Who we are
Our values
Good Shepherd Youth & Family Service is a community services organisation that has been helping people battle poverty and disadvantage since 1976.
We believe everyone deserves an equal place in the world and a quality of life that makes participation in the community possible.
Inspired by the Good Shepherd Sisters, the values of dignity, compassion and respect for all are at the heart of everything we do.
Our mission and vision
Our mission is shaped by our inheritance of the vision, courage and audacity of St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier and the Good Shepherd tradition she began.
Ours is a vision of promoting a world of justice and peaceful co-existence.
Ours is the courage to embrace wholeheartedly innovative and creative ways of enabling people of all cultural, religious and social backgrounds to enjoy the fullness of life, which is the right of every human being.
Ours is the inheritance to boldly challenge those structures and beliefs that diminish human dignity.
We work to ensure the value of every human being, the communities that enable us all to thrive and the integrity of the environment that guarantees both.
Our history
Four Irish Sisters of the Good Shepherd arrived in Melbourne in 1863 responding to a call from Bishop James Goold to support the women and children left behind during Victoria's Gold Rush. Almost 150 years later Good Shepherd Youth & Family Service continues to fulfil the mission and vision of the Sisters, with a focus on improving the lives of women and girls.
Read more about the Good Shepherd Sisters history.
that diminish fullness of life and human dignity.
Good Shepherd Sisters Mission Statement.