Mercy Partners have been working hard to undertake some key changes to our corporate structure and have also participated in two industry forums, AMPJP and Catholic Health Australia. Please see below for details.
Company Structure
In July 2020, Mercy Partners embarked upon a project to alter its incorporated status from an incorporation under Roman Catholic Church (Incorporated Church Entities) Act Qld of 1994 (RICE Act) to a company limited by guarantee. As part of this project, the following had to be undertaken:
- A new constitution was created for Mercy Partners Limited with the assistance of each of the Steward Congregations.
- Some administrative amendments are being made to the Canonical Statute.
- Work has been undertaken on defining the roles of Stewards, Company Members and Board Directors.
- Mercy Partners (RICE Act entity) was dissolved in accordance with the Act effective on 1st September 2022
- The constitutions of all of the ministries were amended to reflect the new member of each company.
On 1 September 2022 the membership/ownership of all of our ministries vested in Mercy Partners Limited as a result of the dissolution of Mercy Partners (RICE Act entity). Mercy Partners (RICE Act entity) Councillors have now transitioned to be Directors of Mercy Partners Limited.
Association of Ministerial Public Juridic Persons (AMPJP) Canonical Stewards Forum
In August the AMPJP Canonical Stewards Forum came to Brisbane. The Forum provides an opportunity for canonical stewards of Australian Ministerial PJPs to gather to network, discuss shared concerns, hear information on common issues, and discuss responses to shared goals/issues.
Mercy Partners Deputy Chair, Kieran McCarthy, participated in the Forum’s Member cameo session on Monday, 22 August. Kieran presented on a program undertaken by the Mercy Partners’ education ministries that focused on researching the mental health issues for teenage girls post Covid. The project used research to develop a proactive program that is age appropriate to deal with increasing mental health issues.
The education ministries were successful in receiving a grant from the Nudgee Trust to fund this project. The program has created a very positive momentum and the benefits have already been seen. The program scope has now expanded to include whole of school wellbeing, thanks to an additional 2-3 years grant funding from Nudgee Trust.
Catholic Health Australia National Conference
August also saw the Catholic Health Australia National Conference take place in Brisbane. The conference these was ‘Facing the Future Together’ and brought together leaders in the field to discuss what they have learned over the past year and assess the challenges that lie ahead, such as the sector’s resilience, the future of private health, the future of patient care and reform of the aged care sector in the wake of the royal commission.
Mercy Partners Chair, Dr Ricki Jeffery, participated in one of the plenary sessions, “Ministry Leadership in the 21st Century”. Other panel members that joined Ricki were Richard Haddock AO – Mary Aikenhead Ministries, Hon Neville Owen AO KCSG and Hon Michael Lee – Calvary Ministries.
The Panel Session highlighted ministry leadership through the lens of the Trustee Chairs of Catholic Healthcare Ministries. The scene was set with a short background on how PJPs were established in Australia followed by a discussion about why PJPs have grown in significance, and present and future challenges facing mission continuity for healthcare ministries.
The discussion recognised the vision of our religious congregations, leadership qualities of our lay people and the value of continuing the story telling about our beginnings and celebrating the inspiring examples of mission led leadership across all of our ministries.
Nudgee Trust Update
The Nudgee Trust was established on 8 October 1869 and provides grants to ministries sponsored by Mercy Partners. These grants enable ministries to extend the range or depth of mission as they provide critical support to those most vulnerable in our community. Mercy Partners is grateful for the vision of the Brisbane Sisters of Mercy in seeing the important role the Trust can and has played in supporting ministries by way of financial grants.
In 2022, the Nudgee Trust had another successful grant round this year with a range of interesting projects from a number of Mercy Partners ministries. Successful new grants included:
- A significant project around well-being and mental health that involves all Mercy Partners schools
- An innovative project bringing together different generations from aged care and family service clients
- Support for refugees accessing health services
- Support to enhance connection to country for boarding students in regional Queensland
In addition, projects that had been funded across multiple years received their next allocation of funds to ensure the ongoing success of the projects.
