Flag announcement: Father Robert (Bob) John Maguire AM RFD (1934 – 2023)

The Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet advises a State Funeral Service for Father Robert (Bob) John Maguire AM RFD will take place at 11am on Friday 5 May 2023 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne, Victoria.

Following his ordination as a Catholic priest, Father Bob served across several Victorian parishes, as an army chaplain and became parish priest of Saints Peter and Paul’s in South Melbourne. 

Father Bob was passionate about helping the marginalised. He co-founded Open Family Australia to assist homeless youth, and founded the Father Bob Maguire Foundation to target homelessness, poverty and food insecurity in inner Melbourne. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 for service to homeless youth through the Open Family Australia and in 2011 he was named Victorian of the Year.

Details regarding attendance at the service and livestreaming(link is external) can be found on the Victorian Government's website. 

As a mark of mourning and respect, the Australian National Flag should be flown at half-mast all day on Friday 5 May 2023 in Victoria only from all buildings and establishments occupied by Australian Government departments and affiliated agencies. Other organisations are welcome to participate.

  • When flying the Australian National Flag with other flags, all flags in the set should be flown at half-mast.
  • If a set of flags includes the flags of other nations, it would be appropriate to seek permission from the diplomatic representatives of that nation to half-mast their flag.
  • An acceptable half-mast position would be when the top of the flag is a third of the distance down from the top of the flagpole.
  • Information on flag protocol is available on the Department's website. 

Your assistance is appreciated.

Commonwealth Flag Officer