The Defining Features document, formally entitled Catholic Schools for the 21st Century, was launched in 2002. It arises from a research project authorized by the Queensland Bishops and is a foundational document that captures the essential characteristics of Catholic Schools in Queensland in this new millennium.

In that document, seven characteristics of Catholic schools were identified. Catholic Schools in the Cairns Diocese will:

• Be places of authentic evangelisation where faith and life are one
  Our faith is a gift which enhances our capacity to live rich and meaningful lives.
  
  
• Celebrate God’s abundant and abiding presence in all creation
  We are co-creators of our world which God’s love continues to entrust to us.
  
  
• Be communities sustained by life giving relationships
  Our schools are genuine communities founded on relationships which are based on shared beliefs and common goals.
  
  
• Be welcoming to all who seek to share their life
  Our schools will engage with people wherever they are in their lives and faith journeys.
  
  
• Be centres of holistic learning
  A focus on the holistic growth of individual people is the prime educational purpose of the
  Catholic school.
  
  
• Be places of self-renewal and agents of change
  Our schools will remain ever new by engaging in self evaluation and self renewal,
  beginning with the individual and extending to the community and all society.
  
  
• Build constructive covenants with all partners
  Cairns Catholic schools will actively engage with the communities of which they are a part.

» Defining Features (pdf)