Brisbane Catholic Education - Best Tech Awards 2025 The Chris O'Brien Award
Brisbane Catholic Education’s Ignite Project: Embedding Safeguarding and Social Impact in Every School Download the DocumentSAP Australia and New
Zealand Best Tech Awards
2025
Zealand Best Tech Awards
2025
Best Tech SAP
Industry WebsiteProduct and Services Featured SAP Solutions
Government &
Public Services
https://www.bne.catholic.edu.au/Education SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central,
Recruitment, Onboarding 2.0,
Performance & Goals, Succession, People
Analytics, Deloitte WorkforceX, Deloitte
PeopleForms
Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) is a community of 146 schools across South East Queensland. It provides a student-centred education from Prep to Year 12, grounded
in excellence, compassion and faith. BCE is a place of modern learning – constantly seeking opportunities to progress by not only pursuing academic excellence but
excellence in all pursuits. To support this and prioritise student safety, BCE launched the Ignite Project, a significant digital transformation of its human resource
information systems.
This was more than a technology project, Ignite streamlined processes, improved efficiency, and enhanced the overall employee experience. What makes Ignite truly special
is its ability to support an improved employee experience, where employees have access to a contemporary system, managing the ir own personal information and easily
accessing career opportunities, plus supporting their wellbeing and professional development. By replacing outdated, manual p rocesses with a single, secure source of truth
for employee and organisational data, BCE has significantly enhanced its ability to centrally identify and manage safeguarding requirements, validate staff credentials, and
drive operational efficiency. Supported by Deloitte’s implementation expertise and assets, the project focused on staff engagement and training to ensure a smooth
transition.
Ignite, prioritises safeguarding in the BCE community and enables them to focus on what truly matters: teaching, challenging, and transforming lives.
Brisbane Catholic Education’s Ignite Project: Embedding
Safeguarding and Social Impact in Every School
The Chris O’Brien Award
Industry WebsiteProduct and Services Featured SAP Solutions
Government &
Public Services
https://www.bne.catholic.edu.au/Education SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central,
Recruitment, Onboarding 2.0,
Performance & Goals, Succession, People
Analytics, Deloitte WorkforceX, Deloitte
PeopleForms
Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) is a community of 146 schools across South East Queensland. It provides a student-centred education from Prep to Year 12, grounded
in excellence, compassion and faith. BCE is a place of modern learning – constantly seeking opportunities to progress by not only pursuing academic excellence but
excellence in all pursuits. To support this and prioritise student safety, BCE launched the Ignite Project, a significant digital transformation of its human resource
information systems.
This was more than a technology project, Ignite streamlined processes, improved efficiency, and enhanced the overall employee experience. What makes Ignite truly special
is its ability to support an improved employee experience, where employees have access to a contemporary system, managing the ir own personal information and easily
accessing career opportunities, plus supporting their wellbeing and professional development. By replacing outdated, manual p rocesses with a single, secure source of truth
for employee and organisational data, BCE has significantly enhanced its ability to centrally identify and manage safeguarding requirements, validate staff credentials, and
drive operational efficiency. Supported by Deloitte’s implementation expertise and assets, the project focused on staff engagement and training to ensure a smooth
transition.
Ignite, prioritises safeguarding in the BCE community and enables them to focus on what truly matters: teaching, challenging, and transforming lives.
Brisbane Catholic Education’s Ignite Project: Embedding
Safeguarding and Social Impact in Every School
The Chris O’Brien Award
Challenges
Prior to the implementation of Ignite, BCE operated with fragmented systems and limited processes , which impacted
operational efficiencies. Without a robust Human Resources Information System (HRIS), or Capital Management (HCM) platform,
critical functions such as recruitment, employment checks, onboarding, and other people related processes were managed
through a mix of disparate platforms and manual methods. BCE also aimed to address the need for a single, centralised platform
to manage and support their safeguarding requirements more effectively. Should we be saying this?
The absence of a HRIS significantly affected the overall employee experience, particularly in managing a large, decentralised
workforce of over 13,000 staff based primarily in schools across South East Queensland.
To overcome these challenges BCE set a vision for Ignite to deliver an intuitive, compliant, and secure, Human Resource
Information System (HRIS) for our people by way of a system of intelligence, that prioritises safeguarding, performance, and
engagement of our people throughout the BCE employee lifecycle.
The Ignite Project was the critical step toward achieving these goals.
Prior to the implementation of Ignite, BCE operated with fragmented systems and limited processes , which impacted
operational efficiencies. Without a robust Human Resources Information System (HRIS), or Capital Management (HCM) platform,
critical functions such as recruitment, employment checks, onboarding, and other people related processes were managed
through a mix of disparate platforms and manual methods. BCE also aimed to address the need for a single, centralised platform
to manage and support their safeguarding requirements more effectively. Should we be saying this?
The absence of a HRIS significantly affected the overall employee experience, particularly in managing a large, decentralised
workforce of over 13,000 staff based primarily in schools across South East Queensland.
To overcome these challenges BCE set a vision for Ignite to deliver an intuitive, compliant, and secure, Human Resource
Information System (HRIS) for our people by way of a system of intelligence, that prioritises safeguarding, performance, and
engagement of our people throughout the BCE employee lifecycle.
