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...
Christian charity must start with God: Lismore Bishop
20 February 2019 As published in the Catholic Outlook The first call for those working in social services is to see the need of others through the eyes of God, Lismore Bishop Greg Homeming OCD has told Catholic social service leaders from across the country. On a day when tributes to the late Fr Leo Donnelly featured...
A job is the best form of welfare
17 January 2019 With its announcement of an overhaul of the Jobactive program, the Australian Labor Party last week made the first move of the year on employment policy. But with a federal election looming, we ought to prepare ourselves for a mantra of “jobs” and “the economy”. Read more at Pro Bono Australia.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference – Statement on Refugees and Asylum Seekers
December 18, 2018 STATEMENT FROM THE ACBC PRESIDENT ARCHBISHOP MARK COLERIDGE Our elected representatives have returned home for Christmas without resolving the offshore detention crisis that confronts our country. It would seem that a majority in both houses of our Parliament favour laws and policies that will bring to an end the five-year saga of refugees...
Schools as ‘wrap-around hubs’ in disadvantaged communities
28 November 2018 By Brenton Prosser PhD, Former Director Research, CSSA Over the last few years, there has been growing interest around school-led community initiatives to respond to challenges in areas of entrenched disadvantage. It is not as though community hubs are a new idea, while place-based projects have been around for over a decade. But...
