Business View Magazine Jan-Feb 2019

17 T he Australian Boarding School Association (ABSA) is a bea- con for boarding schools around Australia. It has grown to become a guiding light for that part of academic life that has often gone forgotten by scholastic Australia. The interest and well-being of Australian boarders and staff has never seen such resolute attention and dedication. The story of how ABSA began and grew all starts with Executive Director Richard Stokes, who has overseen and been a part of ABSA since its inception and has been crucial in driving the increasing momentum, and in raising and maintaining boarding standards throughout the country. Stokes started out back in 1986 when he coordinated a group of people who worked in boarding in Queensland stating: “We used to get together once a term to talk about what our issues were. That grew to running a national conference, which then grew to a discussion in 2007 where it was established that this route for boarding support need to be developed more officially.” This conversation happened between Stokes and Dr. Tim Hawkes, a prominent Australian educator and current headmaster of The King’s School (day and boarding) in Sydney.