Welcome back to Just News. In this edition: our advocacy ahead of this weekend's Victorian state election, the Centre for Just Places launches its climate action plan, and The Men's Project to speak at a gender-based violence prevention service with Catholic Social Services Australia. From Wurundjeri country in inner Melbourne, where Just News is written, it's the last week of buath garru (grass flowering) season, and the transition to gunyang season (kangaroo apple, pictured below), with thunderstorms and longer days. Stay safe, stay dry, and enjoy the edition.

A few reminders this edition!

All Staff Day is coming up quickly. If you're travelling to join us in person in Melbourne on 1 December, please make sure you've sent your completed and approved request to travel form (document 8.4.13a on Gemba) to reception@jss.org.au.

There's still COVID-19 in the community, and you're welcome to wear a mask to All Staff Day. For our general, organisation-wide guidance about what to do if you test positive to COVID-19, please see Just News 147 or Phil Hodgson's email from 13 October – we're still isolating for five days after testing positive, and not attending work with symptoms.

And you may have received an email this week indicating you're yet to complete your Rainbow Training: Enhancing Cultural Safety training module. This training is compulsory, and must be completed by 31 December. If you've finished the training but still got the email, make sure you've returned to Sentrient and clicked the box labelled 'I have completed and understood this course’ to have your attendance recorded.

UPDATE | Victorian State Election 

Victoria will vote in a state election on Saturday, and we've been busy advocating to get our vision for a just society before decision-makers and the public ahead of the poll. 

Our election platform spells out recommendations across a range of interconnected social policy areas that could enable a Victoria where all people can thrive. 

And we're publishing a series of accessible blogs and social media posts on different thematic areas of the platform, including deep dives into holistic services for people with complex needs and newly arrived families, the case for permanently expanding the age-reduced Navigator program pilot for at-risk students, and the urgent need to reduce harm arising from youth justice involvement.

Victorian Policy Manager Elle Jackson also spoke to our Worth A Second Chance podcast about our recommendations for youth justice reform, and finished her interview with a message to Victorian voters this weekend: vote with your heart for a Victoria that enables all people to thrive.

NEWS | Centre for Just Places launches Collaborative Action Plan

A year of collaboration culminated in last week’s launch of our Centre for Just Places' Collaborative Action Plan, which articulates a shared vision for climate justice in Melbourne's west, to a packed webinar of 150 registrees.

Community health and service organisations play a critical role in building resilience to the social and health impacts of climate change. But without the resources to plan and adapt, the sector itself is highly vulnerable to climate impacts, posing a risk of significant flow-on-effects for the Victorians they support.

Over 12 months, the Centre for Just Places brought together 44 health and community service organisations, plus policymakers and sector networks, to identify needs, opportunities, and a localised strategic direction for action and advocacy. Launched by Susie Moloney, Executive Director of the Centre for Just Places, with presentations by Julie Edwards and Dr Catherine Brown, CEO, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, and a panel discussion with project contributors, the Collaborative Action Plan is the result.

Find the full recording of the launch webinar on YouTube, and learn more about the Collaborative Action Plan and the project behind the plan at our website.

Delegating workflows in Preceda

If you manage requests in Preceda and you yourself are going on leave, you need to delegate your workflow in Preceda. You do this by going to Workflow Delegation. If you've changed your workflow delegate and the Manager and Alternate Manager are the same, you'll need to delete the Alternate Manager and leave this blank. You do this by deleting the ID number (highlighted in blue in the example below).

The leave application will then go through to the Manager.

Good practices

Be sure to double-check when you reply to an email that you're not replying to all staff!

And as a courtesy, when phoning someone, it's good to check if they're in a meeting or if it's a work day for them first. You can do this by going to the Scheduling Assistant in your calendar, adding the name of the person you want to phone and checking their availability:

The ABC has been reporting on the troubling conditions in youth detention facilities across Australia – our media release responding to last week's Four Corners highlighted the need for urgent youth justice reform, including raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, and our Northern Territory General Manager Peter Solly has spoken to ABC radio in Alice Springs and Darwin about the strength of our restorative justice programs (find clips of those interviews on our Facebook page this coming week).

Andy Hamilton SJ penned a thoughtful reflection for World Children's Day on Sunday, and has also reviewed the barnstorming autobiography by Paulie Stewart, of our Just Voices Speakers Program, for Eureka Street. Paulie's interview with Richard Fidler on the ABC's Conversations program is also well worth a listen – he tells the story of how a compassionate Catholic nun saved his life and fuelled his charitable spirit.

And ahead of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, which starts on 25 November, The Men's Project's Executive Director Matt Tyler will speak at Catholic Social Services Australia's Holding the Light – an annual ecumenical service of lament, which this year is focusing on engaging men and boys in violence prevention efforts. Matt will speak about our Man Box research and practice, and how this work is connected with our Jesuit roots. The event is on 28 November in person in Melbourne.

“Our 45 years of work with children who have contact with the justice system as well as [the Justice Solutions] international study tours have shown systems based on evidence and best practice have safer facilities, less crime and fewer victims. There is much we can learn from these jurisdictions about evidence-based, therapeutic approaches to working with young people in trouble, including only ever using detention as a last resort and keeping children in the community wherever possible."

— Julie Edwards, WA youth detention reform media release, 15 November 2022

If you've got an update or story to tell, or want to share your feedback, we're happy to hear from you. Use the buttons below to share your thoughts.