Speech delivered on 30 June 2026 at Admiralty House

I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and acknowledge any First Nations people joining us today, and I also want to acknowledge a number of very important people here today.

Sisters of Charity, of course, we are here for the Sisters of Charity Foundation, and the Sisters of Charity have had regular interactions with this place and former Governors-General. Most recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Sister Anthea Groves OAM, at the St Vincent's Foundation Chairs' Current Reception that we had here, where we were celebrating the wonderful St Vincent's Nursing Scholarships and Excellence, which was a big conversation that night about where we did nursing. St Vincent's Foundation and Chairs' Current, and I'd say the same thing about today as we get into the work of this foundation.

And of course, Louise, as CEO of the Foundation, you and your team were here in March for International Women's Day, so it's lovely to invite you back, and to be doing so many beautiful things here this afternoon. Mary Rees, Deputy Chair of the Foundation, hello, welcome, and you have your other Foundation directors here. So, I acknowledge all of the Foundation directors that are here today.

Estelle Muller, who is the Program Director for the Tertiary Scholarship Program, and all your dedicated team that deliver these important scholarships. We're going to be hearing from Estelle shortly.

Rabbi Mendel Kastel OAM, Director of the Waverley Education Foundation Fund. We spent a lot of time together after those horrific events in December last year in Bondi. You invited me into the Jewish House. You gave me incredible guidance and counsel throughout that terrible period, and I'm very grateful for your friendship and your mentorship, and I hope we're making some progress when it comes to, six months after Bondi, building a better world. But I'm very conscious of everything you gave us at that time.

Then the room is full of donors and sponsors, many of you I know from other things that you give so generously to, or I've known you in the past. But it's your generosity and your commitment to meeting need, however it exists in our community, and the Foundation, I know, could not realise its ambition and offer the kind of compassion, hope and practical support through these scholarships without you. You are all extraordinarily generous and are very special guests here today.

You're only beaten by the scholarship holders, both those most recently and the current recipients, and those in the room who are former scholarship recipients. I've been reading about what you're all doing and where you are and where you're studying and the work you're doing. It says so much about the program that the success of where you've all gone since being awarded a scholarship just says why this program must go on and why it needs everyone's support.

So, to the recipients past and present, you are very, very welcome here.

So, here at Admiralty House, we like to say that it's a place of peace and welcome, where everybody belongs, and where we celebrate the very best of Australian stories and the current modern Australian story but also look back as to how did we get here, and who brought us to this point.

We also love celebrating the extraordinary people who embody so much of that great Australian story. So, I can't not start with the remarkable story of the Sisters of Charity in Australia. You all stretch us back over 180 years, one of the most remarkable and significant chapters of our history.

In August, I'm very much looking forward to travelling to Ireland. I'll go to Ireland after Glasgow, where I'll be at the Commonwealth Games as patron of the Games. But Ireland is where we're looking forward to spending some time, where your founder, Mother Mary Aikenhead, sent those first five brave women.

They came to Australia on a mission of deep care for the female convicts of New South Wales, and of course all the women who came after them. And the sisters today have continued to create spaces and do the courageous work in healthcare and education that is at the heart of the Sisters of Charity.

It's a story I love sharing with people, and I'll be reflecting on that in Ireland. I'll reflect about this event when we meet people in Ireland, about how important the work remains here in Sydney.

The congregation's dedication to the service of others, regardless of faith, culture or heritage, has left one of the most indelible marks of selfless service, especially in health and youth, also across Australia, sorry, many communities.

When I went on one of St Vincent's morning tours for the homeless last year, I stopped at the photographs of the Sisters of Charity in the back streets because they were helping those most in need, treated with such dignity. And I feel that every time I come into any contact with the Sisters of Charity.

And the work today of the Foundation this afternoon, though, it's the modern story we are honouring. I'm delighted and proud to be your patron, and it's the Tertiary Scholarship Program, which since 2012 has helped almost 40 people from out-of-home care backgrounds through TAFE and university, with 54 currently undertaking studies.

