Just News
Hello, and welcome back to Just News. In this edition: our response to Victoria's #RaiseTheAge announcement, The Men's Project starts a new project in Western Australia, Support After Suicide delivers training in Melbourne, and our supporter newsletter wraps up Homework Club's end-of-year celebration. Enjoy the edition.
Victoria raising the age to only 12 is a missed opportunity
The Victorian Government's decision to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12, not 14 (the age in line with expert medical evidence, human rights standards, and decades of community advocacy) is a missed opportunity. We'll continue to advocate for 14, with no exceptions.
The Men's Project starts work in Western Australia
Facilitators from The Men's Project spent four days in regional WA to build relationships with community and establish our first-ever Modelling Respect and Equality program with an Aboriginal community near Geraldton – hear more from Alex and Michael about this exciting work.
"Fun, cool, nice": Homework Cub's year of achievement
Our autumn supporter newsletter profiles another successful year of Homework Club's social and educational support to students and families at the Flemington public housing estate – see the photos, hear first-hand from students, and read the update in our newsletter.
Support After Suicide delivers training in Frankston
Our Support After Suicide program recently ran a training at St John of God Hospital in Melbourne, showing participants an evidence-based suicide intervention model, which over 30 peer-reviewed studies support as an approach to reduce suicidal thoughts in those at risk.
Business Support Services
Important updates from our operations teams.
Superannuation
Employers are required to pay a minimum amount per quarter into employees’ superannuation accounts, to help staff save for retirement. Jesuit Social Services pays more frequently than this, at the end of every month, and you can find the amount of superannuation you’ve earned on the bottom of your payslip once a month. (That monthly payment may cover two or three fortnightly pay cycles, depending on the dates). Soon, in line with government requirements, Jesuit Social Services will contribute more to employees’ superannuation – this change doesn’t affect our take-home pay, and will increase the amount being put into our retirement savings.
Catering through Ignite Cafe
Did you know you can order catering for a meeting or event in Melbourne through our social enterprise cafe, Ignite Cafe? Contact Ignite Cafe at IgniteCafeCamberwell@jss.org.au for menu information and pricing.
Re-accreditation update
In Just News 157 we shared an update about our progress towards our re-accreditation. We’d received the draft report from the assessors and found we’d met 377 of 387 indicators. We had until 4 April to review the report and provide any comments. The draft reports were returned to the assessors with minor changes and we are now working on closing out the non-compliances.
Parking permits
A reminder to Richmond office staff and visitors that we now have a parking permit system in place, to ensure the limited number of parking spaces at the office remain available to us. If you drive to our Richmond central office, please contact David Chu at reception@jss.org.au with your car’s colour, make, model and registration number to be issued with a parking permit.
Media, news and events
Dates to add to your diary and Jesuit Social Services in the news.
Media
Our ongoing advocacy to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility has been in the media again, in light of Victoria's announcement that it will raise the age to 12 – watch CEO Julie Edwards on Nine News, listen to David Murray, our general manager of policy, on ABC Melbourne, read our media release asking Victoria to raise the age to 14, and if you missed it in Just News 158, see our general manager of strategic communications and engagement, Andrew Yule, on 10 News.
Events
Around 90 people attended our two ecological justice Lunchtime Learning sessions, held on 18 April and today, 2 May, where where we heard from our colleagues about how we're applying and embedding ecological approaches in our organisation. Watch the first session (pictured below!) back here, and the second back here.
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