Mandatory sentencing, improving care for vulnerable children in Victoria, workplace spirituality and prayer, upcoming workshops for parish communities to help respond to family violence, and to assist asylum seekers. Find out about these news items, and more events from Catholic Social Services Victoria, and our members, here.

“Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. ” – Laudato Si #49

Sr Nicole Rotaru rsm has worked with women and children in many settings to build understanding of family violence, particularly as it affects children and their mothers. On Wednesday 25 July, from 1.30pm - 4.00pm, Nicole will lead a workshop for parishes at the Cardinal Knox Centre, East Melbourne. This workshop will help participants respond to people who have been affected, and to assist them in rebuilding their lives.

An expectant group of fourteen people gathered on a grey morning at the Flagstaff Gardens in the city of Melbourne on 16 May for the first Catholic Social Teaching Walking On The Land workshop for 2018. This workshop is another in the collaborative venture of CSSV with Edmund Rice Ministries and Kildare Ministries. Two further workshops are scheduled for later in 2018 - 29 August and 28 November.

Together with ThinkPrevent, Catholic Social Services Victoria is hosting a workshop on Bystander Intervention for parishes and those keen to respond, to the prevention of family violence and violence against women. The workshop will be held at the Cardinal Knox Centre, 383 Albert Street, East Melbourne, from 6pm (for 6.30pm start). Dr Ree Boddé, CEO of ThinkPrevent will speak.

Together with Catholic Mission, we invite you to a day of reflection on our spiritual roots and our service to those on the margins with renowned author and speaker, Rev. Prof. Anthony Gittins CSSp, Professor Emertius of Theology and Culture at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, on Monday 21 May, 10.30 - 3.00pm in East Melbourne. This reflection is recommended for practitioners and leaders working in the service of the Gospel. Click here for more details and bookings.  

Catholic Social Services Victoria is pleased to announce that the fourth series of the Mission Inspired Leadership program will be conducted during 2018.  The dates for the program will be Thursday evenings: 19 April, 17 May, 21 June, 19 July.

Catholic Social Services Victoria's Easter newsletter contains an array of news and upcoming events both from us and from our member organisations including our submission to the 2018 state budget, Catholic Professional Standard's commitment to protecting children in church environments, McAuley Community Services for Women's on tackling loneliness, particularly among women affected by family and domestic violence.

Catholic Social Services Victoria, together with Edmund Rice Ministries and Presentation Sisters, is hosting a practical experience of applying the principles of Catholic social Teaching to promote the flourishing of creation and the building of a more just and compassionate society, with a guided Justice Walk through Melbourne Central Business District on Wednesday 16 May, from 9.30am - 4.30pm.