Key messages from our forum on 12 July on ‘Responding to sexual abuse and its aftermath’ included that we need to ‘build a culture that is healthy, engaged and relevant, that sends signals that the overall human project is that one of promotion of human flourishing’.

The next step from Catholic Social Services Victoria is a training session for members on building a Child Safe Environment, on the morning of Thursday 24 August. 

On Thursday 13 July 2017 CSSV presented the first Train The Trainer workshop in Catholic Social Teaching for 2017 at Edmund Rice Centre, Lower Plenty. The main objective of these Train The Trainer workshops is in response to CSSV member organisations to assist and facilitate in-house training in Catholic Social Teaching in an adult learning environment.This workshop was co-facilitated by Peter Hay (Edmund Rice Oceania), Sr Bernadette Keating (Presentation Sisters) and Peter Hudson (CSSV). There were nine participants for the workshop from across  five CSSV member organisations and two other colleagues from the wider sector.

Sr Brigid Arthur from the Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project and Paris Aristotle AM, CEO of the Foundation for Survivors of Torture, thanked participants at Catholic Social Services' Forum for Parishes (held on 11 July 2017), for maintaining their support for refugees and people seeking asylum.

On Thursday evening 22 June CSSV held the fourth (& final) workshop in the 2017 Mission In Leadership series.
The evening was led by Fr Joe Caddy, outgoing CEO of Catholic Care Melbourne, and Episcopal Vicar for Social Services in the Archdiocese. An evaluation with participants at the end of this evening indicated a general approval with the content and style of this four-evening series and an encouragement to offer it again in 2018 in the light of a thorough evaluation of the past three years of the series.