Mercy Partners acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners, the Yuggera, Turrbal, Jagera and Ugarapul People, recognising Elders past and present, on whose land we walk, work and live.
The Mercy Foundation is an organisation committed to social justice and structural change with the goal of creating greater social equity and inclusion in the Australian community.
The Mercy Foundation was established by the Sisters of Mercy North Sydney, to bring about greater social justice in Australia. The Foundation works toward structural change, to create greater social equity and inclusion. The Mercy Foundation achieves its mission through advocacy, grant funding, education and research.
Since 1990, the Mercy Foundation has provided seed funding for hundreds of projects to bring about positive outcomes particularly for women facing poverty and disadvantage. An example of this is the Fair Wear campaign in the 1990’s, that brought about fairer wages and improved working conditions for outworkers, mainly women, who were exploited in the textile industry.
In 2008, the Sisters asked the Foundation to prioritise its efforts on ending homelessness, particularly chronic homelessness and homelessness concerning women, employing evidence-based solutions to create lasting change.
The Home in a Box project, launched in 2013, helps families and individuals to settle into their new home and rebuild their lives after a prolonged experience of homelessness. This much-needed program provides high quality homewares that help make a house a comfortable and well set up home.
In 2016, the Sisters asked the Mercy Foundation to adopt another focus area, to address modern slavery in Australia. The Mercy Foundation has provided grants to organisations including ACRATH, Anti Slavery Australia and the Freedom Hub and has commissioned groundbreaking research into domestic servitude in Australia.
Each year, the Mercy Foundation Board awards the Cath Leary Social Justice Award to acknowledge organisations and individuals who have made a significant contribution to social justice in Australia.
The Mercy Youth Awards is a youth competition that encourages young people in schools across Australia to learn about social justice issues, like climate change, homelessness and modern slavery.
As we enter a new chapter of the Mercy Foundation’s journey, we look to the future with hope and determination to continue the work that the Sisters started, at the service of human dignity.
Mercy Foundation was entrusted to the care of Mercy Partners by the Sisters of Mercy North Sydney on 20 February 2025.
Acknowledgement of Country
