Anthony & Saia Faingaa Page 16

ing at Eddies. I loved going to school every day, being with the boys and being supported by the whole College community. When Saia and I started at Eddies as young 12 year olds, we didn’t even know how to do up our ties, but we had the support of the Eddies community to support us. My time as an Eddies boys taught me humility and work ethic and backed me to chase my goals.”

Saia Fainga’a … “Being at Eddies was amongst the best days of my life. The banter, the relationships, the discipline, the standards imposed on me and the care my whole family got from the community has made me forever grateful. I made so many mates at school – guys who I am still close to today.”

Anthony Fainga’a

Member of the St Edmund’s College Foundation Advisory Committee

Community Profile - Former Parent Juanita Kapel

I am a recent St Edmund’s parent (Leo finished Year 12 in 2020) and a member of the Advisory Committee of the St Edmund’s College Foundation. This is a charitable fund which supports students in the school and assists families with the costs of educating their sons. The Committee is always looking for donations and new ideas to increase the fund to help the College support more families.

I grew up in Sydney, went to school at Loreto Normanhurst and studied economics and law at university. I was not at all ambitious to practise law and as soon as possible after finishing uni I headed overseas to travel and work in Europe and Africa.

Back home in Sydney, I worked as an editor in a legal publishing firm, volunteered for community and refugee legal centres and very soon married a St Edmund’s old boy - Sid Marris. A newly qualified journalist, he was sent to Melbourne, where we stayed for two years, and it remains one of our favourite places to visit and our oldest child now lives there. I was able to continue my community work and freelance editing and I also joined the Office of Parliamentary Counsel in the Victorian Government at the time they were setting up the first interactive legislation database. An opportunity for Sid to work in the press gallery at Parliament House eventually brought us to Canberra.

Realising that government legal work could be quite interesting, I went to ANU to be admitted to practise and joined the public service. This suited my ultimate career plan which was to always do something which could travel with me and which could be done on a part-time basis. I was certainly not planning to stay in Canberra for long.

I enjoyed government litigation and a jet-setting lifestyle for a few years but after having my first child I moved to a legislation role, covering immigration, national security and law enforcement, and have remained in legislation drafting and development ever since.

I am currently working in the Executive Council Secretariat which supports the Governor-General in the exercise of his executive powers, mainly in preparing legislation and government appointments for consideration. I’m still happily working part time.