Committed to making a difference

Mercy Family Services is sponsored by the Brisbane Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic Religious Order founded by Catherine McAuley in Ireland in 1831, a woman who devoted her considerable personal energy and wealth to redressing poverty. Catherine wanted the poor to have visibility among the rich and the young women she was training to be near to suitable employment. She opened a school and initiated visits to the poor and sick in hospitals and in their homes. Other women joined her in this work and so the history of the Sisters of Mercy began.

In 1861, six Sisters of Mercy arrived in Brisbane and became involved in teaching, nursing and caring for homeless children. With the support of the then Bishop of Brisbane, Bishop Quinn, the Sisters of Mercy opened St Vincent’s Orphanage at Nudgee on 11 November 1867 with 47 children in residence. From that time until 1985 St. Vincent's was home to over 11,000 children.

The Sisters of Mercy at St Vincent’s always remained at the forefront of changing trends, faithful to their origins and commitment to making a preferential option for the poor and oppressed. In the 1960s, in response to societal trends away from institutionalised care, children were placed in a number of local schools and were encouraged to have greater involvement with the community. In 1969 a Social Work Unit was established at St Vincent’s to be responsible for planning for children’s care, improving connections with their family, maintaining standards of care and liaising with the statutory authority, the Queensland Department of Children’s Services.

In the early 1970s, St Vincent’s commenced the first non-government family-based foster care program in Queensland.

At this time five cottages were also opened at St Vincent’s and children were cared for in a group-home environment away from the Nudgee campus. Programs were also developed to focus on the educational and employment opportunities for young people transitioning from St Vincent’s care.

In 1974 the Sisters of Mercy expanded their service to Toowoomba and joined with the Toowoomba Diocese and the St Vincent de Paul Society in opening the Fatima Family Centre which provided a local response to the growing numbers of children in South-West Queensland who needed alternative care placements. Initially a family group home model with houseparents caring for small numbers of children in residential cottages, Fatima’s programs expanded during the 1980s in response to changing needs. By the early 1990s, Fatima had five programs offering a continuum of care - family support, emergency placements for children under 12, foster care, adolescent residential placements and an independent living program.

During the 1980s the Sisters of Mercy also became a significant voice for and leaders in the provision of care for refugees in Queensland. Over the past twenty years, in conjunction with State and Commonwealth governments the Humanitarian Refugee Minors program has provided placement and support services for unaccompanied minors from a diverse range of countries including South-East Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

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