Canon Sheehan acknowledges the role of traditional religious instruction in the discussion of ethical issues. However, he contends that discussion should involve “more than just giving young people the ten commandments.” “There is also the question of ethical sources and where we go to find them. Some are religious sources but there are others such as sociological, which can give an awareness of how society is structured, a vital part of the information of ethics. It’s exciting to engage in dialogue with the world.”

Canon Sheehan is a member of the Genomics, Society and Human Health Committee at The University of Western Australia. As a former broadcaster with Radio National he has many contacts in the literary, philosophical and political world who he is able to bring to the Centre. Each term he writes a Newsletter picking up on current ethical issues.