Policy submissions

Here you’ll find a wide selection of policy papers and submissions we’ve published. Each paper draws on our experience working with disadvantaged youth, families and communities.

Submission to the 2020-21 Victorian State Budget
- 6 January 2020
Many Victorian communities experience significant and persistent disadvantage that manifests in high rates of disengagement from school, joblessness, homelessness, drug and alcohol misuse, family violence, child maltreatment, offending, mental illness, and pain and trauma. These are complex challenges and, not surprisingly, evidence shows that simplistic, siloed solutions do not work to turn around entrenched disadvantage…
Submission to the 2020-21 Federal Budget
- 6 January 2020
In supporting people to reach their full potential, we cannot ignore the structural barriers to participation that many people face, including poverty, locational disadvantage, a lack of appropriate housing and a social safety net that has been chronically underfunded. The imperative to address these factors underlines Jesuit Social Services’ submission to the 2020-21 Federal Budget.…
Submission on the proposed Residential Tenancies Regulations 2020
- 6 January 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation regarding the proposed Residential Tenancies Regulations 2020, the implementation of which offer a positive framework to protect the rights of vulnerable and disadvantaged renters across Victoria. Our submission focuses on ecological justice – that is, the interconnection between environmental and social justice, and how…
Submission to inquiry into the over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in Victoria's youth justice system
- 6 January 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Commission for Children and Young People’s Our Youth, Our Way systemic inquiry into the over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in Victoria’s youth justice system. The impacts of colonisation, racism and dispossession continue to be felt by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and…
Submission to the Inquiry into Gender Responsive Budgeting
- 18 December 2019
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Inquiry into Gender Responsive Budgeting. In our submission, we argue that Gender Responsive Budgeting offers a critical mechanism to help achieve gender justice. To ensure that gender equality commitments are fully realised, we believe that the Victorian budgeting framework should take into account the effect…
Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility: There is a better way
- 27 November 2019
In Australia, at this time, a child as young as 10 can be charged with a crime, put before a court and punished as a criminal. Jesuit Social Services believes this is not only bad for children, but also for the wider community. Our new paper—Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility: There is a better…
Submission to inquiry into migration in regional Australia
- 18 November 2019
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration’s inquiry into migration in regional Australia. In our submission, we argue that with the right policies, services and support in place, regional settlement initiatives have the potential to benefit both newly arrived people, including refugees, and the communities in which…
Submission to the Northern Territory Government’s Climate Change Response: Towards 2050
- 13 November 2019
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Northern Territory Government’s draft Climate Change Response. Our comments on the draft response follow our submission to the Government’s initial Climate Change Response Discussion Paper in November last year. The Northern Territory is facing some of Australia’s most extreme climate changes. As we heard at…
Submission on the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management to Cashless Debit Card Transition) Bill 2019
- 31 October 2019
Jesuit Social Services considers that the continued expansion of the cashless debit card trials is problematic, and forms part of a suite of concerning policy measures that undermine the dignity and personal agency of people experiencing multiple forms of disadvantage. In the Northern Territory, compulsory income management was introduced as part of the Northern Territory…
Submission to Senate inquiry into the adequacy of Newstart and related payments
- 22 October 2019
In supporting people to reach their full potential, including to find meaningful work, we cannot ignore the structural barriers to participation that many people face, including locational disadvantage, a lack of appropriate housing and a social safety net that has been chronically underfunded. Newstart is simply not enough to live on. We can’t expect a…