Mr Stephen Higgs OAM

Following graduation from the University of Melbourne as a geologist, Stephen’s early career in science teaching, at Melbourne Grammar and in the UK, outdoor activity co-ordination and school boarding management led him into several decades as Headmaster at Ballarat Grammar, another Anglican school. In his time there, the School doubled in size and added a campus in the Melbourne CBD, used also by many other schools, and a farm campus on the outskirts of Ballarat. Ballarat Grammar became a second home for several hundred boarders, developing close links with regional communities. The School joined the Round Square which offered myriad opportunities for international experience and understanding, and helped develop a service ethic and environmental awareness to underpin the life of the School. In 2019 Stephen received a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to education.
Stephen currently works as General Manager of Ecumenical Schools Australia, a diverse group of twenty independent schools, and chairs another group of forty regional schools from across Australia.

With his wife, Sue, Stephen lives on a small farm on the Moorabool River near Meredith, where they breed Lowline cattle, and have undertaken extensive tree planting and revegetation. Self-sufficiency extends to being off-grid and powering an electric vehicle, which assists in meeting regular grandparenting duties in Geelong. The fascination with rocks remains, the farm straddling three different rock types!