St Laurence's College (known colloquially as Lauries) is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

primary and secondary school for boys, located in South Brisbane,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Founded by the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

in 1915. the school is a member of Edmund Rice Education Australia. As of 2021, the college had an enrolment of over 1913 students from Year 5 to Year 12. St Laurence's is affiliated with the Associated Independent Colleges sporting association. Some of the college's historic buildings are listed on the Brisbane Heritage Register.

History

The college was officially opened and blessed on 11 July 1915 by the Archbishop of Brisbane James Duhig. The school has been operated by the Christian Brothers since its inception. On the first day there were 270 students and a staff of five teachers. The monastery for the Brothers was built in 1917. Since 1961, the school has also operated sporting fields in the southern Brisbane suburb of

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

, which contains eight playing fields and a function centre. In 1977 the school established an outdoor educational facility, Camp Laurence, at

Lake Moogerah The Moogerah Dam is a concrete, mass concrete arch dam, double curvature arch dam with an Spillway#Types, un-gated spillway across Reynolds Creek in South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia, now within the Suburbs and localities (A ...

, to the west of Brisbane. In 1994 a College Board was established as an advisory group for the principal. In 1996 the first

lay Lay or LAY may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada * Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France * Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community * Lay Dam, Alaba ...

principal, Mr D Frederiksen, was appointed with the Christian Brothers retaining ownership and control of the College. The last of the brothers left the monastery in 2009, and the building was converted in 2010 into the school's administration building. In 2010, as part of an agreement with the adjacent Mater Hospital Brisbane, the school's land was leased for 25 years to build a six-storey car park, which now houses the college's synthetic oval on top along with a 1500 seat auditorium.

Sport

St Laurence's College is a member of the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC).

Notable alumni

Alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of St Laurence's College are known as "Old Boys" and may elect to join the school's alumni association, the St Laurence's College Old Boys Association. Notable alumni include:

Business

John Symond John Joseph Symond (born 17 August 1947) is an Australian entrepreneur, former financial executive, and the founder of Aussie Home Loans. Early life Symond was born on 17 August 1947 in Crookwell, New South Wales, and raised in Sydney. He s ...

founder of Aussie Home Loans

Entertainment, arts and the media

* Tim Allen-Ankinsassociate principal french horn of the

Queensland Symphony Orchestra Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra in the state of Queensland. The orchestra is based in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's building in South Bank. The Orchestra is funded by private corporations, the ...

* Jon Copleymusician, music manager and tour manager * Matthew Copleymusician, music producer, and vice president of ATLED Records * Murray Foyactor and theatre director * Gerard LeeAustralian novelist, screenwriter and director * Matthew Newsomemedia composer, orchestrator and conductor * Daniel O'Brienfilm and television composer and studio manager for Joff Bush * Kerry O'Brientelevision news journalist and presenter * Samuel Piperbaritone soloist and chorister in opera, oratorio, song, and chamber music *

Conrad Sewell Conrad Ignatius Mario Maximilian Sewell (born 31 March 1988) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He is best known for his vocals on Kygo's single "Firestone (song), Firestone" and his number-one single "Start Again (Conrad Sewell song), Sta ...

Australian singer-songwriter * Ross Symondsformer news presenter for

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

in Sydney * Dominic Woodheadmusical director, conductor and composer

Politics, law and public service

* Darryl Briskeyformer state Labor member for Cleveland * Condon Byrneformer federal Labor Senator for Queensland * Paul FinnJudge of the Federal Court of Australia * Mike Horanformer state National member for Toowoomba South and Leader of the Opposition *

Dennis Ives The Australian Public Service Commissioner is an official appointed by the Government of Australia, Australian Government to take a leading role ensuring the Australian Public Service has adequate organisational and workforce capability. Until 1 ...

former Public Service Commissioner 1990–1995 * Len Keoghformer federal Labor member for the Division of Bowman *

