CCSS Council Members
Most Rev Anthony Fisher OP
Bishop of Parramatta
Bishop Anthony entered the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), in 1985. The Dominican Order of Preachers is a religious order devoted to preaching the Catholic faith in the context of a life of study, prayer and community. He studied for the priesthood in Melbourne, obtaining an honours degree in Theology.
Bishop Anthony also completed a Doctorate in Bioethics at the University of Oxford.
Between 1995 to 2000 he was a lecturer in the Australian Catholic University. From 2000 to 2003 he was foundation Director of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family, Melbourne. Bishop Anthony remains Professor of Moral Theology and Bioethics in the Institute. Bishop Anthony is also Deputy-Chancellor of the Catholic Institute of Sydney and Adjunct Professor in the University of Notre Dame Australia.
In 2008 Bishop Anthony was Co-ordinator of World Youth Day in Sydney.On 8 January 2010, Bishop Anthony was appointed the third Bishop of Parramatta by Pope Benedict XVI.
Click here to go to Bishop Anthony's web page.
Very Rev Peter G. Williams VG EV
Council Chairperson
Fr.Peter was received into the Catholic Church in 1990 from the Anglican Church where he had been a priest since 1979. He holds a BA of Education, and degrees in Medieval Studies, Philosophy, Theology and Canon Law; a Masters of Theology completed in 1994 and the Master of Arts in Liturgical Studies achieved in 1997.
On 19 March 1992, Fr. Peter was ordained a Catholic priest and has held appointments at many parishes in the Diocese of Parramatta most notably as parish priest of St Oliver Plunkett parish Harris Park 1998-2004, and Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral Parramatta from 2004-2006.
In August 2006 he was appointed Director of Liturgy for World Youth Day Australia, 2008. In this role Fr. Peter was responsible for the planning of the liturgical celebrations surrounding WYD and the Papal visit.
From 2000-2011 he served as Executive Secretary of the National Liturgical Commission; overseeing in this role the implementation across Australia of the new translation of the Roman Missal and serving on numerous committees and boards within the Australian Catholic Church.
He was elected Fellow of St Johns College, Sydney in 2009 and a Member of the NSW Chapter of the Australian Catholic University in 2010. He is Chairman of the National Liturgical Music Board (since 2005) and a member of the National Liturgical Art and Architecture Board (since 2010) and as Chairman of the Catholic Worship Book Project (since 2006) is currently working on a revision of this music resource.
Fr Peter is currently the Vicar General (appointed 2011) Episcopal Vicar for Health and Social Services and the Director of Liturgy (appointed 1998) in the Diocese of Parramatta.
The Hon John Aquilina
John migrated with his parents from Malta, completed his Higher School Certificate at Christian Brothers High School, Lewisham and graduated with a BA DipEd from Sydney University. He has an Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Hon DLitt, from the University of Western Sydney, and an Honorary Diploma of Music, Hon DipMus (HC), from the Australian International Conservatorium of Music. He first worked as a high school teacher for almost ten years, mostly in Sydney's west.
John was elected Mayor of Blacktown in 1977, State Member for Blacktown in 1981 and State Member for Riverstone in 1991. During a Parliamentary career spanning almost 30 years John held many posts. Among these were Speaker, Leader of the House and several ministerial portfolios including Minister for Education and Training for six years and seven months.
John is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators (FACE) and a recipient of the Wyndham Medal. He is currently a Board Member of the National Arts School, an Honorary Associate of Sydney University’s Graduate School of Government, a Director and Company Treasurer of Ars Musica Australis, Ambassador of the Sydney Youth Orchestra, Patron of the Australian International Conservatorium of Music, Life Member of The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, Life Member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Life Member of the Asia-Pacific NSW Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Diocesan appointments include Chairman of the Blacktown Catholic Pastoral Working Party and the Parramatta Diocesan Schools Council.
Past appointments include Chairman of the Lachlan Macquarie Bicentenary Commemorations Committee, Inaugural President of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of the European Union, the Sydney University Senate, the Board of Advice of the Sydney Conservatorium, the Board of Trustees of Sydney Grammar School, the Ethnic Affairs Commission and the State Records Authority.
