The repeal of the carbon tax will reportedly reduce household electricity bills by up to 50c per day, but is the long-term cost worth it? Rohan Salmond reports. Bucking global trends, Australia became the first nation to repeal its carbon price legislation when bills cleared the Senate in July. In a joint media release, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Minister ...

A container deposit scheme involves a consumer paying a deposit on a beverage container at the time of purchase and later redeeming the deposit from a beverage container collector (possibly a retailer or the operator of a collection depot) by surrendering the empty beverage container. The history Container deposit legislation (CDL) is in place in South Australia and the Northern ...

A partnership between two churches in Ipswich and East Timor is helping change lives in both places. Mardi Lumsden reports. Glebe Road Uniting Church in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, has a long partnership with East Timor. When members, including Noela and Noel Rothery, experienced Timor for themselves through a UnitingWorld InSolidarity trip in 2010 they understood how a partnership could ...

Sabbath is more than just time off; it’s a holy day that strengthens a relationship. But not everyone has the privilege of observing the Sabbath, writes Rev Peter Lockhart. It can be argued that the first story of the Bible is centred not on the act of creation but on establishing the importance of the Sabbath. The seventh day bears ...

Rockhampton South Uniting Church is reaching out to the community through a program helping people to deal with grief. Dianne Jensen reports. Dealing with the death of a loved one is one of the toughest things we ever face. When members of Rockhampton South Uniting Church heard about training for the Grief Recovery Program offered by Blue Care Gold Coast, they ...

Following the release of the Uniting Church census data, Rev Paul Clark offers some of what he has learned while ministering with churches that bucked the downward trend. In a previous parish an “expert” came through and said, “If you preach the gospel, the church grows”. I challenged him on that because it implies most churches are not preaching the ...

Suicide Everyone knows someone who struggles with their mental health, but how often do we talk openly and honestly about it? Community groups like A Nouwen Network are working to connect people and break the stigma that surrounds mental health issues, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Doubt It’s a big, pluralistic world out there. With so ...

Give a real welcome We read with interest the six ways to be a welcoming church (Journey, June 2014, page 15). We have recently moved to Brisbane and were really looking forward to joining another church family after having left a great congregation in regional Queensland. Our experience has not been very positive, so there is one more point we ...

Why travel to Sydney when you can watch a webinar? Ashley Thompson explores. In Australia, many Christians wait in anticipation for annual gatherings. We go to great lengths, spending precious leave and flying interstate to listen to keynote speakers whose content is often easily accessible online or in their latest book. We attend conferences for a variety of reasons, such ...

The 19 June High Court decision that the funding model of the national school chaplaincy program is unconstitutional may not mean what you think it does. Mardi Lumsden explores. The High Court decision to overturn the current funding model for school chaplains is not a criticism of the program itself, said Peter James CEO of Scripture Union (SU) Queensland, Australia’s ...