Joyce Harmer

For nearly a decade, Major Joyce Harmer and her husband Major Hilton Harmer worked as Court Chaplains for the Sydney Downing Centre and magistrates courts, in time expanding their beat the courts at Darlinghurst and the Supreme Court. During the Sydney gang rape trials in 2002 and the trial of accused child murderer Kathleen Folbigg in 2004, Joyce Harmer’s work came to public notice. Her seven day a week, round-the-clock avaliability supporting those in need soom became something of a legend. That work did not begin in the Sydney Courts; Joyce Harmer’s life of service spans some four decades and has become the subject of a book – An Angel in the Court (Harper Collins) written by Anne Henderson. On Friday 9 September 2005, the Hon Tony Abbott MP, Minister for Health, launched An Angel in the Court at The Sydney Institute.