Here is an updated copy of Just News including the recent launch of Dropping off the Edge, acknowledging Sorry Day, and telling the story of how three separate Jesuit Social Services programs worked together to welcome families from Afghanistan.

In Just News 123 we shared the exciting news that the Ecological Justice Hub has been recognised as a finalist in Sustainability Victoria's Premier's Sustainability Awards. At the online ceremony on 23 November our category was won by the very deserving Wara Paring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment program by Melbourne Water. Congratulations to Wara Paring, all the other winners, and to the Hub for being recognised as a finalist. 

Last week also marked the beginning of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign — a global advocacy and awareness campaign galvanising efforts to end gendered violence. Jesuit Social Services' gender work is led by The Men's Project, which promotes healthy masculinities, strengthens men's relationships, and reduces their harmful behaviours through research, advocacy, and effective interventions.

Dropping off the Edge 2021 launches

We've successfully launched Dropping off the Edge 2021 — the fifth edition of our ground-breaking research into place-based disadvantage.

The report's online launch on 18 November was attended by nearly 400 people from communities across Australia. CEO Julie Edwards gave an overview of the report's findings and methodology, and then facilitated panel discussion on how the report can support advocacy and policy to tackle disadvantage.

Find the full report, an executive summary, and interactive maps for every state and territory at the Dropping off the Edge website. 

Sorry Day 2021

Musicians, artists and Jesuit Social Services staff and volunteers have gathered to commemorate Sorry Day with a rescheduled concert at Melbourne’s Blak Dot Gallery.

Held nationally on 26 May since 1998, Sorry Day remembers the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities. Jesuit Social Services marks Sorry Day each year, but rescheduled our 2021 commemoration when Melbourne entered lockdown.

Broadcaster and musician Grant Hansen, who was interviewed on-stage by Aretha Brown, said the occasion was an opportunity for ongoing healing and understanding.

“It’s not just one day when we should be acknowledging it, whether it’s January 26, or Sorry Day, or NAIDOC Week – it’s about people learning our history and celebrating our culture. There’s sorrow, but there’s lots of great things we’ve been able to celebrate.”

Congratulations to Paulie, Rosie, and the teams at our Artful Dodgers Studios and the Brosnan Centre for putting together such a wonderful event to commemorate this important day.

Public advocacy: Raise the Age, welcoming refugees, charity campaigning and more

Jesuit Social Services has signed onto five open letters to governments and decision-makers recently, spanning issues including criminal justice, seeking asylum, LGBTIQA+ healthcare access. This advocacy forms part of our influencing work, and is a key pillar in our efforts toward a more just society. Those letters include:

• A letter from the national Raise the Age campaign outlining the health and medical reasons for raising the age of criminal responsibility to a minimum of 14, to be sent to premiers, chief ministers, attorneys-general and health ministers. 
• ACOSS' community sector statement publicly addressing political party leaders, asking the next government to guarantee the public resources our sector needs to deliver services and respond to climate change. 
• An open letter led by Amnesty International calling on the federal government to take up New Zealand’s long-standing refugee resettlement offer of accepting 150 refugees from Australia’s offshore islands each year. 
• The Hands Off Our Charities letter to senators opposing the federal government's proposed changes to election campaigning, which would make it harder for independent charities to engage in issues-based advocacy.

• An open letter to the prime minister about the federal government's Religious Discrimination Bill, urging him to ensure the bill doesn't undermine Australians' access to equality.

We're thrilled to introduce a new recurring section to Just News: an update from the ecological justice efforts that ground the rest of our work, which will alternate with the update from our Business Support Services team introduced in Just News 122.

Jesuit Social Services has been working towards embedding ecological justice into our work for over a decade. We first described this commitment in Our Environmental Way of Proceeding, which reflects our processes for ecological justice across the three domains of human spirit, practice framework, and business processes.

Building climate resilience in the community sector

Often it's the most marginalised members of a community who are hit first and hardest by extreme weather. For example, people who do not have air-conditioning, or who keep theirs switched off because of the power bills, face an increased likelihood of poor sleep and exhaustion. That's why Jesuit Social Services' Centre for Just Places has been working with the councils and community services who work at the frontline, providing support for people most at-risk. The Centre has delivered workshops to support local governments, First Nations organisations, and community services to understand and build resilience to the inequitable impacts of climate change. Read more about this work.

Our journey towards carbon neutrality

Jesuit Social Services has committed to measuring our carbon footprint across the organisation. This is a big job! The Ecological Business Processes committee is looking at our water, gas and electricity usage across all our sites, flights, kilometres driven in our fleet vehicles, and our waste that goes to landfill. This will give us a picture of our carbon emissions as an organisation, and help us understand how we can reduce these emissions to mitigate climate change. 

If you have ideas about how we can encourage sustainable habits and reduce our carbon emissions, the Ecological Business Processes committee would love to hear from you. Contact Jack Piper, Ecological Justice Project Officer or 0429 268 904 or jack.piper@jss.org.au. 

We've had extensive media coverage for the launch of our Dropping off the Edge 2021 report, which is wonderful to see. ABC News has covered the report's launch on TV, radio and online, speaking with the inimitable Chandelle Wilson, who works as a supervisor at our Willmot Community Kitchen and has lived in Western Sydney for 20 years. 

And our Artful Dodgers Studios is one of two charity partners for Melbourne's Pasted and Wasted — an exhibition of historic music posters that opened at The District Docklands on Friday 26 November. The exhibition runs until 31 December, benefits the Studios, and was featured last week in The Age.

If you missed it in Just News 123, we've published two thoughtful pieces on the Jesuit Social Services blog recently — one, a joint piece from our Centre for Just Places and CAPSA campaign on the need for a strong response to climate change-induced displacement of people in response to the COP26 climate conference; and two, that article by the Centre on how we're building climate resilience in the community sector.

And again on our award-shortlisted Ecological Justice Hub, we received on Friday a visit from Chris Bowen MP, the Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, and Peter Khalil, the federal member for the electorate of Wills. As part of the visit, Mr Bowen announced that, if elected, Labor would fund the building of two community batteries in Brunswick and Coburg, which would provide access to renewable energy for community members who are not able to install solar panels on their dwellings.

"The most amazing thing about living in my community is how people help, support, and are there for each other, but we don't have access to basic information and tools."

— Chandelle Wilson, Western Sydney resident, Dropping off the Edge 2021 launch

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