John is a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, and has received civil honours from Malta, Poland, Slovenia and the Philippines.
Michael Digges Michael joined the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta as Business Manager & Diocesan Financial Administrator in May after a long career in manufacturing business at Managing Director and Group General Manager level both here in Australia and overseas. Most recently, Michael was with a large Australian private manufacturing company with 300 people and around $100M in sales.
Prior to that, he was project leader running two large manufacturing projects: one on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia the other in China 600Km north-west of Shanghai.
For some years prior to that he was Managing Director of a specialty chemical business with a factory in Australia and another in Malaysia exporting globally. Michael is very results oriented with special focus on business growth and re-engineering. He is passionate about business strategy and implementation and believes the business activities the Church is involved in should be on par with best practice. He is excited by the possibility of the Church growing in Western Sydney in line with the forecast population growth forecasts and helping to find new ways to fund the Church’s charitable works to reach especially the poor and marginalised.
Michael’s love is family life; he and Kathy have 7 children and three grandchildren. Sunday nights are very special at the Digges home; it is the one day of the week when the whole family can gather and enjoy each other’s company.
Vince Graham
Vince has been CEO of Endeavour Energy since 2008 and prior to that he has held the positions of Co-ordinator General of Rail and CEO of RailCorp, Managing Director of the National Rail Corporation, Managing Director of the Grain Handling Authority of NSW, and the Chief Operating Officer of the State Rail Authority of NSW.
Anne Hampshire
Anne has 20 years’ experience in the non-government sector, across a range of organisations, including community services and advocacy organisations. Anne is currently Head of Research and Advocacy at The Smith Family, a national, independent children’s charity committed to increasing the educational participation and achievement of disadvantaged Australian children and young people. Anne has researched and written on a broad range of issues including young people, families and children, social capital, poverty and disadvantage and unemployment.
Otto Henfling
Executive Director, CCSS
Otto is the Executive Director of CatholicCare Social Services and was appointed to this position in July 2009. Previously Otto worked for CatholicCare (Sydney Diocese) as the Director of Employment Training Support Services for 4 years where he oversaw the growth in income of the division from a $4.5m to $18m. Prior to working at CatholicCare, Otto spent 22 years working in the social security areas of the Australian Government.
Otto is on the Management Committee of Churches Community Housing Ltd, a niche provider of low cost rental housing on behalf of the church sector, he is the Chair of the Ecclesia Housing board and has recently been appointed as Deputy Chair of the NSW Branch of Catholic Social Services Australia. He is a graduate of institute of Company Directors.
Trevor Parmenter
Professor Parmenter's teaching and research expertise spans many fields in the area of disability, and includes quality of life; transition from school to work; supported living; employment; behaviour problems; ageing; family studies; autism spectrum disorders; policy development; evaluation of disability programs; and physical and mental health of people with a developmental disabilities. Prior to his retirement, Trevor was the Foundation Chair of Developmental Disabilities in the Sydney School of Medicine at The University of Sydney and the Director of the Centre for Disability Studies at the Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney from 1997-2009. Prior appointments include Professorial Fellow at Macquarie University and teacher and principal with the NSW Department of Education. He remains active in a range of national and international disability organisations, including four years as president of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities. He is noted for his experience in translating research into practice, especially through the development of training programs; supervision of research students and strategic planning consultancies. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his contribution to research and practice in the field of intellectual disability. Trevor has been a parishioner of St Bernadettes, Castle Hill, since 1964.
Bernard Ryall
Bernard is the Director of Financial and Administrative Services for Catholic Education in the Diocese. Since his appointment in October 2006, he has led and implemented system-wide reform to improve financial stewardship, reporting and accountability in support of the strategic intent to improve the learning outcomes for each student. He has responsibility for finances, property and facilities, office services, system purchasing and commercial services. Prior to his appointment, Bernard held senior executive positions in the financial services sector.