Father Bob receives an OA

The Fr Bob Maguire Foundation and Father Bob's family are delighted with the news that the late Father Bob Maguire has been further recognised for his decades of dedication and inspirational work with — as he called them — the unloved and the unlovely.

A part of Father Bob lives on through people who support his Foundation. We can't duplicate his energy, but we can model ourselves on his optimism and his sense that any sort of problem-solving starts with a communal sense of responsibility.

Father Bob’s work was certainly an inspiration to so many people, local, statewide and Australia wide, that local communities are dedicating themselves to being inclusive, accepting and focussing on the many who are less fortunate. He believed that we are all products of our history, and that too often individuals suffered from deprivation - both material and emotional.

Father Bob had a philosophy which sought out need and acted to try to satisfy it. He gave a public voice to those who didn't have one; to promote a public debate about the disadvantaged without judgment and without blame.

It’s so important that we continue this work in his name but it clearly depends on the on-going support of individuals, local communities, philanthropists and governments to enable this essential work. 

Father Bob had a dream that local communities would work together to provide solutions and support in an integrated way. We are working to make that dream a reality. If financial supporters can be found, we hope to create a model for service delivery to local needy individuals through one centralised location in each community.

We hope that this posthumous recognition of Father Bob will remind the broader community of how important Father Bob saw the work of his Foundation and why we are committed to it into the future.