Matthew Flinders Anglican College
Location
Stringybark Road, Buderim, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates	26°41′57″S 153°03′35″E / 26.6991°S 153.0597°E / -26.6991; 153.0597
Information
Type	Independent co-educational primary and secondary day school
Motto	Faith, Skill, Endeavour
Denomination	Anglican
Established	1990; 35 years ago (1990)
Principal	Michelle Carroll (2024)[1]
Staff	300+
Years	Prep–12
Enrolment	1,300[2] (2019)
Campus type	Suburban
Colour(s)	Navy blue, jade
Song	"In Matthew Flinders' Name"
Website	mfac.edu.au

Matthew Flinders Anglican College (MFAC) is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day school located in Buderim, approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) north of Brisbane, on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1990 and named in honour of Matthew Flinders, the college has grown from an enrolment of 160 students in its foundation year, to over 1,300 students in 2015.

The school's Overall Position and NAPLAN results have seen Flinders named in local, state and national media as one of the top 100 schools in Australia, top 10 schools in Queensland and highest-achieving school in the Sunshine Coast.^[3]

The music department has two orchestral rehearsal rooms, a computer lab, eight solo to quartet practise rooms, a locker room, a lendable instrumental storage room and department office. There are five class music teachers and 24 private instrumental teachers. In year 3, students learn to play the recorder, and in year 4 are given a choice of violin, viola or cello. The annual school production alternates between a musical and series of age-segregated one-act plays, both of which are (as of 2012) staged in the college's 600-seat performance centre, as is the year 6 (formerly year 7) musical. The performance centre is also used to present concerts and recitals by touring artists.^[4] The school has ten musical groups, including three string orchestras, three choirs and four wind ensembles. Several independent, student-run ensembles also exist, including the saxophone, percussion, vocal quartets and flute ensemble.

The students are divided into four (primary) and eight (secondary) houses, each named after a notable Australian person:

Dean Carelse was a south African national and internationally acclaimed water polo coach^[5]. Carelse was employed at MFAC from ~2019-2020, as a middle school science and mathematics teacher and a water polo coach. He was dismissed from the college after allegations of grooming after contacting students on social media such as Facebook, and allegedly taking inappropriate photographs of students. Maroochydore Police raided his Moololabah home in early 2021 and discovered child exploitation content, in 2022 he pleaded guilty to 20 charges consisting of possessing child exploitation material and distributing child exploitation material^[6]. Much of the child exploitation material consisted of students at MFAC, in swimwear as the court heard he groomed a 13 year old student at the college and took photos of students in swimwear and students changing before and after water polo training. Carelse was sentenced to 6 years in prison however carelse was deported to South Africa. After an investigation conducted by the ABC Carelse was discovered working at a family water park in the united kingdom^[7], this caused community consensus of the conclusion that Carelse is a serial pedophile, with allegations and anecdotal statements of offending dating over 15 years ago.

This controversy caused MFAC to implement more stringent and effective child protection policies, as well as the introduction of frequent school assemblies regarding child protection. School policies such as requiring teaching staff to maintain zero contact with students for at least 2 years after graduation were implemented to address the controversy and ensure child protection^[8]. The impact of Carelse's offending has allowed for the college to improve child safety, however, this does not undermine the impact of Carelse's offending on the victims lives.

• Official website