Blending families, transforming lives
30 April 2019 A personal story from foster parents, Tracey and Nigel There are many blended families but in the happy home of Western Sydney couple, Tracey and Nigel, it’s a little bit different. Not only does their family include five older children aged 16 – 20 years, but there’s an extra addition of a fun,...
Creating Brighter Futures
30 April 2019 Brighter Futures Program for parents Karen had lost confidence in her parenting abilities. She felt like she could not make it. Then she discovered CatholicCare Social Services Hunter Manning’s Brighter Futures Program. “Working with CatholicCare has changed my life in insurmountable ways. They have made me realise that the life I was living wasn’t...
Home is what you make it
30 April 2019 Personal story from foster carers, Sarah and Michael Sarah and Michael* smile as they talk about their family. “Home is what you make it,” Sarah says. “And the people you fill it with make it a home as well.” The couple had always wanted more children after their daughter, but through circumstances could not have...
Changing for good
30 April 2019 A personal story, Johns experience with the Journey to Social Inclusion (J2SI) program Since the age of 15, John has been in and out of prison. He spent about six years in custody over the past 15 years of his life and had no stable accommodation for 10 years. When John was released from prison,...
Easter Sky News interview with Fr Frank Brennan SJ, CSSA’s CEO
A broad-ranging interview including Newstart; NDIS; energy policy; asylum seekers and refugees; and the ongoing leadership and inspiration of Pope Francis. Listen to the interview here.
The NDIS: another important choice at this Federal Election
As published CathNews, 17 April 2018 By Brenton Prosser PHD, Former Director Research, CSSA Federal Budget week was another significant one for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It was a central feature in the speeches of both the Treasurer and the Opposition Leader. Public debate centred on $1.6 billion of allocated (but unspent) funding going back into the Government’s projected $7.1 billion surplus. The...
Church calls for living wage for Australian families
17 March 2019 The Church has made submissions on the minimum wage since 2003 with a focus on low-paid workers and their families, arguing for a decent standard of living for wage-dependent families. Megan Kavanagh, a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Employment Relations Reference Group, said there has been a tradition in Australia –...
Medicalis-nation: the growing dependence of Australian public policy on drugs
An edited version of this paper was published in the Mandarin on 26 February 2019. Australian media regularly reports concerns about the over-use of drugs to treat our most vulnerable. However, what this reporting has missed is the subtle but underlying trend toward medicalisation in public policy. I first met Dorothy as part of a national evaluation of...
