Dominican Orders in Australia: Two Branches, Centuries of Presence

Australia hosts two distinct Dominican (Order of Preachers) entities:

1. The Dominican Friars (Order of Preachers)

• Founded 1216 by St. Dominic
• Australian presence since 1867 (first priory: St. Mary's, Sydney)
• Current priories: North Adelaide, Perth, Sydney (St. Mary's, Wahroonga), Melbourne (Box Hill), Canberra, Hobart, Brisbane
• Ministries: Parishes, university chaplaincies (ANU, UWA, Notre Dame), education (Blackfriars Priory School), publishing (Australasian Catholic Record), itinerant preaching
• Province: Assumption Province (Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea)

2. Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena

• Enclosed contemplative congregation
• Two monasteries: North Adelaide (SA), Varsity Lakes (QLD)
• Life: Prayer, silence, work (altar breads, vestments, icons)
• Distinct from apostolic Dominican sisters (e.g., Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia, who teach/nurse)

Key Distinction

"Order" technically refers to the friars (First Order). The sisters are a congregation (Second/Third Order). Both follow the Rule of St. Augustine and Dominican charism: contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere (contemplate and hand on the fruits of contemplation).