Catholic Social Services Victoria > What's Happening?

Also of interest….

Gospel in the Garden 19th November - 2.00pm

The House of Welcome Ballarat presents Jam for Justice - Series 5 "Gospel in the Garden". Come and join "Sweet Mona's" gospel Choir, musicians and singers. There will be games, stall and competitions. Funds raised will directly assist local Asylum Seekers.

Venue: 30 Wallar Avenue, Ballarat on 19th November at 2.00pm

Click here to Download Flyer.

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) and Tzedek, the Jewish community organisation focused on improving protection of children from child sexual abuse, are planning a joint event on “Child Safety for multifaith and multicultural communities” with a special focus on protective behaviours on Wednesday 29 November, at the VCC, Chellew Room, 4th floor, Causeway House (enter via The Causeway), 306 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 7:30pm-9:30pm. Download flyer, here.

The Council for Australian Catholic Women, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Catholic Mission and Australian Catholic University (ACU), are delighted to announce a joint initiative to deliver a specialised leadership program for women in the Catholic Church.

Leadership for Mission is an initiative that has been specifically developed by women and for women who are inspired by the Gospel vision for justice, freedom and the dignity of the human person.

During a time of renewed calls within the Catholic Church for the participation and diversity of women's voices in decision-making, leadership and ministry, this graduate program seeks to further embrace, enhance, and theologically ground the leadership capabilities, skills and aspirations of women in the Church and the broader community.

Click here for more information.

The conference is being run by the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre of Victoria University in Melbourne’s CBD.

The conference will bring together a diverse range of faith-based organisations to showcase and discuss best practice governance. Speakers include Commissioners from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Royal Commission into Family Violence, as well representatives of key regulatory bodies (eg. ATO, ACNC, Consumer Affairs). It promises to be an illuminating and innovative take on critically important issues of our time.

Kathy Landvogt from Good Shepherd will be speaking in a panel session on Day 1 entitled ‘Reframing our history: Coming to terms with problematic pasts’, outlining how Good Shepherd approaches its institutional history and impacts on former residents in the contemporary context.

'Holding The Light', an ecumenical service of remembrance for victims and survivors of domestic violence was held on Sunday 26 November to remember those who have been killed this year through family violence. During the service, the bell tolled 42 times to pay tribute to the women who were murdered by someone known to them between Jan-Nov 26, 2017 in Australia.

The Service organiser and Director of ThinkPrevent, Dr Ree Boddé, also provided this powerful address, which was delivered to 200 plus delegates at the Bendigo Interfaith Conference held on 12 November 2017: "There is never a religious, a cultural, a societal justification for violence against women. Period." Click here to listen.

The Catholic Church in Melbourne, along with the Vatican, sends an annual greeting to Hindus on the occasion of the festival of Diwali. This message offers warmest greetings and the blessings of prosperity and success on the occasion of Diwali, and looks forward to the Catholic and Hindu communities ‘doing more together in the future for the common good of our society’. May the celebration of Diwali be a time of joy for us all.

Member organisation, Australian Catholic Against Trading in Humans (ACRATH), with the assistance of students at the St Thomas Moore Law School of the Australian Catholic University (ACU), have prepared a submission for an inquiry into Human Organ Trafficking and Organ Transplant Tourism.  ACRATH's submission (which is number 8 in the list), can be found here. Also, ACRATH's 2018 calendar is now available!

Youth mental health is one of the big issues facing our local Vietnamese community. To address this, a mental health awareness discussion forum, 'Viet Youth In Crisis - How can we help?', will be held on Saturday 28 October, at 1.30pm, at St Joseph's Hall, corner of Buckingham and St James Avenue, Springvale. Download flyer, here.

Women escaping domestic violence who are forced to seek temporary refuge in motels will benefit from a new crisis centre in Adelaide’s northern suburbs. The Vinnies Women’s Crisis Centre was officially opened on 8 October in a ceremony led by Sr Meredith Evans RSM and attended by Vinnies national and state presidents Graham West and Cathy Beaton. Vinnies chief executive officer David Wark said, “It was clear to us a couple of years ago that Vinnies could make a difference to outcomes for women at risk, who are often housed in motel accommodation, and we set about making that happen. This new service will provide a wrap-around service where women and their children will have the support of the whole Vinnies community.”

Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand and St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria invites you to join public policy experts and people with lived experience at the 2017 Anti-Poverty Week Forum "Picking up the Pieces" on 20 October 2017, from 11.30am - 3.30pm.Together, we will discuss the consequences of increased social security conditionality and what needs to be done to pick up the pieces and disrupt cycles of disadvantage. Click here to register.