ANDY HAMILTON SJ reflects on Pope Francis’ prayer intention for November to mark World Children’s Day – urging us to act as role models, to empathise with children’s suffering, and to give young people who have misbehaved a second chance. “We pray for children who are suffering, especially those who are homeless, orphans, and victims of war; may they be guaranteed access to education and the opportunity to experience family affection.” –  Pope Francis, prayer intention for November 2022 In his reflections on the state of the world, Pope Francis often dwells on impact on children. He foc ..read more

Jesuit Social Services’ recently released Victorian State Election platform, A state of opportunity, builds on 45 years of advocacy and action, to outline our vision for a just society across a range of interconnected social policy areas, from a fairer justice system, to support for people experiencing multiple and complex needs such as mental illness, trauma and bereavement, and preventing violence. In this fourth in a series of pre-Election blogs, we focus on funding for specialised holistic care services for people with complex needs, such as Jesuit Social Services’ Perry House. At Jesuit S ..read more

Jesuit Social Services’ recently released Victorian State Election platform, A state of opportunity, builds on 45 years of advocacy and action, to outline our vision for a just society across a range of interconnected social policy areas, from a fairer justice system, to support for people experiencing multiple and complex needs such as mental illness, trauma and bereavement, and preventing violence. In this fourth in a series of pre-Election blogs, we focus on the key and powerful roles that education, training and employment play in addressing many of the overlapping issues facing people exp ..read more

Jesuit Social Services’ recently released Victorian State Election platform, A state of opportunity, builds on 45 years of advocacy and action, to outline our vision for a just society across a range of interconnected social policy areas, from a fairer justice system, to support for people experiencing multiple and complex needs such as mental illness, trauma and bereavement, and preventing violence. In this third in a series of pre-Election blogs, we focus on Victoria’s youth justice system and the need to reduce harm arising from the use of youth detention, informed by our #JusticeSolutions ..read more

Jesuit Social Services’ recently released Victorian State Election platform, A state of opportunity, builds on 45 years of advocacy and action, to outline our vision for a just society across a range of interconnected social policy areas, from a fairer justice system, to support for people experiencing multiple and complex needs such as mental illness, trauma and bereavement, and preventing violence. In this first in a series of pre-Election blogs, we focus on funding for early intervention and culturally safe education re-engagement programs for culturally and linguistically diverse learners ..read more

Jesuit Social Services’ recently released Victorian State Election platform, A state of opportunity, builds on 45 years of advocacy and action, to outline our vision for a just society across a range of interconnected social policy areas, from a fairer justice system, to support for people experiencing multiple and complex needs such as mental illness, trauma and bereavement, and preventing violence. In this first in a series of pre-Election blogs, we focus on the role of place-based approaches in addressing inequity and disadvantage. For more than 20 years, Jesuit Social Services has mapped l ..read more

COVID-19 gave us an opportunity to speak frankly about mental health – and with the current cost-of-living crises exacerbating the ongoing disadvantage that can leave people at risk of ill mental health, changing social attitudes and tackling disadvantage is imperative to improve wellbeing, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ.    This year we celebrate Mental Health Day, when we have moved out of the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. We still live, however, among the daily deaths associated with the virus, and face the economic hardships caused by higher prices and depressed wages. We still expe ..read more

Extreme weather, such as heat, storms and bushfire smoke, affects us all, but we know it affects some people in our community more than others. Jesuit Social Services’ Centre for Just Places recently completed a project which set out to hear what people in the City of Darebin in the northern suburbs of Melbourne need from Council to stay safe and well during extreme weather. Given Darebin is among the areas in Greater Melbourne with the highest vulnerability to heat, many conversations centred on experiences of heatwaves. We focused on community members made more vulnerable to climate change b ..read more

There were plenty of young Victorians already doing it tough before the 2020 bushfires and COVID-19 lockdowns. For young people with histories of trauma, drug and alcohol issues, cognitive impairments, involvement in the child protection/out-of-home care or youth justice systems, and young people culturally and linguistically diverse communities that experience exclusion and discrimination, these last few years have threatened to compound the barriers they face. In 2021, Jesuit Social Services made a submission to the Victorian Government’s first ever Youth Strategy, based on our 45 years’ exp ..read more

The last few years have not been easy for young people. Young Victorians have endured serious disruptions to their study and work lives caused by COVID-19 lockdowns and climate disasters such as bushfires, and concerns remain about the impact of multiple years of disrupted schooling and the national shortage of qualified teachers on children and young people’s education and social development. In 2021, Jesuit Social Services made a submission to the Victorian Government’s first ever Youth Strategy, drawing from our 45 years’ experience working with some of Victoria’s most marginalised and disa ..read more