Catholic Clubs Thriving Despite Population’s Drop in Religious Affiliation

When the Club first opened its doors in 1968, just over 86 per cent of the Australian population identified as Christians, and 27 per cent as Catholic.

According to the latest Census data from 2021, that figure has dropped to 43.9 per cent identifying as Christian and 20 per cent as Catholic.

Campbelltown Catholic Club CEO Michael Lavorato says demand for the facilities and community support provided by religious clubs has never been stronger.

“We’ve got a great relationship with all the Catholic clubs in Sydney. [They are] all successful clubs, at our heart we’re all formed for pretty much the same reason, which is the support of Catholic education, sport, culture and supporting Catholic institutions within our local area,” Michael tells the ClubLIFE Podcast in an episode released today.

“That was a core purpose for our being back in the 60s when the Club was formed… and here we are almost 60 years later, and the Club is still true to those aims and objectives. It’s something I’m very proud of.”

Over the past 56 years, Campbelltown Catholic Club has successfully grown from a small meeting place to a large operation, encompassing its main clubhouse with multiple dining establishments, convention and entertainment centre The Cube, health and wellbeing complex Aquafit, and hotel Rydges Campbelltown.

So successful is the Club, it has also ensured the long-term survival of two other local clubs, thanks to its amalgamations with Campbelltown Golf Club and Campbelltown Bowling Club.

It’s a far cry from its early days when a small group of men devised a plan to open a local club in order to help fund the establishment of Catholic schools.

“Back in the 60s, when the Club was formed, the support of Catholic schools financially from government was largely very different to what it is now, so it did rely on a local contribution to help build schools,” Michael tells the ClubLIFE Podcast.

“Large Catholic families, typically Irish Catholic families, settled in Campbelltown and the only way that the schools were built were volunteer labour on weekends.

“At the end of a very hot summery day, a group of men were at a local pub in town having a drink after a hard day and one of them said ‘there’s got to be a better way than this’, we should form our own club, and the proceeds should go to helping support what we’re doing.”

These days, the Club has a large and diversified membership base, welcoming patrons from all religious denominations, without losing sight of its core purpose by ensuring Board directors remain Catholic.

“I don’t think it’s any different from other clubs that require their constitutions to have a proportion of returned servicemen,” says Michael.

“There’s no restrictions on who we let in the Club… we’ve got all faiths, all denominations represented in our membership, in our staff, but it’s a security blanket around ensuring that the governing body is of a Catholic faith, and it hasn’t really come up as being an issue.”

Click on the link above to hear the full interview with Michael Lavorato in Episode 3 of the ClubLIFE Podcast, which is also available via ClubLIFE.com.au, Apple, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts.

The full back catalogue of episodes is also available, featuring Episode One with ClubsNSW Chair Sallianne Faulkner and Episode Two with Mounties Group CEO Dale Hunt.

If you have a suggestion on who might make an interesting guest for a future ClubLIFE Podcast episode, get in touch with the team by emailing [email protected].