John Mickel John Mickel may refer to: * John Mickel (racing driver) (b. 1971) * John Mickel (politician) (b. 1953) * John Mickel (rugby union) * John T. Mickel (1934–2024), botanist {{hndis, Mickel, John ...

former state Labor member for Logan and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland * Jeffrey SpenderJudge of the Federal Court of Australia and Queen's Counsel

Sports

* John Anderson Olympic sailor; gold medalist at the 1972 Olympics * Thomas AndersonOlympic sailor; gold medalist at the 1972 Olympics * Neil Betts rugby union player for the Wallabies * Brendan Cannonrugby union player for the Wallabies and Queensland Reds *

Mark Connors Mark Connors (born 17 May 1971, Brisbane) is an Australian rugby union footballer. He is currently the Queensland Reds third most capped player ever, playing 134 games for the side. He has played for Australia 20 times, including their victory ...

rugby union player for the Wallabies and Queensland Reds * Nev Cottrellrugby union player for the Wallabies and Queensland Reds *

Cooper Cronk Cooper Patrick Cronk (born 5 December 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An n international and Queensland rugby league team, Queensland State of Origin series, State of Origin ...

rugby league player for Sydney Roosters, Queensland Maroons, and the Kangaroos * Rhys Jacksrugby league player * Rowan Crothers Paralympic swimmer * Dan Crowleyrugby union player for the Wallabies and Queensland Reds *

Ken Fletcher Kenneth Norman Fletcher (15 June 1940 – 11 February 2006) was an Australian tennis player who won numerous doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. Biography He was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to parents Norm and Ethel Flet ...

tennis player and winner of 12 Grand Slam titles * Greg Hartung President of the Australian Paralympic Committee and Vice-President of the International Paralympic Committee *

Brian Harvey Brian Lee Harvey (born 8 August 1974) is an English singer from London. He was the lead singer of pop group East 17. The later incarnation of the band, E-17, had two top 20 singles on the UK Singles Chart between 1998 and 1999, with the album ...

Paralympic athlete * Ryley Jacksrugby league player for the Gold Coast Titans * Damon KellyOlympic weightlifter and Commonwealth Games gold medalist * Laurie Lawrencecoach of the Australian Olympic swimming team * Luke McLeanrugby union player for Italy and Sale Sharks * Andrew Mewingswimmer and medalist in the World Championships and Commonwealth Games * Brendan O'ReillyUFC mixed martial artist * Harry SharpAustralian rules football player * Elliott ShrianeOlympic speed skater * Joshua SlackOlympic beach volleyball player * Archie SmithAustralian rules football player for the Brisbane Lions * Mark StockwellOlympic swimming silver medalist at the 1984 Olympics; chairman of the Australian Sports Foundation * William ZillmanProfessional rugby league player

Controversies

July 2008 attack on students

On 28 July 2008, a group of youths armed with a meat cleaver and a steel bar stormed St Laurence's School campus in South Brisbane and attacked two 15-year-old boys. One student was slashed across the face and had to undergo surgery. Another suffered deep cuts to his lower back. Seven individuals, aged between thirteen and eighteen, were charged over the attacks.

Sexual assault

The college has a history of sexual assaults. At a candlelight mass in 2015 hosted by Ian McDonald, St Laurence's previous principal, he apologised for the sexual assaults, saying that they "must never happen again". In April 1984, former Christian Brother Brian Dennis Cairns was charged with sexual assault offences against twelve male pupils, aged from ten to twelve years, a number of which attended St Laurence's. Cairns was jailed in 1985 and again in 2014 after more victims came forward.

References

External links

*
St Laurence's Old Boys Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Laurence's College Congregation of Christian Brothers secondary schools in Australia Educational institutions established in 1915 Boys' schools in Queensland Catholic primary schools in Brisbane 1915 establishments in Australia Catholic secondary schools in Brisbane Congregation of Christian Brothers primary schools in Australia Brisbane Local Heritage Register South Brisbane, Queensland