Queen’s birthday honours 2016: Packer’s take on philanthropy

Since Kerry Packer’s death, his widow Ros Packer has devoted her energies to her family as well as charitable causes.

Ros Packer. ‘It’s wonderful that she is being publicly acknowledged.’ Picture: Justin Lloyd

The late billionaire Kerry Packer preferred an under-the-radar style of philanthropy, chipping $5000 into the pockets of his staff after a win on the ponies or quietly helping out a struggling family he had seen featured on his Nine Network.

His widow Ros, 77, who married Packer at St Mark’s Church in Darling Point in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 1963, has taken a more formalised approach to giving since her husband’s death more than a decade ago.

Today she is the recipient of a Companion (AC) in the General Division of the Order of Australia, which follows her appointment to the Officer of the Order of Australia in 2007.

“Mum has always given so much of her time to supporting organisations and charities so they can continue their good work for the community,” her billionaire casino mogul son James Packer says of his mother’s latest award.

“I am very proud of her and it’s wonderful that she is being publicly acknowledged.”

The honour is recognition for her service to the community as a leading benefactor and patron, particularly to healthcare, medical research and social welfare groups, and to the visual and performing arts through philanthropic contributions.

Since Kerry Packer’s death on Boxing Day 2005, Mrs Packer has devoted her energies to her family — children James and Gretel and her six grandchildren — as well as charitable causes.

Those endeavours over the past decade comprise only a part of 30 years of philanthropy by the matriarch. Her giving has spanned mainly the arts and medical research.

Mrs Packer has been a member of the board of trustees of St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation for more than 20 years, a member of the council of the National Gallery of Australia for more than a decade and had a similar tenure on the board of directors of Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. She is a patron of the Art Gallery of NSW, the Hunter Valley Community Foundation, the Sydney Theatre Company and Sculpture by the Sea. Last year, the STC acknowledged her long-time support by naming a theatre in her honour, The Roslyn Packer Theatre.

In 2014, Mrs Packer and her family created the $200 million National Philanthropic Fund in collaboration with the Crown Resorts Foundation.

Mrs Packer is overseas and declined all interviews concerning her latest public recognition.