{"id":400,"date":"2026-06-10T01:41:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T01:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/?page_id=400"},"modified":"2026-06-10T02:09:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T02:09:52","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/?page_id=400","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAbout US<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Serving the community of Far North Queensland since 1981<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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As the Social Services agency of the\u00a0Catholic Diocese of Cairns<\/a>, Centacare FNQ proudly works with the community to deliver social services, underpinned by Catholic Social Teaching, to support the needs of residents in the region.<\/p>

As an organisation, Centacare FNQ has focused on community wellbeing in the broadest sense, not only within the immediate Cairns area but also across the whole of the Far North Queensland region. Centacare FNQ continues to strive to maintain its commitment to supporting and assisting people living within the Far North Queensland community who are most in need.<\/p>

We provide services that are community driven, easy to access and that make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and the Far North Queensland region. As a local organisation, we want to improve the community in which we live and we know that starts with listening and working together with local people. We will listen and always try to make a difference.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Our Way<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Centacare FNQ works in and with the Far North Queensland Community using the principles of Catholic Social Teaching to guide us.<\/p>

We acknowledge, value and respect the traditional custodians of this land. We are committed to providing professional, inclusive services, using place-based thinking, and prioritising wellbeing and safety in all we do.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our Practice Principles<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPlace Based\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We work within our community at a local level with local people to address local needs.<\/h5>

(Local people are engaged as active participants in development and implementation of programs and services).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStrengths Based\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We recognise and value peoples strengths and demonstrate this through provision of appropriate services ensuring people’s needs are met through collaboration.<\/h5>

(Everyone acknowledges their abilities and collaborates with others to ensure a complete service is delivered to clients).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPerson-Centred\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Supports and services are respectful of, and responsive to, people’s preferences, needs and values.<\/h5>

(Everyone treats the client receiving the services in the way they want to be treated, and ensures their interests, needs and safety are always put first.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEvidence Based\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Services are informed by contemporary evidence, research and best practice.<\/h5>\n(Research, evidence and best practice form the basis of all service provision and inform ongoing improvements).\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Service delivery innovation is an ongoing process that is embedded into the way the organisation refines existing, and develops new products and services.<\/h5>

(The organisation invests in innovation, research and development and focuses on finding creative ways to facilitate service improvements).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tContinuously Improving\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The organisation monitors service delivery, measures and benchmarks performance, to continually improve the client experience and risk management.<\/h5>

(The organisation continually monitors and measures performance seeks client and stakeholder feedback and focuses on improving the delivery of services).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Our Strategic Priorities<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Eighth Bishop of Cairns\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Joseph John Caddy was born on 14 January 1960, the first of six children to John and Patricia (n\u00e9e McMahon) Caddy who are both still living in the family home in Ivanhoe East where he was raised with his siblings Gerard, Anita, Delia, and Julian (all still living within the Archdiocese of Melbourne).<\/p>

He had a Catholic education attending St Stephen\u2019s Primary School in Reservoir East and then Cathedral College, East Melbourne and Parade College Bundoora for his secondary schooling under the guidance of the Christian Brothers.<\/p>

Following his secondary education, he was accepted into the Commerce Faculty at the University of Melbourne before entering Corpus Christi College Seminary at Clayton, Melbourne in 1984. In 1988, he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Theology by the Melbourne College of Divinity.<\/p>

After ordination in 1990, Father Caddy was appointed, Assistant Priest at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Maidstone until 1993 when he went to Rome to study for a Baccalaureate and later a Liceniate in Social Sciences at the Pontifical Gregorian University.<\/p>

On completion of his studies in Rome, Father Caddy returned to Melbourne where he served in a number of diocesan and national roles in social services. He was Chair of Catholic Social Services Australia from 2003 until 2013; served as a Prison Chaplain in Melbourne\u2019s maximum security men\u2019s prisons for eleven years from 2002 and held the role of Chief Executive Officer at CatholicCare Melbourne from 2004 to 2017.<\/p>

In 2013, while continuing in the role of CEO at CatholicCare, he was appointed Parish Priest of All Saints Fitzroy where he remained until 2016 when he was appointed Parish Priest of St Mary\u2019s, St Kilda East and Episcopal Vicar for Social Services and Justice. In 2019 he was appointed Vicar General in the Archdiocese of Melbourne and in 2021 Parish Priest of St Carthage\u2019s Parish, Parkville while continuing in the role of Vicar General<\/p>

In June 2018 Father Caddy was recognised in his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia for \u201csignificant service to the community through a range of social welfare initiatives and policy reforms, and to the Catholic Church in Australia\u201d<\/p>

In June 2024 he was nominated by Pope Francis as the Bishop-elect for the Diocese of Cairns.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About US Serving the community of Far North Queensland since 1981 As the Social Services agency of the\u00a0Catholic Diocese of Cairns, Centacare FNQ proudly works with the community to deliver social services, underpinned by Catholic Social Teaching, to support the needs of residents in the region. As an organisation, Centacare FNQ has focused on community […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-400","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":412,"href":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/400\/revisions\/412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centracare.mustard.design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}