Mary MacKillop releases 2024–25 Impact Report; transforming lives at home and abroad

Article

Fiona Alston

Feb 03, 2026

Save

Mary MacKillop has released its 2024–25 Annual Impact Report, showcasing a year of measurable, life-changing outcomes for thousands of people across Australia, Timor-Leste, Fiji and Peru, against a backdrop of rising living costs, entrenched inequality and climate pressures.

Transforming Lives Together captures how community generosity and strategic partnerships are addressing societal challenges that resonate deeply in current public discourse; from access to quality education and economic inclusion, to First Nations opportunity and environmental justice.

Key Achievements Across Core Impact Areas

Education Equity for Children and Teachers

• More than 24,000 students benefited from improved teaching quality through teacher training programs in Timor-Leste.
• Over 588 teachers trained in inclusive, learner-centred methodologies.
• 5,708 children are now learning in safe, inclusive classrooms.
• An additional 67,000+ learning resources were produced and distributed to support education outcomes.

Financial Inclusion in Australia

• 1,334 Australians received essential no-interest loans valued at $1.85 million, helping families weather cost-of-living pressures without resorting to high-interest debt which is a tangible contribution amid ongoing public concern about financial vulnerability.

First Nations Scholarship Impact

• The First Nations Tertiary Scholarship Program has enabled scholarship students to pursue degrees in Law, Medicine, Education and other fields, aligning with a national focus on Closing the Gap and expanding opportunity pathways.

Gender & Inclusion Outcomes

• 11 women’s groups strengthened and 50+ women in leadership or decision-making roles supported.
• Over 100 people with disabilities received tailored inclusion support.

Global Partnerships Deliver Lasting Change

Mary MacKillop today continued partnerships in Fiji and Peru, supporting sustainable livelihoods, disability inclusion, positive parenting and environmental awareness, directly responding to global calls for equitable, locally led development solutions.

Organisational Highlights

• Launch of a formal Reconciliation Action Plan, reinforcing commitment to partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
• Integration of the Highways & Byways program, strengthening support for rural and regional communities.
• Successful re-accreditation by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), a rigorous process affirming quality and accountability of international development programs.

“Amid rising inequality and global uncertainty, the results in this impact report show how shared generosity and partnership can expand opportunity, lift voices and create lasting change,” said Jane Woolford, CEO of Mary MacKillop Today.

“Whether through education in Timor-Leste or financial support at home, these outcomes reflect the enduring power of community to transform lives.”

About Mary MacKillop Today

Inspired by Australia’s first saint, Mary MacKillop, the organisation works alongside marginalised communities to create opportunities for self-determination through education, financial inclusion and livelihoods. Its work embodies a legacy of compassion and service stretching back 150 years.

Click here for full Impact Report Mary-MacKillop-Today-2024-2025-Annual-Impact-Report.pdf

Don’t miss a thing

WA provider fined after baby sustains burn in bottle warmer incident

A Western Australian approved provider has been fined $20,000 after an eight-month-old child sustained a deep partial thickness burn in a babies room incident involving a bottle warmer.

Universal not Uniform: building an early childhood system that is universal and flexible

When early childhood experts argue in favour of a universal system, they are not proposing a one size-fits-all solution. This sector has many different providers, including government, private and not for profit providers, across the spectrum of large national operators to small single site family businesses or community groups. There is also a spectrum of service models, from family day care and in-home care, to preschool, kindergarten and long day care centres, as well as outside school hours care and multi-purpose child and family hubs. Communities are diverse and families have different needs; it is important to provide choice and flexibility.

Tasmanian Government responds to Labor’s early learning policy shift

Tasmania’s Minister for Education, Jo Palmer, has responded to the Opposition’s newly announced early learning policy, arguing it mirrors a reform proposed by the Liberal Government a decade ago.

Navigating early childhood workforce shortages in South Australia: why employer sponsorship may shape 2026 planning

For early childhood education and care (ECEC) providers across South Australia, persistent workforce shortages continue to constrain service delivery. Recent analysis from Jobs and Skills Australia confirms that these recruitment challenges are systemic rather than service-specific.

The First Democracy

It’s the start of the year in a kindergarten; a small boy stands at the threshold of a room he has never entered before and performs the oldest human calculation. He doesn’t have the words for it, not yet. He has only a body that tightens and loosens, a hand that searches for something to hold, an instinct that swivels between curiosity and fear. The room is bright and loud in the gentle way early childhood rooms are loud with life. There is the soft thud of blocks, the high astonishment of a laugh, the sudden, theatrical grief of a toy taken and returned. There are photographs on the wall in which children are mid-flight, jumping, running, leaning into each other as if gravity were a negotiable agreement. There is the smell of fruit and sunscreen and disinfectant and paint, a cocktail of care.

WA provider fined after baby sustains burn in bottle warmer incident

A Western Australian approved provider has been fined $20,000 after an eight-month-old child sustained a deep partial thickness burn in a babies room incident involving a bottle warmer.

Universal not Uniform: building an early childhood system that is universal and flexible

Tasmanian Government responds to Labor’s early learning policy shift

Tasmania’s Minister for Education, Jo Palmer, has responded to the Opposition’s newly announced early learning policy, arguing it mirrors a reform proposed by the Liberal Government a decade ago.