Just News
Hello, and welcome back to Just News. Today: we celebrate National Volunteer Week and IDAHOBIT, revisit the historic Victorian Treaty information session, share our Federal Budget response and a new CEO Comms, and more. Stay warm, and enjoy the edition.
Celebrating IDAHOBIT, fighting LGBTIQA+ discrimination
We celebrated the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia with a reflective video and discussion on how we can continue creating a welcoming, inclusive and safe workplace and community for members of the LGBTIQA+ community.
Celebrating National Volunteer Week, 15-21 May
Staff and volunteers across our sites and programs celebrated National Volunteer Week last week, acknowledging the effort and passion of our 200+ dedicated volunteers – see some photos from our events, and browse our volunteering vacancies, below.
Support After Suicide presents at national conference
Louise Flynn, the General Manager of our Support After Suicide program, presented positive findings from research into our eight-week early bereavement program at the 2023 National Suicide Prevention Conference in Canberra in early May.
Victorian Treaty process information session wrap-up
In Just News 156 we invited staff to join an information session run by the First People's Assembly of Victoria on the state's historic Treaty process – if you missed it or want to revisit, our latest blog post wraps up the Treaty process history, purpose and outcomes.
CEO Communication, May 2023
Julie Edwards has sent her regular CEO communication, which offers a snapshot of what's happening across Jesuit Social Services and progress against our strategic goals. Read a short summary of the report's key highlights and find the full pdf below.
Media, news and events
Dates to add to your diary and Jesuit Social Services in the news.
Media
The Federal Budget was handed down on 9 May, and we published our response that same evening: it's a Budget that provides relief to many Australians, but fails to lift others out of poverty.
The Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum, which we co-convene with Jesuit Refugee Service Australia, expressed concerned the Budget does not fund the Federal Government's promised expansion to the humanitarian visa program, as CathNews reported.
And recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data found some suburbs in Melbourne's west are among the most disadvantaged in the state, which aligns with two decades of our Dropping off the Edge findings – and our General Manager of Housing and Complex Needs, Leanne Acreman, told the Melton & Moorabool Star Weekly our participants are feeling the pinch.
Events
Another reminder that All Staff Day is happening in person, in Melbourne, on 14 June!
All Staff Day is a twice-a-year opportunity for all of us to get together, connect with colleagues from across the organisation and learn from each other. The expectation is that every staff member attends All Staff Day in person unless they are unable to do so. An online viewing option will be available for those unable to make it in person. Please talk to your manager if attending in person poses a challenge for you.
Staff must register to attend, and we'll share registration details soon, including a reminder about booking travel and a request for your details, including any dietary or accessibility requirements. We're looking forward to gathering together again.
Business Support Services
Important updates from our operations teams.
Language relating to modern slavery in submissions
For staff who draft program funding submissions, you may need to answer questions related to modern slavery. In document 3.4.1 Investments, it is documented that we exclude investing in companies that report unacceptable risks of supporting modern slavery. The Funding Submissions Guidelines have been updated to include reference to this.
GembaDoc problem solved
Some staff (Just News' scribe included) were seeing a white screen when we tried to search in documents inside Gemba. If this is happening to you, there's a short-term solution: hold down the shift key and click the reload button at the top of your screen simultaneously. This will bring up all the folders and let you search. And Gemba is about to release a new version which will correct this bug.
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