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International Day of Persons with Disabilities
On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we reflect that the reality for persons with disabilities is often one of inequality and of neglect by others. ANDY HAMILTON SJ writes that in all our personal and public relationships with persons with disabilities we must ensure that they can exercise agency in their lives. The naming…
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A reflection on the times by Father Andy Hamilton SJ
These have been hard days in a hard world, haven’t they? They favour hard people who wear masks and helmets, carry clubs, and lock their purses. We had hoped that the Referendum on the Indigenous Voice would be a celebration of peace and reconciliation, a gentling of the community. Instead, it was a bitter time…
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Evidence shows flexible mental health and wellbeing supports essential
Jesuit Social Services has a decades-long history of working with people to improve their mental health and wellbeing so they can then build healthy social connections and be more engaged in their community. We offer a range of mental health and wellbeing programs, and take pride in our individualised and person-centred approach. Recent data from…
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Jesuit Social Services’ recently released Victorian State Election platform, A state of opportunity, builds on 45 years of advocacy and action, to outline our vision for a just society across a range of interconnected social policy areas, from a fairer justice system, to support for people experiencing multiple and complex needs such as mental illness,…
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World Suicide Prevention Day 2021
World Suicide Prevention Day is a time to be grateful for the growing movement to recognise people’s mental illness and desperation and to stand by people who have lost friends and relatives to suicide, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ. Almost everyone you meet says that the period of Coronavirus has been stressful. They have variously fallen…
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Good health for the young, the old and the vulnerable must be built on respect for their humanity and on good relationships, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ. Most Australians are fortunate enough to be able to take their health for granted for much of their lives. We have sufficient food to keep us strong; we have…
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Mental health and wellbeing in a time of COVID-19
Andy Hamilton SJ During the coronavirus crisis mental health has been a focus of concern. This is not surprising. Our mental health is held within a delicate yet strong web of relationships that we ordinarily take for granted. Our daily routine, our workplace and fellow workers, our employment, our family, our schooling, our church associations,…
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International Day of People with Disability
The International Day of People with Disability invites us to remember people who experience from different kinds of disability and to enter their lives compassionately, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ. When we see the extraordinary agility and skills of tennis players and other athletes with a disability, the poetry written by people who experience mental illness,…