This early school was operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph,[1] who, guided by the charism of Mary Mackillop, wished to help the poor of the area.

At that time the wooden church building served a dual purpose as a school on weekdays, for nearly 200 pupils,[2] and a place of worship on Sundays.

The handball courts and the ground floor class rooms of the other site were incorporated into the St Augustine's Primary School which had continued its operation on an adjoining site while the upstairs classrooms were incorporated into Mount St Joseph's campus.

Following a review by the Sisters of St Joseph in 1975 it was decided that the campus was superfluous to their needs and this led to the opening of Yarraville Catholic Girls College.

For example, six members of the 1954 VFL premiership team (the Footscray Bulldogs) were old boys of St. Augustine's, including Doug Reynolds and Ted Whitten.