Who We Are

Peter has worked extensively in the community and social services sector for more than 29 years from frontline roles to management.

He has senior management experience across policy and legislation, program and service delivery within Government, and more recent executive appointments within Catholic social services as Executive Director Centacare North Queensland (2014-2019) and Marist Youth Care Ltd (Marist180). He has been the CEO of Marist180 since 2019 leading it through a significant period of growth and transformation across its service platforms.

Peter has an established track record of transforming agencies, challenging the status quo, building performance, activating contemporary corporate governance, and ensuring mission is congruent with the heart and soul of the agency.

He has postgraduate qualifications in Psychology, Counselling, Canon Law and Business Administration and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Originally from Warwick in Queensland, Meg worked as a secondary school teacher in regional Queensland before beginning her journey as a Good Samaritan Sister in 1996. She has qualifications in education and theology. Meg has since worked as a teacher in Victoria, Director of the Kiribati Pastoral Institute, Manager of the Good Samaritan Inn and in formation and mission for staff and students with Good Samaritan Education. She was elected to the leadership team for the Good Samaritan Sisters in 2017 and is currently in her second term.

Bishop Ashe was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne on 31 July 2021 by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli at St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne.

Born in 1953 at Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland, as the eldest of eleven children, Martin Ashe studied for the priesthood at the missionary College of All Hallows Dublin, and was ordained for the Priesthood in 1978.

Later the same year Fr Martin arrived in Australia. His early appointments in the Archdiocese of Melbourne included the parishes of Hadfield, Clayton, and Blackburn.

Fr Martin served for 43 years in range of roles for various bodies within the Archdiocese, including Corpus Christi College Seminary, the Marriage Tribunal, three parishes, the Archdiocesan Personnel Advisory Board, the Archbishop’s Council of Priests and a number more. His roles included Vocations Director, Moderator, Pastoral Director, Parish Priest and Episcopal Vicar. Additionally, he completed further studies at Loyola University in Chicago.

For his own life, Bishop Ashe finds great inspiration in the life of St Therese of Lisieux and is inspired by her courage and her desire to be a missionary and to be ‘love at the heart of the Church for the world’.

Ms McNamara, Partner with Wotton Kearney. She was previously a Senior Lawyer with the Truth Justice & Healing Council from 2013 to 2018.

Ms McNamara acts for both private sector and government clients, specialising in dispute resolution, administrative law, and regulatory compliance. Ms McNamara has managed proceedings seeking review of administrative decisions and advised on the conduct of inquiries. She has detailed experience and in depth knowledge of the operation of Royal Commissions and the development of appropriate strategy and responsive legal policy. She has also advised on the exercise of delegations and authorisations, provided training to decision makers and prepared manuals on decision making, procedural fairness and the proper exercise of legislative powers. Other areas of knowledge include stakeholder management and advocacy, workers compensation, work health and safety and general insurance.

Ms McNamara also holds a Masters in Theology.

Ms McNamara sits on the Board’s Mission and Governance Committee.

Agnes’ senior leadership and non-executive career spans more than 25 years and is the inaugural CEO of CatholicCare Victoria since January 2021. Agnes has significant board experience with over 14 years as a non-executive director. Agnes led the integration program which resulted in the creation of CatholicCare Victoria – integrating Centacare Ballarat, CatholicCare Melbourne Gippsland and CatholicCare Sandhurst. She has served on the Mercy Health Board for 9.5 years and joined the Calvary board in 2018. Agnes is deeply committed to the opportunity of building thriving communities through disrupting the cycle of disadvantage. She is passionate about client centred and place-based responses to supporting those who are disadvantaged.

Prior to Agnes’ role as CEO of CatholicCare Victoria and her involvement with the for-purpose sector, she has held significant Executive Director roles in large publicly listed corporation both nationally and internationally.

Agnes successfully led large teams across the information and communications technology sector and managed services both nationally and internationally and led some substantial client focused transformations during her career. She has significant business and commercial expertise in developing growth strategies, business transformation, customer advocacy, ICT, mergers and acquisitions.

Julia Mangan, CEO of CatholicCare Tasmania, is an accomplished leader with a wealth of experience across the legal, government, and social service sectors. Holding both a law degree and an arts degree, majoring in politics, from the University of Adelaide, Julia’s career has been shaped by her commitment to addressing housing and homelessness, as well as her dedication to social justice.

Julia’s early years, attending a Catholic school in Adelaide were instrumental in fostering her passion for social service, influenced further by her mother’s long-standing work in public housing. Julia has built a diverse career, having held senior roles in both government and the private sector. Her time in government gave her strategic insight into public policy governance and risk, while her work in the private sector allowed her to understand the broader commercial impacts of policy decisions, particularly in relation to housing services.

Julia has a proven track record of leading teams to deliver mission-driven outcomes. Under her leadership, CatholicCare Tasmania continues to provide essential services to communities across the state, focusing on collaboration and impactful, community-based solutions. Julia’s background positions her as a leader who advocates for positive social change by simultaneously driving continuous improvement through internal review and reform, as well as working with private and government stakeholders through a partnership approach. Julia is committed to advancing CatholicCare’s mission and driving sustainable, long-term impact and meaningful contribution to the Tasmanian community.