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 Victorian African Communities Action Plan
- 5 January 2018
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to comment on the draft Victorian African Communities Action Plan. We commend the Government on taking this proactive step, in close collaboration with local communities, towards creating more inclusive economic and social opportunities for all African Victorians. Jesuit Social Services recognises and affirms the significant economic and social contribution…
Sentencing Guidelines Council for Victoria: Issues Paper
- 3 January 2018
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to put forward our views on the Sentencing Advisory Council’s issues paper on the creation of a sentencing guidelines council in Victoria. As a starting point, we affirm the long standing principles of our judicial system, including: The independence of the judiciary The presumption of innocence The protection of the…
2018/19 Victorian State Budget submission
- 21 December 2017
In our submission to the 2018/19 Victorian State Budget, Jesuit Social Services imagines all of the priority areas for this year’s budget sitting on a continuum of justice. As we look at the continuum – ranging from education and keeping kids in school, to child protection, and our justice, housing and mental health systems –…
Submission to the Public Housing Renewal Program
- 14 December 2017
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to put forward our views on the Public Housing Renewal Program to the Victorian Legislative Council’s Standing Committee on Legal and Social Issues. We appreciate the significant role of public and social housing in providing much needed stability and security for many disadvantaged people in Victoria. We welcome the…
Outsourcing Community Safety: Can private prisons work for public good?
- 17 November 2017
Outsourcing Community Safety: Can private prisons work for public good? raises a number of questions about the purpose of prisons and the role of private providers. Prisons have a purpose and an opportunity: rehabilitation must be their focus, a chance to work towards a safer community. We urgently need to know whether privatisation is the…
Flourishing Communities: Taking lessons from place-based approaches, justice reinvestment and social cohesion
- 17 November 2017
Making Australian communities safer requires something more than the current policies on offer. The ever-increasing amount of money poured into prisons is not making us safer and could be put to much better use. Overlapping lessons drawn from place-based approaches to addressing disadvantage, justice reinvestment and social cohesion strategies reveal the ‘better use’ to which…
Submission to the ALRC Discussion Paper: Incarceration Rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
- 4 October 2017
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Australian Law Reform Commission Discussion Paper: Incarceration Rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. We believe the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the criminal justice system is a national disgrace. More than two decades ago, the report of the Royal…
Submission to the Law Council of Australia's Justice Project
- 4 October 2017
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the Justice Project’s consultation papers regarding access to justice in Australia. Our submission specifically responds to the Justice Project’s issue paper on people with disability. Our comments focus on the particular situation of people with acquired brain injury (ABI) who interact with the criminal justice…
Submission to the Visa simplification policy consultation
- 4 October 2017
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to put forward our views to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s ‘Visa simplification’ policy consultation. In our submission we call on the Australian Government to ensure that any transformation of our visa system retains a nation-building focus: reuniting families, enhancing social networks, enriching our cultural diversity and…
Submission to the Inquiry into Drug Law Reform
- 21 September 2017
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Victorian Law Reform, Road and Community Safety Committee’s Inquiry into Drug Law Reform. In our submission we call for a reduction in the number of people interacting with the justice system because of drug use, and welcome approaches that treat drug use as a health…

Policy submissions

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