Our stories

Building a just society means elevating everyone by supporting all people to reach their full potential. Every success story is crucial because none of us can flourish, until we all do.

NAIDOC week
- 6 July 2015
NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. Many years ago Indigenous Australians recognised that they needed a day of the own to celebrate distinctive aspects of their own culture that Australia Day could not include. The Committee names the theme of the day each year. The theme of NAIDOC week in…
Welcoming visitors
- 3 July 2015
Jesuit Social Services recently welcomed visiting Jesuit communications delegates from across the Asia-Pacific region. The delegates visited Melbourne for an annual three-day meeting. During the delegates’ visit, we were proud to introduce them to our work. The group met with our communications and policy teams to learn about our advocacy and communications work, and…
Royal Commission into Family Violence
- 30 June 2015
Jesuit Social Services submission to the Royal Commission into Family Violence calls for the current fragmented approach to family violence to be better integrated, and for a more systematic approach to be taken to those using violence against family members and intimate partners. We highlight the critical issues of safe and affordable housing, the support…
Pope calls for forgiveness
- 22 June 2015
Some of the bluntest lines spoken during refugee week came from Pope Francis. Speaking to the crowd in St Peter’s Square during Refugee Week, he noted the increasing number of people who are displaced inside their own nations or have fled from war and persecution across borders, and the way in which so many nations…
Pope Francis' Environmental Encyclical
- 22 June 2015
Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the environment has won many hearts, not least because it combines concern for the environment and for social justice. The Pope writes with authority because of his experience with the poor in large Argentinian cities. There the poor, caught in a society marked by great extremes of wealth and poverty are…
Refugee Week ambassadors
- 16 June 2015
Former refugees and child soldiers turned successful Artful Dodgers Studios participants The Flybz have been named national ambassadors of Refugee Week, which runs until Saturday. Refugee Week is Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness about the issues affecting refugees and celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society. Fablice, who forms The…
Refugee Week
- 15 June 2015
Refugee week is a time for looking at big pictures and little pictures. This year the big picture is bleak. The number of people who flee across land borders to escape war and persecution has grown, especially in the Middle East and in Africa. They are often escaping from religious persecution, but their flight takes…
Launch of Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA)
- 15 June 2015
The Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA) has been officially launched at the start of World Refugee Week, which runs from June 14 to 20. Backed by leading Catholic peak organisations and convened by Jesuit Social Services, CAPSA aims to change hearts and minds across Australia in support of the abolition of harsh asylum…
Workplace Inclusion Program
- 10 June 2015
Meet Dut – he’s a participant of our Workplace Inclusion Program currently working at Newman College. “It is very hard looking for work. All the time, people say they will call you and they don’t call. I worked in a factory for a year and a half in Colac, but they did not give me…
Sorry Day
- 26 May 2015
Sorry Day is a day for reflection on large issues. Particularly the often complex relationship between Indigenous Australians and those who later occupied the land. But Sorry Day also recalls specific events in the history of that relationship. The day remembers the publication of the report on the Stolen Generations on 26 May, 1997, and…