The report, which was written by Australian Catholic University researchers, comes as parish priests in the Sale diocese have surrendered their power in schools. Principals want priests should back off from the day-to-day running of Catholic schools. Credit:Reuters Unlike other Australian states and territories, parish priests in Victoria appoint principals, employ staff and sign off on the annual financial statement of parish schools. They also have to oversee occupational health and safety protocols. In Sale, the diocese has set up a new company and board of directors that will oversee the employment of staff and the management of school properties from this year. The board will report to the bishop.

In a letter to clergy, teachers and principals, Sale Bishop Patrick O’Regan said the new model would let priests focus on the pastoral and spiritual aspects of schools and parishes “without having to deal with complex management and legislative compliance issues”. “It will also alleviate them of the responsibility and personal legal liability in relation to the management of schools,” he wrote. Other dioceses are now considering following suit, as they digest the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. In its long list of recommendations, the royal commission said the bishop of each diocese should ensure parish priests are not the employers of principals and teachers. “The position of the parish priest as the employer of staff of diocesan schools has the potential to adversely impact on the open and effective reporting of complaints against priests,” its report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne said.

The Association’s president Michael Gray said the principals' group believed that parish priests should not be the employer of principals or staff. “The expertise and knowledge of running a school is very complicated and parish priests don’t necessarily have that training,” he said. Mr Gray, who is also the principal of St Joseph's Primary School in Warrnambool, said these complexities took priests away from what they did best – pastoral work.

The report highlighted several anonymous examples of interference: “I am forbidden to even call a tradesman...when toilets are blocked and it is just unsafe… [the parish priest] is uncontactable or absent...if I call tradesmen for emergencies, I am told to cancel the work required,” one school head said. Another said that the parish priest ordered them to replace the school captain with another child. This comes as the Catholic Education system faces criticism about transparency and funding, including in a 2016 report by the Victorian Auditor General. Victorian Catholic schools receive more than $2 billion a year in federal and state government funding.