The St Vincent de Paul Society NSW is saddened by the sudden passing of Sister Camel Hanson RSJ on 25 January 2025.

Sr Carmel joined the Society in 1991 and spent decades supporting vulnerable and disadvantage people through the Maitland/Newcastle Central council. She was a towering voice for social justice within the Society and broader community, serving as a state social justice representative and appearing regularly at our Rosalie Rendu Forum.

She held many roles in her lifetime: a psychologist, a teacher, a lawyer and coordinator of the House of Hospitality, providing emergency accommodation to a wide range of people, including women and their children who have experienced addiction and domestic violence, asylum seekers in need of accommodation and single fathers with children.

Sr Carmel resigned from her positions as Vice President and Spiritual Advisor to the Maitland/Newcastle Central Council and the Social Justice Committee, to take up the role of Congregational Leader for the Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar in the last year.

A little over a week before she passed, I met with Sr Hanson and the Sisters of St Joseph, who gifted a property to the Society that will be used to provide housing and wraparound support for individuals facing hardship in the local community. This service will allow her legacy of “good works” to continue for years to come.

Sr Carmel will be missed greatly throughout the Society, especially by those she impacted in the Maitland/Newcastle Central Council. Her passion, advocacy and commitment to faith embodied the Vincentian spirit.

Rest in Peace, Sr Carmel, you good and faithful servant.

By Leo Tucker