The first seminary in Sydney was St Patrick's College, Manly, which began in 1889 with a class of twelve students, however, the first efforts at training priests in Sydney can be traced back to the 1830s under Archbishop John Bede Polding.
In 1991, due to a declining number of seminarians and a desire to separate the overall seminary formation and the academic formation, consideration was given to finding a new seminary and theological faculty.
[1] In 1993, the Church announced that the seminary would be vacating the St Patrick's estate site in 1995.
[2] At the beginning of the academic year 1996 the Seminary of the Good Shepherd opened at Abbotsford Road, Homebush, and the Catholic Institute of Sydney, located on Albert Road, Strathfield came into being shortly after.
[3] The Seminary of the Good Shepherd prepares men for the priesthood, focusing on human, spiritual, pastoral and academic formation.