ST Mary MacKillop’s canonisation is reaping earthly rewards for the Josephites with turnover of items linked to Australia’s first saint at the order’s North Sydney shop reported to have nearly quadrupled in the month of October.
At the same time, the Federal Government has recently announced Mary MacKillop’s name will be protected by special legislative measures to outlaw commercial or other exploitation.
Cricketing legend Sir Donald Bradman is the only other Australian to have their name protected by the Government in this way.
The Josephites congregational secretary Sr Sheila McCreanor said the Government’s move followed the order’s successful trademark applications to protect the name of its co-founder.
Lawyers acting for the Sisters of St Joseph, the order St Mary co-founded in 1866, lodged multiple applications to trademark the name on everything from stickers and pendants to T-shirts and even wine.
“We’ve trademarked Mary MacKillop’s name primarily to ensure that it is used appropriately, rather than misused,” Sr McCreanor said.
“This was part of the bigger picture of protecting and managing the congregation’s intellectual property, while managing the demand for Mary MacKillop merchandise and memorabilia across Australia.
“We have also been obliged to trademark the name as a result of other entities which have no association with us whatsoever seeking to register the name.”
Canonisation commemorative gifts are the biggest sellers at the order’s North Sydney Mary MacKillop Place Shop.
“Turnover at the shop has been three to four times higher than normal during the October canonisation month,” Sr McCreanor said.
“Gifts costing a few dollars like lapel pins and small medallions (11,000 sold) were the most popular.”
For the canonisation there was a lot of merchandise featuring Mary MacKillop’s image and her signature, including medals, jewellery and scarves which were very popular.
“Various books on Mary MacKillop have also sold extremely well.”
Sr McCreanor said proceeds from retail sales and licensing would go to support the ministries of the Sisters of St Joseph.
An indicative range of the order’s products is available on the Mary MacKillop Place website www.marymackillopplace.org.au
