Welcome to the Winter 2025 issue of The Record.

On the cover, Anthony Albanese, later to be re-elected as Prime Minister, visited the Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre on 23 April 2025 to promise $2.07 million in additional funding for the inner-west Sydney facility.

He also promised that a re-elected Labor Government would provide a $2.43 million boost for St Vincent de
Paul Society’s crisis and transitional accommodation for women fleeing domestic and family violence.

Our cover image shows him with (at left) Dr Ses Salmond, the Centre’s Manager, and Suzy Pace, the Society NSW’s Housing and Homelessness Manager.

‘St Vincent de Paul in this local community and indeed right throughout Australia, makes an enormous difference, providing emergency accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence,’ Prime Minister Albanese said.

Read the story on page 13.

Daughter of Charity appointed to Vatican Dicastery

Sister Françoise Petit, Superioress General of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, has been appointed by Pope Leo XIV as a member of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. This appointment, announced by the Vatican on 24 June 2025, is a recognition of Sister Françoise’s deep commitment, missionary spirit, and leadership within the Vincentian tradition. As a member of the Dicastery, she will help guide and accompany religious congregations and apostolic societies around the world, working closely with the Holy See in discerning their paths and supporting their missions. It is a meaningful affirmation of her witness and service - and a moment of joy for the Daughters of Charity, for those living in poverty, and for all who value the role of women in the life of the Church.