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Climate emergency and prisons don’t mix
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 of the Northern Territory Ombudsman, and firmly in step with the Territory’s human rights obligations to people deprived of their liberty.
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A Christmas reflection by Father Andy Hamilton SJ
Christmas Day is a day of celebration. Of family, of children, of leisure, of freedom from work, of good food and drink. And yet in recent times, Christmas has also been a time of anxiety, of fear, of separation, of hardship. On one recent Christmas we lived with COVID and the isolation that...
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International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The theme of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities puts disabilities into a broader context of how society affects them and must change to meet them. Pope Francis has always commended the day, focusing on people’s personal needs. Both approaches are necessary. ...
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The Australian Government is developing a National Housing and Homelessness Plan – a 10-year strategy to inform future housing policy in Australia and the first long-term strategy since 1992. Jesuit Social Services recently contributed a submission to the Plan calling for an increase in social housing – with a focus on public housing – and urging the Government to raise the rate of income support and related payments, among other reforms.
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World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2023
Avoiding death and danger isn’t enough to live a life that’s truly free, writes Andy Hamilton SJ to mark this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
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Reflection: Australia must enact a Human Rights Act
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...
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Deepening our conversation on The Voice to Parliament
Jesuit Social Services supports a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament and throughout 2023, we are advocating for a YES vote in the upcoming referendum. We were honoured to welcome Amanda Watkinson, who is an Aboriginal woman and former Jesuit Social Services staff member, to speak to staff at our recent All Staff Day in June about what a YES vote would mean for Indigenous peoples and for Australia as a whole.
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Reflection: Designing and implementing justice reinvestment in Australia
Read Andy Hamilton SJ's reflection on community led justice reinvestment to support our submission to the Justice Reinvestment Design Project.