-
article
Jesuit Social Services gets the ‘Rainbow Tick’
Jesuit Social Services staff member, Alex Fraser, is one of several team members who led the organisation towards Rainbow Tick accreditation over the last four years. The organisation set up a Rainbow Tick advisory group made up of interested staff from across the organisation, started a newsletter sharing LGBTIQA+ resources, began intentionally marking key dates –…
-
article
School canteens feed curiosity
The Currawong Kitchen school canteen was established in 2020 to provide healthy school snacks, catering, and food hampers to families in the historically disadvantaged and under-serviced area of Mount Druitt. Two school canteens now sit alongside Jesuit Social Services’ affordable grocery stores, Ignite Food Store and Open Pantry, where the parents of school children can…
-
article
Neighbourhood houses building climate resilience and community connections
In the city of Darebin, nestled in the inner north of Melbourne, there are many community members who experience multiple forms of disadvantage and are vulnerable to the impacts of heat. As extreme weather events become more frequent, the Centre for Just Places is working closely with communities like Darebin, to build climate resilience. The Centre…
-
article
Housing support helps self-belief grow
The strong links between homelessness and contact with the criminal justice system are well documented. Twenty-five per cent of people entering prison experience homelessness in the four weeks before entering prison and more than half of those...
-
article
Day of People with Disability (Dec 3)
Carparks bring out the best and worst in people. Most carparks thoughtfully leave special parking spaces for people who are disabled. Most people respect them. But others without a disability often squat in the reserved places. And people who can walk only short distances, but have no outward signs of disability, are sometimes abused when…
-
article
International Human Rights Day (December 10)
For any government, human rights can often be a nuisance. When people protest against breaches of human rights, they criticise the actions of their government, try to prevent it from doing what it wants to do, hold up its plans and give it a bad reputation overseas. So the Australian Government, like many other governments,…
-
article
International Migrants Day (December 18)
International Migrants Day usually comes as a placid reminder of the contributions that immigrants make to our national life. It merges easily into the Christmas celebrations with their emphasis on universal good will and peace. This year, however, the celebration of migrants has a touch of defiance. In Europe political parties that oppose immigration have…
-
article
World Social Justice Day (February 20)
World Social Justice Day invites us to look at our own society and how we treat people. It also allows us to honour people who keep hanging in as they try to build a more just society. A commitment to justice in any area of life will always lead us through harsh country along a…
-
article
Afternoon tea celebrates volunteers’ time, effort and energy
We celebrated the generous support of volunteers during National Volunteer Week, which ran from 9–13 May 2016. National Volunteer Week is an opportunity recognise the collective effort of our volunteers, who help us deliver a range of services across communities. During 2014-15, more than 200 volunteers gave a combined estimated 10,436 hours of time and…
-
article
Carlton Football Club makes amends
Jesuit Social Services staff member and distinguished Indigenous Elder Aunty Pam Pedersen took centre stage in a moving ceremony at the Carlton Football Club recently, where the AFL club acknowledged the hurt they had caused her family. Leading club officials admitted past mistakes in front of a crowd that included all the players on Carlton’s…