Kevin John Donnelly (born 1952) is an Australian educator, author and commentator. He is Senior Fellow at the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamation ...

's PM Glynn Institute Donnelly has written numerous articles and books on contemporary developments in education, culture and politics. He is known for contributions to the evaluation of the Australian National Curriculum Australian National Curriculum, and for criticisms of the Australian " Safe Schools" programme.

Early life and education

Donnelly was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 7 January 1952 His father was a Communist and his mother a Catholic.Jane Cadzow
"Back to basics"
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', 12 July 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2018. He experienced a difficult childhood with his father being "alcoholic and quite violent at times".Taming the Black Dog – Dr Kevin Donnelly
vision.org.au. Retrieved 23 May 2018. He grew up in "the housing commission tenements of Melbourne’s

Broadmeadows Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District and the council seat of the City of Hume local government area. Broadmeadows recorded a population of 12,524 at the 2021 census. It i ...

in the 1950s" and attended Broadmeadows High School and

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex education, single-sex Selective school, academically selective secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb ...

. In 1994, he graduated with a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in education from

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

Careers

From 1975, Donnelly taught for eighteen years in secondary schools (in both the government and non-government educational systems). He was also branch president of the

Victorian Secondary Teachers Association The Victorian Secondary Teachers Association (VSTA) was a Victorian trade union organisation which existed from 1953 to 1995. It was originally established in 1948, as the Victorian Secondary Masters' Professional Association, following a breakaway ...

(V.S.T.A.). In the years 1994–2003, he was Director of Education Strategies in Melbourne. In 1996, he undertook a strategic review of the

Queensland Education Department The Department of Education is a ministerial department of the Queensland Government responsible for the administration and quality of education in Queensland, Australia. The department is composed of two separate portfolios, Education Queen ...

for Minister Bob Quinn, focusing on organisation and curriculum at the senior policy level. From 1997–2003, he consulted for the federally funded ''Discovering Democracy'' Civics and Citizenship Programme.The Hon Christopher Pyne MP
Review of national curriculum to put students first

Department of Education, Skills and Employment The Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) was a department of the Government of Australia, existing between 1 February 2020 to 1 July 2022 from a merger of the Department of Education (2019–2020) and Department of ...

, dese.gov.au. Retrieved 20 July 2020. Also in 1997 he was a member of the Victorian Board of Studies. In 1998, he served as Executive Officer on the Internet-based "Achievers Against the Odds" Project that was jointly funded by the Rotary Districts of Victoria and the Victorian Department of Education. In the same year he was appointed as Director for the "I've Got the Power" anti-smoking youth programme funded by Philip Morris. In the same year, he began an analysis of Mathematics, Science and English curriculum across a range of school systems, both national and international, as a benchmarking exercise for the Victorian Department of Education. In 2000, he completed a comparative analysis of the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

National Certificate of Educational Achievement The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the official secondary-school qualification in New Zealand. Phased in between 2002 and 2004, it replaced three older secondary-school qualifications. The New Zealand Qualifications A ...

for the NZ Education Forum and in 2002 and 2007 he carried out benchmarking work for the New Zealand school curriculum. In 2003 he consulted for the Commonwealth funded enquiry into boys’ education.Kevin Donnelly
theconversation.com. Retrieved 20 July 2020. In the years 2004–05, Donnelly was Chief of Staff for the Hon. Kevin Andrews, the then

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations is an Australian Government cabinet position which is currently held by Amanda Rishworth following her swearing-in on 13 May 2025 as a result of Anthony Albanese's Labor government being re-ele ...

in the Federal government. In 2005–06, he was a member of the steering committee for the federally funded enquiry into the

Australian Certificate of Education The Australian Certificate of Education (ACE) is the name of a proposed national senior secondary school certificate to replace the various existing Australian state and territory certificates in the upcoming Australian Curriculum. The scheme was ...

and National Review of Year 12 subjects. In 2005 he also completed a Commonwealth funded project benchmarking primary intended curriculum documents in mathematics, science and English against overseas systems. He was appointed Director for the Melbourne-based Education Strategies and Education Standards Institute in 2005 and from this period he became an active author and commentator on education. In 2013 he was appointed as Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education and Arts at the

in Melbourne. In 2014, Donnelly and

Kenneth Wiltshire Kenneth William Wiltshire AO, known as Ken Wiltshire is an Australian academic and author. He is the J. D. Story Professor of Public Administration at the University of Queensland Business School. He was the Australian Representative on the Execu ...

were appointed by

Christopher Pyne Christopher Maurice Pyne (born 13 August 1967) is a retired Australian politician. As a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party, he held several ministerial positions in the Howard government, Howard, Abbott government, Abbott, ...

