Dear St Michael’s College Community,

Yesterday the College staff and students at both campuses joined together online via Teams with our College Board Chair, Mrs Marie Dorrington OAM, to welcome the announcement of St Michael’s new Principal, Mr Tony Daley.  It was wonderful to see the College community join as one to hear this important news and to meet Mr Daley, albeit virtually, and to hear his enthusiasm to be joining us here at St Michael’s.

I share with you below the letter from Mrs Dorrington to our St Michael’s community.  We look forward to welcoming Mr Daley to the College in 2023.

Dear St Michael’s College Community

The St Michael’s College, Adelaide, Board is very excited to announce that Mr Tony Daley has been appointed Principal of St Michael’s College, Adelaide, effective from the commencement of the 2023 school year.  This follows a comprehensive consultation with members of the community, a national recruitment campaign held in partnership with Switch Education, and thorough discernment by the Interview Panel.

Tony is in his sixth year as Principal at St Patrick’s College, Launceston, a co-educational, dual-campus, 7-12 College with an enrolment of over 1560 students and 242 staff. He has also held a range of senior leadership roles in schools in Queensland, including St Hilda’s School, a P-12 Anglican Girls School, and John Paul College, a P-12 Co-Educational College with 2300 students.

An experienced educational leader, Tony believes that developing authentic relationships with the College community is important for successful leadership; that education needs to be accessible, engaging, creative and challenging, as well as meeting the needs of each student; and that the primary role of education is to equip the young people in our care with the skills, values and virtues to succeed in the world. He is very well known in his current community and is regularly invited to discuss community and educational issues on the ABC Morning Radio.

Tony holds a Master of Education from Australian Catholic University, a Bachelor of Science from Griffith University, a Graduate Certificate in Theology from Charles Sturt University, a Graduate Diploma in Teaching from QUT, and an Executive Leadership Certificate from Notre Dame University. He and his wife, Tina, have three adult children, and one grandchild. 

The College Board is confident that Tony Daley will lead St Michael’s College to “not only embrace the challenges of the future but to flourish as it continues to grow and develop in the years ahead”.

We look forward to welcoming Tony and Tina to Adelaide and especially to the St Michael’s College community.

Yours sincerely

Marie Dorrington OAM
Board Chair

Kind regards,

Mr Damian Patton
Acting Principal