The Divine Word Missionaries have taken up the pastoral care of the indigenous community of Balgo in Western Australia’s remote Kimberley region.

Fr Paulo Vanuitu SVD arrived in December 2023, joined by Fr Ronaldo Rodriguez SVD in early 2024. In addition, Bishop Tim Norton SVD was installed as Bishop of Broome in December 2024.

The Divine Word Missionaries have answered a call from the Bishop of Darwin to live, work and minister with a number of local communities, including Alice Springs, Santa Teresa, and the Tiwi Islands.

This ministry includes in a special way the indigenous peoples of those communities, as well as the people of many different cultures and backgrounds who have settled in Alice Springs and surrounds.

The Divine Word Missionaries are engaged in a range of ministries in Melbourne, including the formation of SVD missionaries at Dorish Maru College, the pastoral care of the Parish of Sacred Heart, Preston, and the fostering of spirituality and interfaith dialogue at the Janssen Spirituality Centre, Boronia. 

Divine Word Missionaries are present in the Brisbane Archdiocese, the Rockhampton Diocese and the Townsville Diocese in Queensland.

The Queensland parishes have strong multicultural communities and there is also a strong emphasis on ministry with Aboriginal communities.

The Administrative Centre of the Australian Province of the Divine Word Missionaries is located at Marsfield in Sydney and, apart from their administrative work, the confreres based there are involved in a range of ministries and activities. In addition, SVD missionaries have the pastoral care of the Macquarie Hills parish on Sydney’s southern outskirts, in the Wollongong Diocese.

In the Diocese of Wollongong, the Divine Word Missionaries have accepted the pastoral care of two parish communities - Mary Mother of the Church parish in Macquarie Fields and Holy Family Catholic Parish, Ingleburn.

Both parishes are comprised of large, vibrant and multicultural communities of faith.

One of the SVD Australia Province’s newer missions is Myanmar, where Divine Word Missionaries have been working since 2018 at the invitation of Cardinal Charles Bo SDB, the Archbishop of Yangon, to promote the Bible Apostolate.

Since arriving, the SVD have also been involved with parish ministry, helping meet the material needs and education of the people by undertaking social projects, including building houses for the poor and needy, and providing music and computer classes for local children and out-of-school youth. In April 2025, the SVD was given the pastoral care of a newly formed parish.

The Australian Province of the Society of the Divine Word reaches across to Thailand, where our members work with poor and marginalised communities in a range of areas, including parish work, teaching, and care for children and adults living with AIDs.

Divine Word Missionaries are engaged in parish ministry in both the Archdioceses of Auckland and Wellington.

The parishes are large, multicultural communities of faith, featuring strong collaboration between clergy and lay people in the spirit of synodality.