Our aims:

• To provide a place of respect and acceptance, hospitality and friendship to all
• To redress the injustice done to refugees who were on temporary protection visas and support their recovery
• To offer practical and immediate assistance and be available and accessible to refugees who need help
• To be a base for human rights advocacy and community education
• To support the community identity and life of people who came as refugees

Our History

Established by the Brisbane Sisters of Mercy, the Romero Centre is an inter-faith organisation committed to social justice. It began in 2000 as a drop-in centre providing emergency relief to refugees who had arrived in Australia by boat and were granted only Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) valid for three years. Many TPV holders had been held for lengthy periods in detention centres both in Australia and in “excised zones” across the Pacific, and were eligible only for a limited number of the government services usually available to refugees.

In 2007, the newly elected Rudd Government made a raft of changes to Australia’s refugee policies, including ending indefinite detention, dismantling the Pacific Solution and abolishing TPVs. However, the issue of asylum seekers remains in the spotlight.

Eleven years on, The Romero Centre continues to act as a crucial support service for former TPV holders and their families, and new settlers to Brisbane. Our current team includes a Centre coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, and Administration Manager. In addition, there are some 60 volunteer staff members. Until recently the Romero Centre had been independent of government and grew out of the Catholic Centre for Multicultural Pastoral Care. Later it came under the auspices of Lifeline. It is now a program of Mercy Family Services (MSF).

Oscar Romero

The Romero Centre is named after Archbishop Oscar Romero from El Salvador. He strived to establish truth in a country governed by lies, and documented the abuse of human rights where men and women simply disappeared without account. When he spoke the truth clearly, denounced atrocities, visited and accompanied the poor, he risked his own life in favour of a radical compassion. His love for the poor, his defense of their rights and their lives, and his solidarity with their suffering and insecurity, led to his assassination. On 24 March 1980, Oscar Romero was shot dead while celebrating mass in the chapel of the hospital where he lived. The memory of his ministry has left a legacy of light, hope, courage and consolation, not just for the people of El Salvador but for all people committed to justice.