This Parish was established on 13th January 1953. Its history is one of accepting and being built in all dimensions by Australian-born Parishioners and migrants/refugees from backgrounds including Malta, Poland, Croatia, Vietnam, Iraq, India, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Philippines – and many others.
Parish volunteers built the first church, convent, school and hall. Midnight Mass Christmas 1953, was celebrated under the stars in the shell of the emerging church building; from that beginning the Parish grew exponentially; the school had over a thousand pupils most of whom did not speak English at home, and extended north over Winifred Street. In the 1970s Holy Eucharist (South), Resurrection (West) and Mary MacKillop (Northeast) Parishes separated from Sacred Heart. The Parish and smaller school were relocated to the present site and the old church, convent, hall and school south of Winfred Street given for the establishment Catholic Regional College (CRC) St. Albans. Into the 1980s the senior campus of CRC was established in Sydenham and Mass for local parishioners celebrated in its classrooms. Emmaus church and school opened in 1997, Cana school in 2004. This part of the Parish is continuing to grow rapidly.
The leadership of Parish Priests Fr Con Reis in unifying the many nationalities into a vibrant faith community and Fr John O’Reilly continues to be recognised with great gratitude. Strong presence, planning and influence of Fr O’Reilly and Sr Judith Carlson rsj have established a firm awareness of Parish life with the mantra ‘pray-work-share together’.
The Sisters of St Joseph have generously contributed a vigorous pastoral and liturgical presence, and significant educational leadership for many years, moving from the Parish in 2022.