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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,…
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In his post for Social Inclusion Week, ANDY HAMILTON SJ writes that social inclusion depends on social friendship – the readiness to welcome others into our lives. In recent years people have spoken much more openly about what it is like to be excluded. We are better informed about what it means to be racially…
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Homelessness Week 2020 - The way forward must be built on respect. And respect begins with a home.
Homelessness Week 2020 (August 2-8) is taking place in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and ANDY HAMILTON SJ writes that the week is a crucial reminder of the naivety and recklessness of the policies that have produced homelessness. The way forward must be built on respect, and respect begins with a home. Homelessness Week…
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Mental wellbeing during a pandemic - a chat with Support After Suicide
The social distancing, isolation and separation from regular routines and social connections that are now part of our daily lives as a result of COVID-19 have impacted us all in different ways. Dr Louise Flynn, Manager of Jesuit Social Services’ Support After Suicide program, discusses mental wellbeing during the pandemic and how the work of…
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Ravenhall audit a sobering reminder of need for transparency in prison system
A new audit of Ravenhall Prison, tabled yesterday by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, shows that an over-crowded prison population is limiting people’s access to vital programs and services to help them address the underlying issues behind their offending. We need greater access to data and transparency across the board to assess whether prison operators are…
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Ecological justice focus in next Dropping off the Edge report
We are pleased to announce that we will embark on a new version of our landmark Dropping off the Edge research this year. This research into locational disadvantage, which has included four major reports over the past 20 years, shows the stubborn and entrenched nature of disadvantage in a small number of communities across Australia.…