Origins – 1890’s
August 27, 1898
Origins The Association, known as the Associated Catholic Colleges of Melbourne, grew out of earlier organisations that provided boys’ colleges with formal and informal meetings for inter-College sport competitions. The earliest recorded mention of such meetings dates back to 1898 when CBC St Kilda met Wesley College and Parade encountered…
Read moreGymkhana Picnic Sports
December 31, 1905
Around 1906 the Procession was firmly established as an important official function and the custom was to have a gymkhana picnic sports day at its completion. The competition, open to all Catholic Colleges, country as well as metropolitan, was limited to athletics. All trophies, including the Archbishop’s Shield, were provided…
Read moreSecondary Colleges Competition
December 31, 1908
In the early years of the century an organisation called the Secondary Colleges Competition included eight teams for football and cricket from the following Catholic and non-Catholic colleges: C.B.C North Melbourne, CBC St Kilda, St Vincent’s College South Melbourne, Carlton College, Caulfield Grammar, Brighton Grammar, Assumption College Kilmore, and an…
Read moreSecondary Teams Association
December 31, 1909
To replace the Secondary Colleges Competition a group of six Brothers’ Colleges established the Secondary Teams Association on April 2, 1909, and started competing in 1910. The names of these Colleges remain unknown. At the time football and cricket were the only sports offered. It was not until 1914 that…
Read moreMetropolitan Catholic Colleges
December 31, 1929
The Secondary Teams Association later emerged as the Metropolitan Catholic Colleges. It offered competition in football, cricket, and swimming. Thus was formed an association of Catholic boys’ colleges in the city of Melbourne as distinct from a Catholic country sporting organisation.
Read moreACC Formation
May 31, 1948
The Associated Catholic Colleges came into being in June, 1948. The founding members were seven Brothers’ Colleges of Melbourne: CBC Parade, CBC St Kilda, CBC North Melbourne, CBC Essendon, CBC Toorak, De La Salle Malvern and St Bede’s Mentone. The first president, Br. Peter, Principal of De La Salle College…
Read moreSt Kevin’s (CBC Toorak)
December 31, 1956
St Kevin’s College (formerly known as CBC Toorak) departs the ACC and joins the APS.
Read moreSt Joseph’s Nth Fitzroy
December 31, 1957
St Joseph’s Marist Brothers’ College, North Fitzroy, joins the ACC.
Read moreSalesian College, Chadstone
December 31, 1965
Salesian College, Chadstone, joins the ACC.
Read moreSt John’s College, Braybrook
December 31, 1969
St John’s College, Braybrook, joins the ACC.
Read moreSt Paul’s College, Altona North
December 31, 1977
St Paul’s College, Altona North, joins the ACC.
Read moreSt Joseph’s College Departs
December 31, 1977
St Joseph’s College leaves the ACC.
Read moreSt John’s / Chisholm
December 31, 1978
In 1979 St John’s College became a Junior Secondary College; Chisholm College was formed to cater for co-educational senior secondary classes. Both Colleges constituted one member in the ACC.
Read moreSalesian College Departs
December 30, 1983
Salesian College moves from the ACC to the Eastern Independent Schools (EIS).
Read moreMid 1980’s
December 31, 1984
At the end of this second period, the Associated Catholic Colleges of Melbourne was comprised of the following eight members: Parade College Bundoora, Christian Brothers’ College St Kilda, St Joseph’s College North Melbourne (incorporating St Joseph’s College Pascoe Vale), De La Salle College Malvern, St Bede’s College Mentone, St Bernard’s…
Read moreLate 1980’s
December 31, 1986
The late 1980s saw a further broadening of the range of sports offered as part of the ACC and the introduction of junior competitions in a number of additional sports.
Read moreChisholm College Withdraws
December 30, 1987
Chisholm College withdrew from the Association at the end of 1987, but St John’s Braybrook continued to compete in the Junior and Juvenile sections of the Athletics, Swimming and Cross-country competitions and the Year 10 competitions of the other sports.
Read moreSmaller Schools Combine
December 31, 1987
St Joseph’s Pascoe Vale also withdrew from the Association in 1988 and Cathedral College, East Melbourne with Trinity College, Brunswick, both feeder Colleges for CBC North Melbourne, formed a combined squad to participate in the three major carnivals.
Read moreDivisional Sport
December 31, 1989
Increasing concern at the one-sided nature of many matches and competitions due to the ever-widening gap in enrolments between some Colleges led to the creation of the Division 1 and Division 2 competitions in some sports in 1990.
Read moreSt Joseph’s Geelong Football
March 31, 1992
Geelong competed in the First XVIII, Division One, Football competition by invitation commencing in 1992.
Read moreClosures & Amalgamations
November 30, 1995
The establishment of new Colleges by amalgamations resulted in the closure, and consequent withdrawal from the Association, of Cathedral College at the end of 1995, and St John’s Braybrook at the end of 1996. From 1996, North Melbourne competed in Senior events only and in 1997 St Joseph’s College Geelong…
Read moreJunior Rally Days
December 31, 1997
To cater better for younger students a series of one-day competitions was introduced in the second half of the 1990s for Year 7 and 8 students.
Read moreACC Expansion
December 31, 1998

