is the international agency for the aid and development work of the Marist family in Australia throughout Asia and the Pacific Islands.

AMS works with the people in this region on a combination of long-term and short-term development projects. These projects aim to develop or support locally sustained education opportunities for the young people in these regions.

AMS works to bring education and hope to young people living in Asia and the Pacific so that they can build a brighter future.

Australian Marist Solidarity

Our Vision

A world where young people have hope and the opportunity to access education.

Our Mission

As Marists, we partner with communities in the Asia Pacific region to facilitate access to education for young people in need.

Our Values

Solidarity, Hope, Dignity and Working in the Marist Way, through:

  • practising simplicity

  • offering genuine presence

  • promoting a family spirit

  • modelling love of work

  • following in the way of Mary

Our Work

We believe local people are the experts on the challenges facing their communities and the solutions that will address these challenges. By working directly with community partners, we help them access the resources required to deliver quality education and serve young people where and how they need it most. To help us focus our efforts to ensure their young people reach their brightest potential, AMS partners with local communities in three key areas of work:

Access to education - We facilitate access to quality education for vulnerable children and young people through projects in primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary education programs across Asia and the Pacific.

Facilities for the future - We invest in infrastructure to ensure safe places for learning.

Resilience and readiness - We support programs to build resilience, provide care, and empower marginalised communities to strengthen access to education and workplace skills and knowledge.

Our Story

For as long as Australian Marists have been engaged in ministry overseas, they have received a steady flow of support.

Australian Marist Solidarity (AMS) has developed from a long history of aid and development activities by the Marist Brothers in Australia and their network of schools. The Brothers started financially supporting and managing overseas aid and development programs in the Solomon Islands in 1938.

The contributions of Australian Marists to international communities continued, culminating in the establishment of the Marist Asia Pacific Solidarity (MAPS) in Brisbane by Br Chris Wills in 2003. Br Allen Sherry founded the Marist Solidarity Office (MSO) in Melbourne the following year.

By 2011, the MAPS and MSO merged and AMS became a government-recognised company and charity.

In 2013, the AMS national office was relocated to Brisbane where it still operates today.

Today, we support over 50 programs in up to 15 countries, including Bangladesh, Bougainville, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Kiribati, Myanmar, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam.