Marist College Ashgrove

Marist College Ashgrove is an independent Roman Catholic day and boarding primary and secondary school for boys, located in the northern Brisbane suburb of Ashgrove, in Queensland. The college caters for students from Year 5 to Year 12. Marist College Ashgrove was founded by the Marist Brothers as a day and boarding College in 1940, and it is still owned and conducted by the Marist Brothers.

The school has been linked with allegations of child sexual abuse in regard to Brother Thomas Joseph Butler (known as "Brother Patrick") who taught at the school in 1969 and between 1989 to 2000. Brother Patrick died in 2006. However, in April 2015, responding to an article from the Newcastle Herald, the Marist Brothers Australian Provincial Office made a statement, admitting that it had received complaints about Brother Patrick from students at three Marist Brothers schools, but only since the early 1990s. The statement made gave an apology not just to the victims of Patrick Butler, but also to the other victims of sexual abuse committed by other Brothers and employees of the Order.

In September 2016, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse held a public hearing (in Newcastle) to examine how the Marist leadership handled Brother Patrick Butler (among other Marist perpetrators).

We invite former students of Marist College Ashgrove, teachers and parents to contact us to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form below.