Our thinking Archives - Jesuit Social Services

Jesuit Social Services’ statement on Treaty
- 9 October 2025
As an organisation, we support Treaty because – while we can’t change the immeasurable harm inflicted on Aboriginal people since colonisation – we can create a better future together.
There's a better way to tackle youth crime crisis
- 5 August 2025
Through our nearly 50 years of work with young people who have contact with the justice system, we’ve learnt that this is a more effective way to achieve strong and cohesive communities. There’s a lot of work needed to repair the Territory, our home, but the first steps are recognising the harm we’re doing to…
NAIDOC Week 2025
- 1 July 2025
Recognising how far we still have to go to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures are treated with equality and respect—by both governments and the broader community—is a responsibility that belongs to all Australians, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ. This NAIDOC Week calls on all of us who are committed to building a…
National Reconciliation Week 2025
- 22 May 2025
Despite the promises of the 2018 Closing the Gap agreement, many targets remain unmet — and in some areas, the gap has only widened, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ. This year, National Reconciliation Week invites us to look forward as well as to reflect on the many deep failings of the past.
Federal pre-Budget Submission 2025 - Safe and respectful youth justice systems
- 24 March 2025
Ahead of the 2025-26 Federal Budget, Jesuit Social Services has published its pre-Budget submission, highlighting opportunities for Government to target spending and policy-making, prioritising reach, strategies and programs that support children, young people and their families to live safe and healthy lives. In our third pre-Budget piece, we focus on the need for a national…
Young people are worth a second chance.
- 10 June 2024
The age of criminal responsibility has been much debated recently. Victoria has committed to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 this year, and to 14 in 2027. The Northern Territory has raised it to 12, and the ACT is in the process of doing so. Other states are planning, considering, or…
World Environment Day 2024
- 5 June 2024
"And yet there are grounds for hope, if not for optimism." Read Andy Hamilton SJ's reflection on World Environment Day 2024.
Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week
- 25 May 2024
Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week must be a time of sober commitment by all Australians to the unfinished task of Reconciliation, reflects Andy Hamilton SJ.
Climate emergency and prisons don’t mix
- 22 March 2024
On a 38-degree December day in the middle of the desert, 15 people incarcerated at Alice Springs Correctional Centre used t-shirts and pedestal fans to rip a hole in a ceiling, in a desperate attempt to escape the stifling heat of their overcrowded cells. The incident reignited calls to air-condition the prison – one recommendation…
Reflection: Australia must enact a Human Rights Act
- 21 September 2023
Jesuit Social Services’ rights-based approach to advocacy and service provision is grounded in our belief that every person’s rights and freedoms must be protected. Here, Andy Hamilton SJ reflects on our recommendation that the Federal Government enact a Human Rights Act – building on our recent contribution to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights…