Ross Tarlinton, Headmaster, St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill

Ross Tarlinton has made an outstanding contribution to Catholic education, education policy development, vocational education outcomes and teacher professional development as a former commissioner and standing committee chair of the Catholic Education Commission NSW.

Among his achievements since he was appointed to his current role, as headmaster of St Joseph’s College, in 2006, Tarlinton has made a particularly significant contribution to the learning outcomes of Indigenous students. The college’s Indigenous Education Partnership has been held up as a model for independent boarding schools, as they seek to address Indigenous disadvantage and improve learning outcomes and post-school pathways for Indigenous youth.

From 2014-16, Tarlinton was a member of the education committee of the Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, a body that represents the interests of Australian Catholic schools governed by religious orders.