The Ignite Project was the critical step toward achieving these goals.
Solution
To meet BCE’s complex requirements and sector-specific needs, SAP SuccessFactors was implemented alongside Deloitte’s
proprietary assets to deliver a unified, end-to-end HR solution. The platform included core SAP modules such as Employee Central,
Recruitment, Onboarding, Performance, Succession, and People Analytics, all tailored for the education sector. Deloitte’s
WorkforceX enhanced the employee experience, while PeopleForms enabled customised digital workflows to streamline HR
operations. For contract generation and digital signature management, SpinifexIT's Strato was integrated, a critical enabler in
securely issuing and storing employment contracts at scale.
Over an 809-day journey from contract signing to go-live, BCE and Deloitte worked closely to migrate more than 21 million
records, integrate deeply with BCE’s existing systems, and deliver a mobile-first interface that empowers frontline educators. With
safeguarding embedded throughout, including automated credential validation and “do not rehire” alerts, the system provides full
visibility into the employee lifecycle and reinforces compliance across BCE’s schools. A significant investment in change
management, including roadshows, hands-on training, and a digital adoption platform, ensured that staff were equipped and
confident to engage with the new system from day one.
To meet BCE’s complex requirements and sector-specific needs, SAP SuccessFactors was implemented alongside Deloitte’s
proprietary assets to deliver a unified, end-to-end HR solution. The platform included core SAP modules such as Employee Central,
Recruitment, Onboarding, Performance, Succession, and People Analytics, all tailored for the education sector. Deloitte’s
WorkforceX enhanced the employee experience, while PeopleForms enabled customised digital workflows to streamline HR
operations. For contract generation and digital signature management, SpinifexIT's Strato was integrated, a critical enabler in
securely issuing and storing employment contracts at scale.
Over an 809-day journey from contract signing to go-live, BCE and Deloitte worked closely to migrate more than 21 million
records, integrate deeply with BCE’s existing systems, and deliver a mobile-first interface that empowers frontline educators. With
safeguarding embedded throughout, including automated credential validation and “do not rehire” alerts, the system provides full
visibility into the employee lifecycle and reinforces compliance across BCE’s schools. A significant investment in change
management, including roadshows, hands-on training, and a digital adoption platform, ensured that staff were equipped and
confident to engage with the new system from day one.
Impact
Over 21 Million
Individual Data
Records Migrated
32 Candidates
Flagged for
Safeguarding
Review in First 10
Weeks
1,730 Safeguarding
Documents
Updated
Since going live in March 2025, BCE’s Ignite project has delivered strong, measurable outcomes across compliance, user experience,
and operational efficiency. The most significant improvements have come in safeguarding, where the new SAP SuccessFactors system
has enabled automated validation of critical documents such as Blue Cards and teaching credentials, with 1,730 safeguarding
documents processed and multiple candidates flagged through the hiring review required in the first 10 weeks alone.
Employees now have access to streamlined, mobile-friendly HR processes, with over 20,000 PeopleForms submissions raised and
approved, reducing administrative burden and improving data accuracy. The system has created a single source of truth for employee
and organisational data across BCE, improving governance and confidence in decision-making. These benefits have not only exceeded
BCE’s expectations but have also accelerated the standardisation of HR practices and delivered the anticipated productivity savings
across corporate and school-based teams.
Over 21 Million
Individual Data
Records Migrated
32 Candidates
Flagged for
Safeguarding
Review in First 10
Weeks
1,730 Safeguarding
Documents
Updated
Since going live in March 2025, BCE’s Ignite project has delivered strong, measurable outcomes across compliance, user experience,
and operational efficiency. The most significant improvements have come in safeguarding, where the new SAP SuccessFactors system
has enabled automated validation of critical documents such as Blue Cards and teaching credentials, with 1,730 safeguarding
documents processed and multiple candidates flagged through the hiring review required in the first 10 weeks alone.
Employees now have access to streamlined, mobile-friendly HR processes, with over 20,000 PeopleForms submissions raised and
approved, reducing administrative burden and improving data accuracy. The system has created a single source of truth for employee
and organisational data across BCE, improving governance and confidence in decision-making. These benefits have not only exceeded
BCE’s expectations but have also accelerated the standardisation of HR practices and delivered the anticipated productivity savings
across corporate and school-based teams.
“”“This journey has been a true team effort, bringing together our business units,
project teams, school representatives, SAP, and Deloitte as our trusted
implementation partner. Through in-depth collaboration with leaders, People and
Culture, IT, and voices from across our schools, we co-designed a system with
Deloitte that puts safeguarding at its core and supports a better experience for
every employee.”
Maria Laidlaw, Head of IT Customer Solutions, Brisbane Catholic Education
project teams, school representatives, SAP, and Deloitte as our trusted
implementation partner. Through in-depth collaboration with leaders, People and
Culture, IT, and voices from across our schools, we co-designed a system with
Deloitte that puts safeguarding at its core and supports a better experience for
every employee.”
Maria Laidlaw, Head of IT Customer Solutions, Brisbane Catholic Education