Reception in support of the Lady Musgrave Trust’s 140th Anniversary

Lady Musgrave Trust Board Chair, Mr Anthony Jones and Board Directors, present and past; CEO Ms Victoria Parker and staff; partner organisations, sponsors, donors and volunteers; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here today.

Graeme and I welcome you all to Government House.

This afternoon, we honour an incredible milestone in the history of the Lady Musgrave Trust, and pay tribute to the many generous people who over the years have helped shape and build this remarkable organisation.

As Patron, I am immensely proud to be part of a tradition of Vice-Regal support that stretches back 140 years, when Lady Jeannie Musgrave and a group of visionary individuals identified the need to assist vulnerable young women arriving in the colony, who were experiencing homelessness.

At that time, Brisbane was growing rapidly in population and in size, and could be a dangerous place for disadvantaged single women, particularly those who were unemployed or pregnant.

The Trust was formed to provide vital shelter, and when the Lady Musgrave Lodge was established in 1891, it became a place synonymous with protection and care. While the nature of the accommodation has changed—demonstrated most recently by the opening of the innovative Jinndii Waijung Housing Project in Logan—the emphasis on safety and security is unwavering.

Yet, from its beginnings, the Trust was not concerned merely with providing accommodation for women and their children, but in furthering their prospects, and this is what has made it such an enduring positive force in our state.

Each year, since 1885, it has been committed to providing women with access to education, employment opportunities and other integral support services, and through this process of compassionate healing, arm them with the skills and knowledge required to stabilise their lives and build independent futures for themselves. The ever-improving Handy Guide is an outstanding example of the way in which the Lady Musgrave Trust is forging a more comprehensive, simpler pathway for women in crisis to access vital support services.

The Trust still influences and challenges the social agenda, through its Annual Forum on Women & Homelessness—which in its 17^th iteration achieved the highest number of attendees in the history of the event—and fittingly, last month, this amazing organisation was recognised as a Queensland Great by our state government.

In its 140-year history, the Lady Musgrave Trust has provided women and children with over one million nights of accommodation. This represents many thousands of lives transformed, and hope given for lasting positive change. Yet, unfortunately, the need persists. In Brisbane, the threat to women and children from a prospect of homelessness remains a significant issue—driven by the complex spectre of domestic and family violence.

While I know that celebrating is difficult to do when there is still work to be done, I believe you should all be immensely proud of what has been achieved, and for honouring Lady Musgrave’s legacy with such passion and determination. 

Your support is crucial to ensuring the Lady Musgrave Trust—as our state’s oldest charity—will continue to fulfil its foundational vision, until hopefully—one brilliant day in the future—its work is no longer needed.