The Vatican City is set to canonise Australia's first saint on October 17 as the federal government declared on Monday that Mother Mary MacKillop's name would be protected from the expected onslaught of commercialisation once her sainthood becomes official.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that any entity planning to utilise Mother Mary's name as their company name would have to obtain ministerial approval from the government as the would-be saint joins the fabled ranks of government-protected names with the legendary cricket player Don Bradman as its most prominent member.

In that light, Ms Gillard said that federal corporations' regulations would be amended to accommodate the protection of Mother Mary's name which should aptly reflect the significance of her elevation to sainthood for millions of Australians.

The federal initiative, according to Ms Gillard, is aimed at regulating it not reducing "the extent to which an entity may hold itself to be associated with Mary MacKillop."

She said that the new measure is set to give Mother Mary's the highest level of protection that could be given to any existing Australian individual name, which was also previously accorded to cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman.

The prime minister said that while the law is still in the works, Australia's existing laws would for the time being provide ample protections against the inappropriate use of Mary MacKillop's name.

Ms Gillard said that Mother Mary' name could be protected for now by the Trade Marks Act 1995, Trade Practices Act 1974, some equivalent and related state laws and the existing common laws, stressing that the government recognition is testament to the significance that Mother Mary's life stands for millions of Catholic and non-Catholic Australians.