About Us

Australian Marist Solidarity (AMS) is the agency for the aid and development work of the Marist Province of 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.

In order to achieve this we facilitate partnerships with communities focussed on overseas aid, education and community development activities of the Australian Marist Brothers. To better fulfil this role, and to maintain the highest standard of transparency, AMS became a signatory organisation to the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Code of Conduct in 2008.
Through the extensive network of Marist Schools around Australia, AMS is supported by current and former students and their parents, associates and the wider Marist Community. Through this network AMS presents a national forum for awareness and fundraising campaigns for the development work we support.

Australian Marist Solidarity Limited (AMS) has evolved from a long heritage of aid and development activities conducted by the Marist Brothers Province of Australia. The Brothers have financially supported and managed overseas aid and development programs in the Solomon Islands since 1938, in Bougainville since 1941 and in other parts of Papua New Guinea since 1950.

Today, the Marist Brothers have a broad presence in Asia and the Pacific including Bangladesh, Bougainville, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Fiji, India, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vanuatu. AMS currently supports fifteen of these countries in a range of ways.

In order to make our vision a reality AMS provides financial, capacity building and managerial support that empowers local people to take their own path to development. We therefore support programs that are initiated by, and conducted in partnership with, local communities.

Br Allen Sherry, Executive Director, meeting with Maway, Project Manager of the Uai-Lili Tech Training Centre, in Timor-Leste

Our focus is on sustainable growth through building a community’s capacity to deliver better quality education, to develop skills and to promote leadership. This means that our in-country partners develop projects around three key focuses:

• Formal Education
  Our support of primary, secondary and tertiary education programs seek to support and expand education systems that exist in communities across Asia and the Pacific. This work includes support for school facilities, classroom resources and school programs.
• Non-Formal Education
  In communities where there is a lack of educational opportunities and minimal access to formal education, AMS supports learning centres that offer young people tutoring and classes to provide key skills for further education, employment and self sufficiency.
• Community Development
  For young people in Asia and the Pacific, access to and effective participation in educational opportunities relies on maintaining good health and wellbeing. AMS supports a range of supplementary projects that focus on the development other programs that support educational opportunities.

Click here for information on projects currently supported by Australian Marist Solidarity across Asia and the Pacific.

Diamantino De Assis, Project Manager the Sentru Halibur project, inspecting the construction 

We invest in partnerships with local people who show strong initiative and leadership in the development of new educational opportunities in their own communities. Our structures support these local partners in their management roles within their projects.

In locations where direct communication is sometimes difficult, particularly in the Pacific and in remote areas of Timor-Leste, Regional Managers have been established. These Managers are respected locals who receive ongoing formation through AMS in order to assist us in maintaining communication, monitoring progress and reporting on our projects.

Whether it be through Regional Managers or directly with Project Managers the AMS team, with support of the AMS Board, is committed to forging strong and supportive relationships with the people who are seeking real life changing solutions for their communities. These are the people who are developing the most appropriate paths to a better future for the young people of Asia and the Pacific.

Your support makes educational opportunities for young people on the margins in Asia and the Pacific possible…

Our supporter network has enabled AMS to gradually increase support of education based projects across Asia and the Pacific. Without the support of people like you this simply would not be possible.

We work hard to ensure that the people we support get the most out of the funds that you entrust to us. This means not only sending our project partners the funds but also providing them with the capacity building training to carry our the projects with their communities.

92.9% Development Programs

These funds support development projects in local communities who partner with Australian Marist Solidarity. These include Formal and Non-Formal Education projects and Community Development projects throughout Asia and the Pacific.
Click here to see where we work.

6.9% Administration & Accountability

This is essential to the day to day running of our work and transparency of our operations. It includes finance, administration and management roles within our office as well as working with our project partners on a regular basis to support their work in the projects.

0.2% Fundraising

Fundraising is crucial to generating donations for our projects. Part of this is providing up to date information to our donors to maintaining longterm relationships.

For more information on how AMS used funds in 2016 see our 2016 Annual Report below.

As a full member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Australian Marist Solidarity (AMS) develops an Annual Report that provides a summary of our activities and financial performance at the end of each year.

Here is our Annual Report for the financial year 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016, please contact us for a the full audited report: