Entity titleCouncil for Chaplaincies in Tertiary InstitutionsEntity identifier288Entity typeAgencyDate range1983 - Description"Early in the 'sixties a group of religious bodies, including the larger Christian denominations and the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies, combined to select and accredit chaplains to the (then) two Victorian universities, and to nominate them to the Vice-Chancellors. A committee, known at the Churches' Committee for Tertiary Education, was formally constituted as an official ecumenical agency. (This committee was continuous with a slightly earlier one, the Churches' Committee for Monash University, which began in 1956 from initiatives taken by Archbishop Sir Frank Woods, Dr J Davis McCaughey, Dr G Calvert Barber, and others. Its first task was to arrange for, and to raise funds for, the Monash Interdenominational Religious Centre)."
The Committee's main function was the appointment and accreditation of chaplains. In 1962 the contributing churches accepted in agreed proportions, to the cost of the chaplaincy services at Monash University. The Committee received funds from the churches and accepted responsibility for the payment of the chaplains stipend and expenses, this was later extended to include other tertiary chaplains, including non-Christian and non-Jewish chaplains. The Anglican Home office administered these funds until 1971 when the Committee itself took over full responsibility for the financing of its work.
"The Council was incorporated in 1983 as a non-profit making company with the following member denominations: Anglican, Baptist, Churches of Christ, Greek Orthodox, Hillel Foundation, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and the Uniting Church. In more recent days the Salvation Army and the Islamic Council of Victoria have also become members."
As of 1993, the Council ceased to fund chaplains, and the committee returned to functioning only as the accrediting body for chaplains in tertiary institutions.