1999 saw the expansion of the Association with Salesian, Mazenod and Whitefriars Colleges becoming full members and the employment of part-time Executive Officer in John Morrison. This year also saw the introduction of separate fixtured competitions for Years 7, 8, 9, and 10. This expansion of the program resulted in…
Read moreExecutive Officer Appointed
December 31, 1998

With the expansion of the ACC member schools and the further development of the sporting program, the ACC Principals made the decision to appoint their first employee of the Association. Mr. John Morrison was employed as Executive Officer, working two days per week and overseeing the management of all aspects of…
Read moreFull & Associate Members
December 31, 1999
In 2000, Samaritan College (an amalgamation of Redden Preston and St Joseph’s North Fitzroy) joined as a full member of the ACC whilst Trinity College Brunswick and Simonds College West Melbourne both joined as Associate members which enabled competition in Carnivals and Rally Days, but not weekly fixtured competition.
Read moreMusic & Debating
December 31, 2000
2001 saw Trinity Brunswick withdrawing from ACC competition and the introduction of Debating and Music to extend the ACC program of activities.
Read moreACC Farewells John Morrison
December 30, 2004
At the end of 2004 John Morrison completed six years of service before passing the Executive Officer baton to Mr. Paddy McKenna. Given the consolidation and further development of ACC sport and the extension of ACC activities into the areas of Music, Debating and Student Leadership, ACC Principals decided to…
Read moreDrama Workshops
July 29, 2005

As further demonstration of the ACC’s commitment to provide students with a diverse range of activities, an ACC drama workshop was held for Yr 9/10 boys for the first time in 2005.
Read morePublic Speaking
July 31, 2007
To complement the thriving Debating program, Public Speaking was added to the list of ACC activities in 2007.
Read moreSt Paul’s becomes Emmanuel College
December 31, 2007
In early 2008, St. Paul’s College in Altona North opened a new co-educational campus in Point Cook to complement the boys campus and changed its name to Emmanuel College.
Read moreACCent on Music
September 16, 2008

Since the inception of Music in the ACC, the focus had been on developmental workshops. The decision was made in 2007 to take the ACC Music program to a new level and to hold a combined concert at the premier concert venue in Victoria – Hamer Hall at Arts Centre…
Read moreSamaritan College Closes
December 30, 2008
At the conclusion of 2008, Samaritan College closed, ending their involvement with the ACC. The property in Preston was purchased by Parade College and from 2009 set up as their second campus.
Read moreThe ACC becomes Incorporated
October 31, 2009
Following legal advice, the ACC Principals made the decision to become an Incorporated entity. The new name of the Association became “The Associated Catholic Colleges Incorporated” and the new Rules of the Association were adopted.
Read moreSt Joseph’s Pascoe Vale Closes
December 30, 2009
In late 2009, St. Joseph’s Melbourne closed its Junior Campus in Pascoe Vale.
Read moreSt Joseph’s North Melbourne Closes
December 30, 2010
St. Joseph’s Melbourne closed its Senior Campus at the end of 2010, ending a long and proud history of involvement in the ACC. The North Melbourne campus was eventually set up by EREA as an alternative educational setting.
Read moreBadminton Tournaments
March 31, 2013

Badminton was added to the sporting program for the first time, with tournaments for Junior, Intermediate and Open competition.
Read moreArt & Technology Exhibition
April 20, 2013

Another major event was added to the ACC calendar with the inclusion of an Art & Technology Exhibition. The event was held for 7 days at the iconic Federation Square in Melbourne. Each school submitted items for display in the Yarra Gallery, resulting in a stunning exhibition that was widely…
Read moreMusic returns to Hamer Hall
September 16, 2014

The ACC returned to Hamer Hall for the second “ACCent on Music” concert. MC and special guest performer, James Morrison, dazzled the audience with his incredible skill on the trumpet and joined the students in several ensembles as they performed on stage. Once again, the quality of the performances by…
Read moreAbbotsford Convent Exhibition
March 31, 2015

The second Art & Technology exhibition was held in April / May of 2015, with the event moving to a new venue – the culturally and religiously significant Abbotsford Convent.
Read moreCulinary Delight
July 31, 2015

With growing interest from TV shows such as Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules, the ACC added a new event to the annual calendar – a Culinary Competition. The event was hosted by Holmesglen Institute in Glen Waverley, with teams of 4 students working collaboratively to produce a chicken based dish….
Read moreTriathlon
February 29, 2016

Following significant interest, the ACC conducted its first triathlon event in March 2016 in conjunction with the Sole Motive TriSeries. Six schools were represented by almost 60 students in the swim / ride / run event held at Sandringham.
Read moreSt Joseph’s College Ferntree Gully
January 1, 2017

The ACC welcomed a new member school to the Association at the beginning of 2017 – St Joseph’s College in Ferntree Gully.
Read moreLawn Bowls Tournament
March 15, 2017

Lawn Bowls was introduced to the ACC sporting calendar in 2017, with an Open competition held in March and a junior participation day held in late September. The Open event was won by the newest member of the Association, St Joseph’s College Ferntree Gully, who had only joined the ACC…
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