Our Diocese at a Glance
The Catholic Diocese of Ballarat was established on March 30, 1874.
The Diocese is a diverse and geographically extensive community of nineteen parishes, which covers the western half of Victoria, extending from the Murray River in the north to the Southern Ocean. To the west it is bounded by the Archdiocese of Adelaide and the Diocese of Port Pirie, to the north by the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes and to the east by the Diocese of Sandhurst and the Archdiocese of Melbourne.
The Diocese has a number of provincial centres and large rural areas. There is a wide range and mix of primary and secondary industry and tourism and many places of natural beauty – the Great Ocean Road, the Grampians, the towns of the Murray River, the Little Desert and the goldfields.
The total population of the Diocese is 450,401 and the Catholic population is 89,124 (2021 Australian Census). There are nineteen parishes in the diocese comprising eighty eight church communities. There are twenty-five priests working in parishes. Their work is supported by retired priests. The Bishop works full-time in the diocesan offices. The Vicar General is also a parish priest. Two priests work in tertiary education – one in the diocese and one outside the diocese. One priest is working overseas. Six of the nineteen parishes have a parish priest who also cares for another parish. Many lay people have leadership roles in parishes and many parishes share resources with other Ministry Districts in the diocese, including sharing lay personnel. Click here to download the parish map of the diocese.
The Diocese has 11 Catholic Secondary Colleges and 52 Catholic Primary Schools (including one P-8), who together with Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL) educate 18,600 students.
CatholicCare Victoria is the main social welfare organisation of the Diocese. Based in Ballarat it also has offices in Daylesford, Hamilton, Horsham, Mildura, Swan Hill and Warrnambool. Its services include assistance with employment and housing, disability services, counselling and family services, mental health services, victims assistance programs, homelessness support and community and advocacy support.