Mater's heritage

The Mater story is one of dedication, innovation and the pursuit of excellence.

Our founders, the Sisters of Mercy, opened the first Mater hospital in Queensland in 1906 to provide compassionate care to those in need.

More than a century later, Mater is proud to be continuing their legacy with 11 hospitals delivering high-quality healthcare to people across North, Central and South-East Queensland.

As Queensland has grown and developed over the past 100 years, so too has Mater—and we have made history along the way.

Mater opened Queensland’s first hospital laboratory in the midst of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1919 and established the first pharmacy within
a private hospital in the 1930s.

Mater Mothers’ Hospital opened in 1960 and has cared for generations of Queensland families over the past 60 years. Mater is now Australia’s largest maternity services provider, with more than 12,000 babies born every year.

Our aim to continually improve healthcare and to find new ways of transforming scientific discoveries into the best clinical care led to the
opening of Mater Research in 1999. 

Today, Mater Research is a world leading institution, discovering, driving and delivering improved healthcare for Queenslanders. And Mater’s commitment to a strong, sustainable and highly qualified healthcare workforce has grown from the opening of our first nurse training school in 1914 to the creation of Mater Education in 2010, a registered training organisation dedicated to educating and training healthcare workers for tomorrow.

Mater continues to grow and transform to meet the needs and expectations of Queenslanders. We remain committed to our core values of compassion, dignity and integrity, and to the legacy entrusted to us by our founders.