, Australia's federal education minister, as co-chairs to evaluate the Australian National Curriculum with special reference to the "robustness, independence and balance" being taught to Australian youth. They co-authored the 2014 review of the Australian National Curriculum. In 2016, Donnelly wrote opinion pieces criticising the ideology of the " Safe Schools" programme.

Award

* 2016:

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

"for significant service to education as a researcher and author, to national curriculum development, and to professional organisations".

Select bibliography

Books by Kevin Donnelly

* ''Why Our Schools are Failing'' (also titled: ''Why Our Schools are Failing: What Parents Need to Know about Australian Education'', Potts Point, N.S.W.: Duffy & Snellgrove, 2004. * ''Dumbing Down: Outcomes-Based and Politically Correct: The Impact of the Culture Wars on Our Schools'', South Yarra, Victoria: Hardie Grant, 2007. * ''Australia's Education Revolution: How Kevin Rudd Won and Lost the Education Wars'', Ballan, Victoria: Connor Court Publishing, 2009. * ''Educating Your Child: It's Not Rocket Science'', Ballan, Victoria: Connor Court Publishing, 2012. * ''Taming the Black Dog'', Ballarat, Victoria: Connor Court Publishing, 2014. * ''Dumbing Down'', Browns Plains: Australian eBook Publisher, 2014. * ''The Culture of Freedom'', Melbourne: Institute of Public Affairs, 2016 (Monographs on Western Civilisation, No. 5). * ''Regulation and Funding of Independent Schools: Lessons from Australia'', Vancouver: Fraser Institute, 2017. * ''How Political Correctness is Destroying Australia'', Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing, 2018.Giles Auty
"Brutopian notes"
''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' (Australian edition), 30 June 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2020. * ''How Political Correctness is Destroying Education and Your Child’s Future'', Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing, 2018. * ''A Politically Correct Dictionary and Guide'', Redland Bay, Queensland: Connor Court, 2019. * ''How Political Correctness Is Still Destroying Australia'', Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing, 2020. * ''Cancel Culture and the Left's Long March'', Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing, 2021. * ''The Dictionary of Woke: How Orwellian Language Control And Group Think Are Destroying Western Societies'', Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing, 2022. * ''Wake Up to Woke: It's Time Australia'', Self-published, 2024.

Articles by Kevin Donnelly

* "Exploding the Literary Canon", ''

The Weekend Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of bot ...

'', 8–9 October 2005, p. 23. * "The Muffled Canon", ''The Weekend Australian'', 22–23 April 2006, p. 20. * "Australia's Adoption of Outcomes Based Education: A Critique", ''Issues in Educational Research'', 17(2), January 2007, pp. 183–206. * "A Canon We Can't Afford to Overlook", ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'', 9 August 2007, p. 14. * "School Choice in Australia: An Overview of the Rules and Facts", ''Journal of School Choice'', 6(2), April 2012, pp. 290–294. * "Review of the Australian Curriculum: A View from a Member of the Review Team", ''Curriculum Perspectives'', 35(1), April 2015, pp. 8–19. * "The Australian Education Union: A History of Opposing School Choice and School Autonomy Down-Under", ''Journal of School Choice'', 9(4), October 2015, pp. 626–641.
"Counteroffensive on the Western Front"
''Quadrant'', 21 March 2017.
"The Betrayal of Education and Principle"
''Quadrant'', 3 August 2017.
"Cultural Left has Targeted Education For Decades"
''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', 6 April 2018.
"Religion Belongs in Schools"
''Quadrant'', 11 April 2018.
"The Price of Not Mentioning the Truth"
''

Catholic Weekly ''The Catholic Weekly'' is an English language newspaper currently published in Sydney, Australia. It is published in tabloid format. Throughout its history, it has also been published as ''The Freeman's Journal'' and ''Catholic Freeman's Jou ...

'', 18 April 2018.
"Child-Led Learning has Dragged Australia Down"
''

'', 25 April 2018.
"Guaranteeing a Generation of Dolts"
''Quadrant'', 2 May 2018. * "The West is Lost and Our Unis Founder in Farce", ''The Australian'', 11 June 2018, p. 14.

External links

Official website of Kevin Donnelly

Criticising Safe Schools doesn't make you homophobic
at ABC News
Dr Kevin Donnelly on Political Correctness and Education
at OMNY.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Kevin 1952 births Living people Anti-indigenous racism in Australia Australian educational theorists Conservatism in Australia Critics of postmodernism La Trobe University alumni Academic staff of the Australian Catholic University Members of the Order of Australia People from Broadmeadows, Victoria Writers from Melbourne