Introduction

 We, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, are a faith community

passionate about our share in God’s Mission,

engaged with the challenges of our reality

and with the call to mission in our times.

The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites ('Brown Joeys'), were founded in Penola, South Australia in 1866 by an Australian woman Mary MacKillop, and an English priest

Reverend Julian E Tenison Woods.

From the beginning the Sisters lived among the ordinary people in houses of two or three throughout the various colonies, providing education and support for the children and families living in isolated areas and city slums. We have always had a centralised structure so that the Sisters could travel, regardless of geographical borders, to the places where there were great needs and no one else available to help.

The Centre of the Congregation is at Mary MacKillop Place, Mount Street North Sydney where Mary MacKillop's tomb is enshrined in the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel.

Today there are about a thousand Sisters living and working throughout Australia (South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia) and New Zealand, as well as Ireland and Peru.

This is a contemporary expression of Mary's motto: 'Never see a need without doing something about it'.

Our distinctive badge is called the Josephite Emblem.

Women who are interested in joining us make enquiries to a Sister who is a New Membership Contact. After an initial New Membership enquiry period, which takes place in their province or region (for example NSW,)  these women participate in a program in a Novitiate either in Australia or Peru.