Welcome back to another edition of Just News, and especially to the new staff and volunteers who are receiving Just News for the first time. If someone in your team isn't receiving these emails, or if you have an idea for a story, we'd love to hear from you — please contact Sophie Raynor on sophie.raynor@jss.org.au.

In this edition, we're focusing on our research and advocacy. Read on to learn about our response to the government's Afghan refugee announcement, The Men's Project presenting at a gender research conference, and our newly released discussion paper on the impact of climate change on prisons and prison policy.

Acting CEO Sally Parnell has invited all staff to an information session about our new diversity, equity and inclusion policy and strategy, to be held on Zoom this Thursday, 3 February, from 10am to 11am AEDT. All staff are welcome and encouraged to be involved in the process — here's the event link to add to your Outlook calendar. 

And staying with Sally, we're reminding you that your health and safety during COVID-19 is paramount. Sally has asked us to maximise working from home, get a third vaccine dose as soon as required by government regulations, and to wear a mask if you must be in the office. And we have a new, nationally consistent form for people who have COVID-19 symptoms or contact with a positive case — log into Gemba and find it, along with other important documents, at this link.

The Men's Project to present at gender research conference

Our team from The Men’s Project will present at Gender and Sexuality at Work – a research conference hosted by the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University – on Tuesday 15 February.

In an interactive workshop, we’ll share findings from our Man Box research, engage participants in discussion and activities about what sustains those Man Box beliefs around being a ‘real man’, and share our program success in challenging gender stereotypes.

The Men's Project Executive Director Matt Tyler told us the conference offers an important opportunity to share our ground-breaking masculinity research, and help accelerate progress towards achieving gender-equal workplaces. 

"Workplaces provide an important opportunity to promote more flexible notions of masculinity and prevent the use of violence – we’ll be sharing a case study of our work where we’ve partnered with YMCA Victoria, Star Health, Community Hubs Australia and Wyndham Neighbourhood House.”

Incarceration in a changing climate

The overlapping social and environmental harms of the prison system have never been clearer — and in a world of worsening climate change, Australia's reliance on prisons is increasingly untenable, we're arguing in our new discussion paper. 

Jesuit Social Services has published a paper titled Prisons, Climate and a Just Transition, which argues the transition to a zero-emissions future must include a focus on decarceration.  

Australia's prisons are home to some of the most marginalised and disadvantaged members of our communities. Overcrowded prisons, ageing infrastructure, and ineffective monitoring systems only exacerbate the impact of climate change for these vulnerable people. We must examine this, but more fundamentally, we must shift away from a reliance on incarceration — which subjects people in prison to social and ecological harm.

Pictured above: Lithgow Correctional Centre during the 2019 bushfires; the image on the cover of Prisons, Climate and a Just Transition. Wildfire lapped perilously close to the prison's gates as local roads were closed and community members evacuated — yet the 400 vulnerable people inside the prison remained detained.

CAPSA urges more compassion in Afghanistan resettlement response

The federal government's announcement of 15,000 non-additional refugee visas for people fleeing the Afghanistan crisis is inadequate, says the CAPSA refugee campaign we co-convene with Jesuit Refugee Services.

CAPSA has published a strong statement reiterating its call for an allocation of at least 20,000 places, created in addition to the government's existing humanitarian visa program. The newly announced 15,000 places would be contained within the existing program, which Jesuit Social Services believes is a "drop in the ocean" compared to what is needed.

"In times of crisis, it is paramount that our political leaders express the type of compassion supported by millions of Australians, and this announcement fails to do that."

CAPSA stands alongside other members of the Catholic community and the Afghanistan diaspora to call for an additional intake of 20,000 resettlement places, permanent protection for refugees on temporary visas in Australia, and the enabling and expediting of family reunion pathways for families of people from Afghanistan already in Australia.

Welcome back to our regular Ecological Justice update, which alternates with our Business Support Services team in this section of Just News. In this edition, we explain our Ecological Way of Proceeding — the framework which has guided our ecological justice work since 2012.

In the words of former Ecological Justice Project Officer, Bronwyn Lay, in this Eureka Street article: “in many ways ecology is the vibe: it’s the gentle hum of the universe, energy consumption, our family relationships, fruit orchards and deep sea coral…but an organisation that works at the pointy end of social justice – with the most marginalised and vulnerable in our community – requires a grounded, applied approach.

This is where our Ecological Way of Proceeding has been so helpful. Here's an explanation of the framework’s three domains, and an example of the work we’re doing under it.

• Under Human Spirit, we aim to form and deepen our commitment to social and ecological justice, based on a deep gratitude and appreciation of the interconnectedness of all life. We have begun exploring the history of the land where our Richmond office is based – on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung country – and will share resources to support interested staff in doing the same in 2022.
• Under Practice Framework, we promote environmental awareness and initiatives across our programs and advocacy. Early this year staff will be invited to attend a practice ecology workshop to explore ways to integrate ecological justice into our practice.
• And under Business Processes, we adopt environmentally sustainable business practices and processes. This year we have committed to measuring our organisation's carbon footprint.

Sharing your thoughts

If you have questions or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. Contact Jack Piper, Ecological Justice Project Officer on 0429 268 904 or at jack.piper@jss.org.au.

The massive Melbourne music poster exhibition that supported our Artful Dodgers Studios as a charity partner has wrapped up a successful summer run, with nearly 3000 people attending the Docklands expo. Learn more about the "music box of memories" at this Channel 9 News story.

In support of our Prisons, Climate and a Just Transition discussion paper, CEO Julie Edwards has published an op-ed at Eureka Street, arguing for a re-think of our justice systems that tackles the underlying drivers of offending behaviour, to reduce prison populations and strengthen whole communities.

And if you missed it, Jesuit Social Services is deeply concerned by news the Alice Springs Youth Detention Facility is in lockdown after four residents contracted COVID-19 — but young people were suffering long before the lockdown in a system urgently needing reform, as we wrote in our media release.

"...In the case of the criminal justice system, we need to go beyond adaptation and reject any prevailing mindset of bigger, better, greener prisons.

Our focus and resources should centre on investment in communities addressing the underlying causes of offending — driving down the need for prisons in the first place."

Jesuit Social Services — Prisons, Climate, and a Just Transition

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