March 31 was International Transgender Day of Visibility and our CEO, Julie Edwards, wrote to all staff to acknowledge the experiences and contributions of trans and gender diverse people. Jesuit Social Services joined sector colleagues in issuing a joint statement in support of the inclusion and safety of trans and gender diverse people. You can read the statement here. Julie's full email can be read here. 

Last Wednesday, many staff member mailboxes were affected by a server issue, which meant delayed and in some cases, lost emails. This is because the team was forced to restore the problematic server from the backup taken on Tuesday night.

The ICT team is undertaking an investigation as to the cause of this issue. If you have any questions or support requests, please contact ITConnexion on 1300 89 22 00.

It’s time for all men to take responsibility to prevent sexual harassment, abuse and violence

The Men's Project along with White Ribbon Australia, No To Violence, Stopping Family Violence and Dr Michael Flood issued a joint statement last week calling for men to make the decision to challenge their own thinking and change their own behaviour, acting in solidarity with the women who have led the push for structural and cultural change.

The statement urges men and boys to join the movement for gender equality and political action. It invites all men and boys to amplify the calls made by the March4Justice including full implementation of the 55 recommendations of the Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work report noting the Federal Government’s recent commitment to all recommendations.

Staff profile - Susie Moloney, Executive Director – Centre for Just Places

Susie Moloney recently joined Jesuit Social Services as the Executive Director of our new Centre for Just Places. The Centre will provide leadership in national research, advocacy and capacity-building in addressing inequality and social injustice through place-based approaches.

Prior to joining Jesuit Social Services, Susie worked at RMIT for over 15 years, most recently as Associate Professor of Sustainability and Urban Planning. Susie says one of the factors that shaped her decision to join Jesuit Social Services was that “the organisation has been focused on ecological justice for some years, and I was really interested in the fact that this focus is closely connected to building a just society."

Planning a just recovery for the Northern Territory

Jesuit Social Services recently co-hosted the third event in the Northern Territory Climate Justice series. Our Jobs, Climate and Community forum brought together over 50 delegates from environment groups, Aboriginal organisations, unions and community sector organisations. The forum shared ideas around rebuilding the economy on foundations of care for people, country and climate, instead of on the continued over-dependence on extractive forms of economic development.

The Men's Project partners with Just Voices

The Just Voices Speakers Program is a Jesuit Social Services program that brings inspiring speakers from diverse backgrounds, communities and cultures to classrooms, workplaces, community and church groups, public events and festivals.

The Men’s Project collaborates with Just Voices to raise awareness, start conversations, and promote positive behaviour change around issues of masculinity in our society.

Paul Zappa, General Manager of Primary Prevention and Community Engagement for The Men’s Project, notes how this collaboration has been particularly effective. “Just Voices enables The Men’s Project to showcase its work and promote healthy masculinities to a wider audience. With speakers presenting on their own experiences, often looking back over difficult times in their lives, we’ve been able to do valuable and meaningful work in these sessions."

Please note that the following two articles are unfortunately behind a paywall. 

Stuart Muir Wilson from our Ecological Justice Hub was interviewed for a story in The Australian. Stuart references his work with us. Read the full article here. An excerpt below:

'Stuart Muir Wilson: flying the flag for amazing fungi'

Who knew you could train mushrooms to eat coffee grounds? Stuart Muir Wilson, for one. Muir Wilson – who happens to be the grandson of Bill Mollison, one of the founders of permaculture – is fascinated by the environmental potential of mushrooms, as well as their variety of flavours.

Muir Wilson presents workshops on growing mushrooms at the community permaculture garden he runs at the Ecological Justice Hub for Jesuit Social Services in Brunswick, Melbourne. Meanwhile, he experiments with white oyster mushrooms, training their mycelia to eat different environmental wastes, from spent coffee grounds to chemical pollutants.

Our joint Men's statement was featured in the Herald Sun. Read the full article here. An excerpt below:

'Men must challenge own thinking, change their ways, men’s groups say'

The group includes White Ribbon Australia, the Men’s Project from Jesuit Social Services, No to Violence, Stopping Family Violence and Queensland researcher Dr Michael Flood. Their statement acknowledges that “sometimes it’s difficult for men and boys to know how to prevent violence”.

The group issued a list of simple steps for men and boys:

BELIEVE women, listen to them and learn from them;

SUPPORT women at work, at home or in the community;

REFLECT on the rigid gender stereotypes that are closely associated with violence;

CALL OUT disrespect, harassment and abuse whenever we see it happening — and be nonviolent yourself; and

REACH out for support if you are concerned about your own behaviour and attitudes.

Matt Tyler, executive director of The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services, said he hoped men and boys joined efforts to end violence against women “starting with their own attitudes and behaviours”.

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