That's an extraordinary contribution. It's so good to see so many of you here today. I hope I'm right in saying that, from what I read, lives are transformed by this investment in you. It's an investment in hope for you, opportunity and dignity, as the Sisters of Charity have always done.

Today we're going to hear the stories of a couple of scholarship recipients. In a moment, we're going to hear from Julia and Andre, and so many more of you I'd love to chat with this afternoon over afternoon tea as we wander around.

It would be lovely to catch up with you. All of your stories show us the power of optimism and perseverance, and the extraordinary impact of care and kindness and compassion.

And tomorrow will be the second anniversary of my time as your Governor-General. It's gone very, very quickly. At my swearing-in ceremony in the Australian Parliament back in 2024, I promised to put care, kindness and respect at the centre of everything I do: care for each other, care for every caring endeavour, which this room is all about, I think.

Today, care for our continent, its environmental riches, another way of saying care for Country. Care for civics and institutions. I don't know that we've ever really had a time where we needed to care about that more, as trust has declined in so many of our civic systems, our democracy and our institutions.

But I know we can get through it. We show care in the way we discuss our civics, and probably important here, care for the way we discuss the very tough issues of our time, without anger, judgement or violence. Wrestle the idea, yes, but always respect the person.

It was a privilege to see their new prayer, which they revealed to the school and the wider community just this morning, and I thought the prayer was very similar to the prayer, or to the words, that we'll be talking about today when we hear about the work of the Foundation, because their words are very simply:

"May we be respectful in our words and deeds, reflective in our thoughts and choices, responsible in our actions and service, inquisitive in our search for knowledge and truth, aspirational in our dreams and purpose, and may we be a community of disciples united in faith."

All of those words, though — respectful, reflective, responsible, inquisitive, aspirational — there are other ways of talking about care, kindness and respect.

And that was at a school. I spoke to 750 students this morning, all united by that prayer, but also the knowledge that they care about where the country's going. One of the most multicultural schools you'll find in the country, sitting in Lakemba, committed to unity, and when I asked them what mattered to them, they talked about the unity of this country, buttressed by diversity and multiculturalism, but a set of values that bind us.

And it was just very reaffirming to be amongst young people who know exactly where our country is going, and that's back to the care and kindness I see so much in the work of the Foundation.

What we're celebrating today is sustained, dedicated commitment fuelled by profound belief in the value and dignity of every single person. Care that has quite literally changed lives and will continue to do so.

We know that education is one of the most powerful pathways to independence, stability and long-term flourishing, but for young people who have grown up in out-of-home care, that pathway — and there'll be people here who know this better than anyone — is always full of obstacles. It could be financial pressures, lack of support networks, housing insecurity, or sometimes it's the simple absence of someone saying to you, "You can do this, we believe in you, and we've got your back."

The Sisters of Charity Foundation steps so powerfully into that space, whether it's financial assistance or that encouragement and connection, but really, it's a community that stands alongside every student, because everyone matters.

When a Foundation scholar graduates, it is the partnership between the recipient and their supporters that endures. I think we're going to hear about that today. A commitment on both sides to keep going, keep investing, and almost never reach the goal, because the goal keeps getting bigger and better.

And all of that is made possible through the partnership between the Foundation and generous donors, a dedicated program team, the team that gets it all done, then the education institutions and the commitment of organisations who share your vision for a more inclusive and equitable society.

So, it's quite simply all I need to say now is to say to everyone who supports this work, everyone involved in this work, whatever you do, thank you. Thank you for what you do. Today is a day to stop and reflect on that and absorb that and know that it is to a grateful group of people.

And I observe that there aren't many people in this room who do this so generously. This is a remarkable group of people that are at a party this afternoon.

So, thank you to the scholars in the room, all of you, whether you're just taking off or you've been doing it for a while. This celebration is of you, and it's for you. You have always been welcome here. This place, as grand as Admiralty House is, you should always feel welcome here. You belong here, and I hope you really enjoy this afternoon, and you come back many times.

Your achievements are truly remarkable. Your journeys remind us that faith and hope and care can make a huge difference in lives and communities.

So, I want to thank the students who are all here. I can't wait to hear your stories and get to know you and get to know you over a much longer period of time to know where you're going.