National News

Representatives of the Lutheran Church of Australia and the Uniting Church in Australia have launched a new liturgy for shared ministry between their churches. The Co-chair of the Lutheran/Uniting Church Dialogue, Rev Dr Anna Grant-Henderson of the Uniting Church, said that the liturgy marks a significant step in the continuing relationship between the two churches. "The dialogue is seeking a ...

The President of the Uniting Church in Australia Rev Professor Andrew Dutney has deplored the move by the federal government to excise the Australian mainland from the migration zone. The move means that no asylum seekers arriving in Australia will have the automatic right to remain in Australia while their claims for a humanitarian visa are being processed. "Yet again ...

The President of the Uniting Church in Australia Rev Professor Andrew Dutney has responded to the 2013 Federal Budget by urging politicians and policymakers from all sides to do more for the most vulnerable people at home and abroad. "I warmly welcome the decision to fully fund DisabilityCare Australia and the support it will extend to people of disability, their ...

Members of the Uniting Church are urged to join with other Christian churches in a week of prayer organised by the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA). "We invite all of our members to join our brothers and sisters from other churches to celebrate the unity that is ours in Christ," said the President of the Uniting Church Assembly ...

Mining touches the lives of rural people in a very different way to those in cities. Katie Lewis reports on an organisation bringing the two groups together. Bridging the Divide is a non-profit organisation established late last year to create communication and support networks amongst rural, regional and urban communities impacted by coal and coal seam gas mining. Founder, Annette ...

UnitingCare Queensland has launched a report on preliminary research conducted into the social impacts of the mining and gas boom on its workforce and services in Gladstone, the Bowen Basin and the Surat Basin. The research was undertaken in response to concerns expressed by staff and through them, clients and patients. Although only preliminary research, the report makes compelling reading ...

Senator Penny Wong, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister for Finance and Deregulation, has released details of new legislation aimed at safeguarding the right of the not-for-profit sector to advocate in the interests of the community. Senator Wong addressed representatives from Queensland non-profit community service providers at a forum on 4 March hosted by UnitingCare Queensland. ...

The Uniting Church today put its money where its mouth is on climate change. A day after calling on the New South Wales Government to act to protect farming land, water resources and conservation areas from mining, the church's Synod of New South Wales and the ACT has determined as a matter of policy that it should divest from corporations ...

The Synod of News South Wales and the ACT has called on the New South Wales Government to act to protect farming land, water resources and conservation areas from mining. The Synod said the Government should amend the NSW Strategic Regional Land Use Plan so that it identifies and protects from coal mining and coal seam gas exploration and mining: ...

Uniting Church justice and research staff have added their voices to the call for work rights for asylum seekers living in the community. Mardi Lumsden reports. Uniting Church staff have joined organisations across Australia in support of the Right to Work campaign launched by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in March. The campaign seeks to address the lack of work ...