other facilities. Constituent schools were founded and developed separately in Sydney and included a share-use agreement with University of Technology Sydney for facilities and curriculum for biomedical sciences. In 2024, it acquired a neighbouring campus from UTS.
From Wikipedia’s article on University of Notre Dame Australia, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5