Dr Carmel Suart
Carmel is the Director of the Office for Christian Initiation. She has been a consultant for the Catechist Service Team at the Catholic Education WA for 29 years, where she has been involved in many aspects of adult faith formation and religious education of children. Her main area of expertise is family catechesis. This work has taken her into parishes and dioceses across Australia, where she has worked with parent groups, teachers, catechists, priests and bishops in devising strategies to assist communities support families in nurturing the faith of children within the context of family life. Carmel has a background in primary teaching, holding a Bachelor of Education degree and a Masters in Religious Education, both from Edith Cowan University. In 2007 she completed her doctoral studies at the University of Notre Dame Australia in the area of family catechesis: an area which has always been very dear to her. The study explored the ways faith is nurtured within the context of the home and uncovered the challenges to nurturing faith faced by parents, especially mothers. Currently she is completing a Masters degree in Canon Law from St Paul’s University Ottawa. Carmel is married, has two daughters and a son and a grandson with whom she is besotted.