Frank Terrance Keating was sentenced in the Brisbane District Court on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to indecent treatment and carnal knowledge charges involving children.
He worked as a teacher, then principal at the De La Salle college at Scarborough, north of Brisbane.
The 81-year-old has been convicted previously in Queensland and in Victoria for similar offences committed in that state.
Judge Paul Smith said Keating had committed a total of 63 offences against 35 children over about 20 years.
The offences for which he was sentenced on Friday included offences against boys and a girl.
The court was told Keating had taken steps towards rehabilitation and avoided contact with children while living with his wife of more than 30 years in Victoria.
Keating, who has mobility problems, was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair after being taken into custody following sentencing submissions made on Monday.
Keating's offences were a gross breach of trust by a school teacher and had a profound and lasting effect on the children, Judge Smith said.
Keating was recruited as a Christian brother at the age of 14 and last offended 35 years ago.
He was handed a six-year jail sentence, with Judge Smith ordering he be eligible for parole on April 1, 2026.
The De La Sale Brothers apologised unreservedly to Keating's victims, saying they hoped the sentence brought some measure of justice.
"We express our profound sorrow at what occurred and the pain and suffering caused," Brother Timothy Peter said in a statement to AAP.
"The De La Salle Brothers urge any person with any evidence of criminal conduct – no matter how long ago that may have occurred - to take that to the police for the appropriate investigation."
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
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