Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea

The Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG) was formed on December 12, 2011 from a number of congregations of the Sisters of Mercy across Australia and Papua New Guinea. ISMAPNG is a congregation of Catholic women who aim to serve people who experience injustices related to poverty, sickness or lack of education. The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia holds records of children’s homes run by a number of the congregations of the Sisters of Mercy.

The Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea was formed from the amalgamation of the Papua New Guinea congregation of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy, together with 14 of the Institute’s 17 Australian congregations. The 14 congregations of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia were: Adelaide, Ballarat East, Bathurst, Cairns, Goulburn, Grafton, Gunnedah, Melbourne, Perth, Rockhampton, Singleton, Townsville, West Perth, and Wilcannia-Forbes. ISMAPNG is part of the worldwide Mercy International Association.

The North Sydney Sisters of Mercy, the Parramatta Sisters of Mercy and the Brisbane Sisters of Mercy are not part of the Institute, but remain closely related.

In forming the Institute, each of the 15 groups ceased to be a separate canonical and legal entity and its sisters are now members of the new Institute with all the rights and responsibilities of professed Sisters of Mercy. Within the Institute every sister belongs to a community which takes in a wide geographic area. There are six communities throughout the country and in PNG.

The Institute is governed by a leader and council elected by the chapter. They are based in the former Convent of Mercy, Stanmore, Sydney. Their day to day work of leadership is shared with the community leaders and much of the business of the Institute is administered through Mercy offices in Melbourne, Newcastle and Rockhampton.