Bill McFarlane’s decades serving his community have been recognised with the awarding of a Medal of the Order of Australia in the King’s Birthday honours. The Geelong-based accountant says he is delighted to have received the award, which was made in recognition of his service to the community of Geelong, including tireless work with local Catholic schools, hospitals and other organisations.
Bill doesn’t know who nominated him but thinks it may have come from the Geelong Racing Club, where he put in 41 years of service. ‘I was treasurer twice, and I was chairman from 1999 to 2004,’ he says. ‘I had a wonderful journey at the racing club, and I feel that with the committee and the support of the members, I achieved quite a lot in the 41 years.’
It was really a wonderful, joyful part of my career.
Beyond the racetrack, Bill helped with the finances at Sacred Heart College in the Geelong suburb of Newtown, run by the Sisters of Mercy, as well as at the sisters’ aged care facility, St Joseph’s Nursing Home.
Bill says he had a particularly significant connection to Sacred Heart College, where he was the business manager.
‘I went there every day for 25 years, and I enjoyed the constant companionship of the other board members and the nuns. They did a fantastic job. It was really a wonderful, joyful part of my career.’
He also considers the extension of his volunteer expertise-sharing with St Joseph’s Nursing Home to have been rewarding, speaking highly of the nuns who ran the facility.
His involvement with Sacred Heart began through his children. ‘The children started at the kindergarten there, actually, and then the prep school. The boys went to St Joseph’s College, and the girls stayed at Sacred Heart.
‘We got a lot of enjoyment from being involved right through their time as students.’
Despite the pleasure he clearly got from the work, Bill says it was also ‘very challenging to straighten out the finances and collect all of the fees for the school.
‘In those days, there were no computers. We used an old Kalamazoo system, and it was all handwritten. All the accounts were handwritten, too. And then with the advent of computers, we picked that up and ran with it.’
His financial expertise also benefited St John of God Hospital in Geelong, where he served on the board for 11 years. ‘I had then developed a relationship with the Sisters of St John of God, and they were wonderful nuns for running a hospital in those days,’ he said. The hospital faced its own challenges when St John of God took over. ‘It was in its infancy and it really started from scratch after the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart gave up operating a hospital.’
His work wasn’t limited to Geelong. Bill also assisted the Passionists at St Gabriel’s Monastery in Highton. ‘They operated a cattle scheme, which involved breeding stud bulls for the open market,’ he recalls.
‘They used to conduct auctions of the bulls. They had a property at Mount Mercer, where they conducted that. I was involved with the financial operation of that as well.’ He describes it as a financially successful scheme for the Passionists.
Horseracing remained a passion, and a completely different outlet from the accounting and finance side of his career. ‘We raced horses throughout the years, not so successfully,’ Bill admits. ‘We did have two that were quite good winners, and we benefited from that, of course.’ His involvement with the Geelong St Pat’s Racing Club lasted 37 years, in which time he served as secretary and helped raise funds for local charities and parish schools.
Today, Bill remains active in his parish, St Mary of the Angels Basilica in Geelong. ‘I just had [parish priest] Fr Jim Clark here just a few minutes ago,’ he says during the interview with Melbourne Catholic. ‘We have a parish finance committee there, which is quite a vibrant committee, and I enjoy being involved with that too.’ His office is conveniently located diagonally opposite from St Mary of the Angels Basilica. ‘I couldn’t get any closer,’ he jokes.
When asked what is next, Bill says he will try to keep his Geelong accounting practice going. He set it up years ago, as a sole practitioner with a small staff. ‘There’s just me and a secretary nowadays, and I get help from other accountants as required. I’ll stay there as long as I can.’
He also takes a moment to pay tribute to his family. ‘I certainly would like to thank my wife Nancy for all her support. And the rest of the family too have supported all our efforts and our involvements. I do thank them very much.’
Banner image: Bill McFarlane OAM. (Photo courtesy of Geelong Racing Club.)
