SPEAK FOR FAITH 2026 – A joint project of the Catenian Association in Western Australia and Catholic Education Western Australia.
2026 rules and conditions of entry. – click the link

THE SPONSORS
The Catenian Association is a fellowship of active Catholic lay men, originating in England in 1908 and present in Perth since 1977 with currently around 400 members in WA.
Catenians have a love of their Catholic faith and practice and want to encourage emerging young Catholics to express their faith to the world. Hence, the Provincial Council of the Catenian Association in Western Australia resolved to sponsor a public speaking contest for students in WA Catholic Schools.
The aim of the Speak for Faith, Catholic Schools Public Speaking Competition is to provide opportunity and incentive for students of Senior Secondary Religious Education
and Years Five and Six to speak positively on the Catholic faith and develop their public communication skills.
The Competition has been open to all senior secondary students from WA Catholic schools since 2017. In 2025 the competition expanded and welcomed primary students.
The Catenian Provincial Council provides the prize money and additional funds to enable competitors from country schools to take part.
The Catenians in WA also sponsor Catholic university students with needs-based bursaries to cover accommodation at Thomas More College in Crawley and merit-based
scholarships for students at the University of Notre Dame Australia.

2026 REPORT FOR SPEAK FOR FAITH

First Heat

‘Why is it important for the Catholic Church to become involved in the issue of human trafficking in Australia today?‘ This was the topic given for the Year 11 and 12 student’s impromptu speech. They had three minutes to prepare a two minute speech answering the question using what they had learnt in their RE course at school.

The first heat this afternoon saw excellent speeches by students in Years 5 & 6 and then Years 11 and 12. The five Catenians who were there plus the three adjudicators were mightily impressed by the calibre of the depth of understanding using bible quotes and the catechism, even in the impromptu speeches.

Second Heat Impromptu Question for the Senior students. Using the example of the work that Caritas is doing in Gaza and the enormous problems facing the people there…. the students were asked ‘Why is a humanitarian crisis in an overseas country a matter of concern for the Australian Catholic Church?’

All six speakers handled this question brilliantly with quotes from the bible and from the work that their teachers had done with them in class. It was also refreshing to hear the one young man who took part, speak about being a man in today’s society and how the ‘manosphere’ was having a detrimental affect on how men of today saw themselves. This, with examples of Jesus and how we should use him as an example of manhood. At the end I said that I would listen to one of their sermons any day.

FINALS OF THE COMPETITION

‘It was another fantastic day listening to the primary and secondary speakers at the Speak for Faith final. They all spoke so well and showed us that the younger generation has a lot of faith and skills to share. It was an absolute privilege being there and listening to these young people.’ – just one comment from a member of the audience of Catenians who ventured out to watch the Finals.

A member of the adjudicating panel is a senior member of the Catholic Education Office Religious Education Team and he was in awe of all of the speeches given and praised the students as well as their teachers. He was that impressed that he invited them all to think seriously about becoming Religious Ed teachers themselves.

Thanks to the Catenians who made their way to Leederville to observe and be impressed at how the young Catholics of today can be so faith filled.