TAFE Queensland chief executive officer Tim Rawlings has told a gathering of Catholic professionals that the support of his childhood parish anchored his family at a time of personal hardship. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Speaking at the Brisbane Catholic Professionals lunch, Mr Rawlings shared his journey from humble beginnings on the Gold Coast to the height of Queensland’s vocational education sector, now overseeing 125,000 students and 60 campuses.
Mr Rawlings’ childhood was upended at age nine when his father, a casino cleaner, contracted pneumonia and entered a cycle of hospitalisations that lasted six years until his death.
Left to raise four primary school-aged children with “no money” and “no resources,” his mum found a lifeline in her local church.
“All I know is that when I was a child, it was the Catholic Church that helped my mum get through and raise her four kids,” he said.
“And so, I am a beneficiary of that, and you cannot take that away from me”.
Mr Rawlings was concerned for young people today, referring to what he learned from his own organisation’s market research reports.
The data he saw revealed young people aged 16 to 25 were experiencing “future-related anxiety” so high that many have abandoned hope of traditional milestones like home ownership and starting a family.
“It is a hopeless time in the minds of that generation,” Mr Rawlings warned.
He argued that his role and that of the Church, should be to provide “agency” – the sense that one was the master of their own fate.
“By starting a course or doing something with us, you get agency over your life,” he said.
“You take control of your life … if you have agency, you therefore have hope.”
Mr Rawlings urged the professionals in the room to “sow hope” in a cynical age.
He said that while he once tried to defend his faith with logic, he now relied on the lived evidence of the community that saved his family.
“People of faith can do things in moments of grief and beyond that are quite remarkable,” he said.
FULL STORY
TAFE Queensland boss gives thanks for childhood parish lifting up his family in difficult times (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
