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Social Impact

Campaigners celebrate as WA ends imprisonment for unpaid fines

Campaigners are celebrating new laws passing the WA Parliament, effectively ending the imprisonment of Western Australians who can’t afford to pay off fines.

Amendments to the Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Enforcement Act finally passed the Legislative Council last night. The Bill was broadly welcomed by multiple political parties, following a four-year campaign by 24 community organisations, including the Uniting Church WA and Uniting WA, under the leadership of Aboriginal led coalition Social Reinvestment WA (SRWA).

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Social Impact

Now is the time to move towards a clean energy future

As the Federal Government make plans for Australia’s financial recovery from COVID-19, our Prime Minister is advocating for further investments into the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry, as a way of driving jobs and economic growth.

This World Environment Day, however, the Uniting Church WA is calling to use this opportunity to move towards clean energy.

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Social Impact

Do Black Lives Matter in WA?

On Monday night, as Western Australians enjoyed what remained of the WA Day public holiday, a group of Nyungars gathered in Forrest Place with other People of Colour and more than a thousand supporters.

Chants of ‘Black Lives Matter’ echoed through the otherwise quiet Perth streets.

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Social Impact

Same storm, different boat: support for those who are falling through the cracks

During COVID-19 restrictions, you may have heard the phrase ‘we’re all in the same boat’, used as encouragement to look after each other and support each other through the new physical distancing rules.

You may have also seen a meme floating around the internet claiming that actually, ‘we’re not in the same boat, but we are in the same storm.’

This phrase is all too real for many people in WA who are falling through the cracks of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 financial support.

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News & Announcements

Social Justice Officer role filled

In somewhat challenging circumstances, Gabi Nind has begun her new role with the Uniting Church WA as Social Justice Officer. This position was previously held by Kate Leaney, who has returned to her home-town of Adelaide.

Staff of the Uniting Church Centre are currently working from home due to physical distancing restrictions amid COVID-19.

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Social Impact

Calls to continue international support

Rev Steve Francis, Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, and Kerry Povey, Chair of the International Partnerships and Development Commission, have written to members of the church, encouraging them to support the church’s international partners as they deal with the COVID-19 global pandemic.

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Social Impact

Take action to call for compassion

Rev Steve Francis, Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, and Geoff Bice, Social Justice Consultant for the Uniting Church WA, have sent a joint letter to the church encouraging them to write to their Federal Member of Parliament, asking them to act with compassion for some of the most vulnerable people in Australia.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Serving the community amid COVID-19

As our lives, workplaces and churches have changed the way they operate in a world of COVID-19, Geoff Bice, Social Justice Consultant for the Uniting Church WA, shares how churches can continue to serve those who are vulnerable in our community.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Softening our hearts and hardening our feet

John Berger is the new Executive Officer – Agencies, for the Uniting Church WA. He will be working with Uniting Church WA congregations and agencies to build relationships and share opportunities for connection and growth. He has come to this role from being the CEO of St Bartholomew’s House for six years. He is also currently the Chairperson of the End Homelessness WA  Alliance, and a member at The Billabong Uniting Church. 

John reflects on this role.

The Christian life is a journey of parallels. At times there are great blessings and at times great challenges. My life’s work has very much reflected these parallels. God has taken me into some  unique experiences and job roles over my career.

However, at the core of this has been my resolve to keep God at the centre of it all. I grew up in a working class and Christian family. From an early age, and with encouragement from fellow brother and sisters, I sensed the need to be led by the spirit. I finished High School with straight As in Maths and Science, but found myself being called to work with people.

My family didn’t cope with this – as this was not ‘real’ work. Real work would be doing a trade like my brothers or if I had to go to University – doing something like Engineering.

Despite this, I felt the calling to help others and found myself experiencing a deep peace about this decision. This has led me to a path of working with some of the most vulnerable people within our community in roles such as child protection and foster care, poverty and homelessness and ultimately as a Chief Executive Officer.

Despite all these experiences, one driving focus for me has been the voice of the people with lived experiences and my capacity to form relationships and journey together. I take heart from another fellow Christian writer who reflects on the journey of Jacki Pullinger who spoke about “softening your heart but hardening your feet”.

And yet the trouble is, it’s so easy to have a hard heart (compassion fatigue) and soft feet (taking the easy way out.) As Christians, we are challenged to love the poor and seek justice. But, how do  you love the poor? What is your reference point and what does that actually mean? And how do we harden our feet to respond to the injustice that we perpetuate in our society to allow poverty and homelessness to continue?

Why are we not outraged in a country as rich as Australia – why do we allow people to live on the margins and live without a home?

As Jackie Pullinger stated: “My message is always the same; it’s how to get us sure enough of God’s love, so we can go out and share it with the lost. Having tasted his love all I wanted to do was share it until I died.”

So how does this influence me?

Firstly, I find myself listening deeply to the stories and lives of the people I work with. I respond to them as people (not clients), each with a unique story and show compassion (soft heart) to them. Secondly, I challenge our world view and see that I am part of the problem – that I tolerate allowing people to suffer and remain in their circumstance such as homelessness. This is a tough call as I  have to stand up and advocate for change. This has led to making many changes in the way I work and more recently has guided me to be part of a social movement to end homelessness in  WA.

This journey has given me many great blessings while continuing to face many challenges. At the heart of it is my reminder to keep a soft heart, but hardening my feet to seek justice for those who often do not have a ‘voice’ in our community.

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Social Impact

Rally for refugees at home

On Palm Sunday this week (5 April) people across the country will urgently raise their voices so that refugees and asylum seekers will not be forgotten in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

A great justice tradition in Australia is that on Palm Sunday every year thousands of people take to the streets to call for a more compassionate response to refugees.

This Sunday, instead of gathering for rallies and marches in major cities, people are finding new and creative ways to raise their voices together.

Many of the organised Palm Sunday rallies are going ahead as online events and advocacy will take place across social media.

In the last week, refugee advocates have appealed to the Federal Government to ensure protections against COVID-19 extend to refugees and asylum seekers, and in particular that people in crowded detention centres are moved to places where physical distancing can be observed.

President of the Uniting Church Dr Deidre Palmer has written to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison to seek his assurance that the 1.5 million people living in Australia on temporary or bridging visas will have access to healthcare and income support.

In particular, Deidre stressed the importance of ensuring asylum seekers in the community have access to Medicare so they can and will seek help if they think they might have the virus.

“The situation for people living in Australia on temporary or bridging visas during this health crisis is urgent, and a direct response to their plight by the Australian Government will be an important measure to complement the strong measures already taken,” Dr Palmer wrote.

These concerns were echoed in a letter from the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce and National Council of Churches in Australia, noting that many of this cohort are already dependent on charities for necessities.

The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) called an extraordinary meeting with organisations across the country to bring together their concerns. Their most urgent priorities were:

  1. Move people urgently out of crowded immigration detention facilities
  2. Ensure a financial safety net and Medicare access for all in Australia
  3. Prevent people losing legal status and access to support
  4. Move refugees and people seeking asylum from PNG and Nauru.

RCOA Chief Executive Officer Paul Power noted, “With the international movement of people grinding to a halt, we need to take care of everyone now in Australia, knowing that the health of all of us is directly connected to how we treat the most vulnerable.”

How you can still participate in Palm Sunday for Refugees

This article was originally published on the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly website.