In the nineteenth century, Australia consisted of developing colonial settlements living among hundreds of Aboriginal tribes. These colonial settlements were sites of tremendous deprivation. Identifying a clear need for help, the City Mission movement, which had developed in the United Kingdom, found itself taking root in Australia.

In 1859 the Town and Country Mission (later to be known as the Brisbane City Mission) was established, making it the second oldest charitable organisation in Queensland.

In 1860, Benjamin Short, a newly arrived immigrant from England, was appalled by the poverty that existed in Sydney at the time; “I had a burning desire to do something to awaken sufficient interest in the minds of my fellow citizens to commence a purely unsectarian mission on the same lines of the London City Mission.” So, in 1862 he established the Sydney City Mission.

Over the next century, other City Missions were formed around the country by people concerned about the spiritual and physical needs of those living in poverty.

The City Missions operated in a time before government welfare or unemployment benefits existed and they were called upon to save many families from starvation. During the recession of 1890 and the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Mission halls were overflowing with people in need.

As the years progressed, so did the approach of these City Missions to their care of the disadvantaged and needy in their communities. Handouts and ‘soup lines’ were replaced with structured programs that looked at the causes of problems, and sought to find long-term solutions. Attempts were made to provide holistic assistance catering for people’s emotional, physical, social and spiritual needs.

In 1978, Sydney City Mission started providing employment services, through its Vocational Employment Training Scheme (VETS). These employment services expanded to other areas of NSW, WA and SA. The Federal Government privatised the role of employment services in 1998 and Mission Australia won a significant share of those programs. We are still one of the biggest employment providers in Australia today.

Meanwhile, back in 1989, Mission SA approached Sydney City Mission to find out ways in which they could work together. In response, a separate organisation was created, called Mission Australia.

Over the years that followed, Sydney City Mission, Mission SA, Wollongong City Mission, Perth City Mission, Brisbane City Mission, Mission Australia Northern NSW, Mission Australia Southern NSW, Mission Australia Group Training and Mission Employment all joined forces.

As a result, in 1996, the ‘mission family’ officially came together as Mission Australia - a single, unified organisation to provide an integrated approach to meet Australia’s changing social needs.

The following resources are available if you are interested in finding out more about the history of Mission Australia.

Publications:

'Evergreen Annie: The life of Annie Green of the Adelaide City Mission 1858-1936'
Author: Esther Green

'Coming together'
Author: Charles Chambers

Videos:

- 'The history of the Sydney City Mission'
- 'A brief survey of the activities of the Brisbane City Mission'