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Catholic communities urge Australian Government to do more to protect people from Afghanistan
Jesuit Social Services co-convenes with Jesuit Refugee Services the Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA), which has today reflected on the outcome of their recent federal electorate campaign – advocating for a more generous welcome for people fleeing the crisis in Afghanistan. Almost 600 leaders from Catholic communities across Australia have signed letters urging…
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17 August 2021 The Hon. Karen Andrews MP Minister for Home Affairs Parliament House Canberra, ACT 2600 Re: Protection for Afghan people seeking asylum and refugees on temporary visas in Australia Dear Minister, Today we write to you as the Co-Chairs of the Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA) about…
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17 August 2021 The Hon. Alex Hawke MP Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Parliament House Canberra, ACT 2600 Re: Protection for Afghan people seeking asylum and refugees on temporary visas in Australia Dear Minister, Today we write to you as the Co-Chairs of the Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum…
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NAIDOC Week (July 4 – 11) is a time for recognising and celebrating the many ways in which pride has been built in Indigenous communities, and for pressing that in their relationships to people and to the environment governments and other institutions show the respect which opens out to healing, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ. This…
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In public debates, Governments will win more votes than they lose through the brutal treatment of refugees. If we care for refugees, then, we must be in for the long haul. When the national mood changes from suspicious of outsiders to a more hospitable outlook, we must be ready to encourage it, writes ANDY HAMILTON…
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Better approaches to supporting young people in the Northern Territory
In May, the Northern Territory Government introduced a number of legislative changes to the youth justice system that will see more children separated from family and community, and funnelled into detention. These deeply concerning measures include increasing grounds to refuse or revoke bail; reducing access to diversion; and more powers to place electronic monitoring devices…
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National Reconciliation Week - Reconciliation must be first made with reality
Ahead of Sorry Day (May 26) and National Reconciliation Week (May 27 – June 3), ANDY HAMILTON SJ writes that reconciliation begins by recognising the human reality of the relationships between Indigenous people and non-indigenous Australians and the history of those relationships. National Reconciliation Week this year marks the 20th anniversary of Reconciliation Australia and…
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Back in 1977, Jesuit Social Services was born (as Four Flats) to respond to a real and important need. It was apparent that young men were exiting prison into homelessness with little support and no prospects of a job. A quote by then Pentridge Prison Chaplain, Fr John Brosnan, became a guiding principle for our…
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Closing the gap in Indigenous inequality and health outcomes should be directed by the choices and needs of Indigenous Australians, not by the economic and political considerations of government, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ. Close the Gap Day is a sobering occasion each year. It records the gap between promises and actions, between aspiration and outcome.…
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NAIDOC Week (November 8 – 15) is about more than a demand for respect, it is about making a more just and decent Australia in which all people can be proud of the society they have built, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ. This year, the theme of the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC)…