Catholic Social Services Victoria > Members

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Yarck to Yea - Walk, Ride or Run! - Saturday 13th October 2018

Come join us for the annual event of the John Wallis Foundation - a walk, ride or run along part of the beautiful Great Victorian Rail Trail between Yarck and Yea in Victoria.All proceeds to The John Wallis Foundation for disadvantaged communities.

#WorthASecondChance Launch

Jesuit Social Services CEO Julie Edwards officially launched the #WorthASecondChance campaign  on 24 July to expand the conversation around positive approaches to youth justice. The launch featured powerful presentations from two young men, Sammy and Caution, and videos of other inspiring young people who have made the most of their second chance.

MacKillop Family Services and The Sanctuary Institute Australia are e

mbarking on a National Professional Learning Tour to explain “how the Sanctuary Model creates safer, more inclusive and healthier cultures in schools, community service organisations and the broader community.” The Victorian Seminar is on 16-17 August 2018 at Victoria University. Click here for more information, flyer and registration.

Community members are being urged to rally around their youngsters as Villa Maria Catholic Homes (VMCH) Young Carer Mentor Program urgently seeks mentors for at least 13 young carers living in Seymour, Euroa, Heathcote Junction, Mooroopna, Shepparton, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Boweya. Some of the carers supported by the program are as young as eight and have little family, community or financial support. Research indicates that if they are not adequately supported, their own health and wellbeing can be seriously affected. The mentor program links them with volunteer mentors who give emotional support, life skills and social opportunities.

Villa Maria's Star of the Sea Residential Aged Care in Torquay is hosting an open day on Saturday 21 July, from 10am-12pm, where visitors can receive some personalised advice or join one of the regular tours. Star of the Sea is a state-of-the-art and award-winning facility which opened in September, 2017. It offers personalised services, dementia care and tailored lifestyle programs for older people.

Jesuit Social Services’ Men’s Project has been established to provide leadership on the reduction of violence and other harmful behaviours prevalent among boys and men, and to build new approaches to improve their wellbeing and keep families and communities safe.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has supported new legislation to help eradicate the scourge of modern slavery. The Government introduced the Modern Slavery Bill 2018 into the Australian Parliament last week, which will require large organisations in Australia with annual revenue of at least $100 million to report annually on their efforts to detect and eliminate slavery from their supply chains. The bishops acknowledged the work of ACRATH and the Archdiocese of Sydney's Anti-Slavery Taskforce to achieve this outcome.

NAIDOC Week event, 12 July

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. As part of this celebration, CatholicCare Greater Melbourne is hosting an event on Thursday 12 July, from 10.30am-11.30am, at the Cardinal Knox Centre in East Melbourne. Sherry Balcombe, coordinator of Aboriginal Catholic Ministry Victoria is guest speaker.

Catholic social services make a substantial contribution to the social fabric of Victoria. Services range from alcohol treatment, crisis housing, Indigenous ministry and prison ministry, to the protection of women and children escaping family violence, refugees and asylum seekers and those impacted by human trafficking. More than 200,000 people were supported by Catholic social service organisations during 2016-2017, with the total number of occasions of support being in excess of 400,000. The total expenditure in assisting these people was more than $700 million and included 6800 employed staff and at least 17,600 volunteers.

ACRATH has launched its fundraising appeal and hopes to raise more than $100,000 in the lead up to World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30. The money will help ACRATH maintain vital programs to combat human trafficking, especially forced marriage and forced labour. While you are reading this, the marriage of a teenage schoolgirl in Australia is being planned by her family. She will most likely have never met the groom and she will have no say in the marriage. If she objects to the marriage she risks rejection by her family and community. But thankfully she will not be left alone and homeless.