It is often easy to dismiss refugees and a group rather than individual people. Media reports rarely tell individual’s stories. Amnesty International Australia Community Campaigner Tracey Foley said it was important to remember that these people had possibly survived oppressive governments, torture, the destruction of their home and deaths of their loved ones. Chaman Shah Nasiri is one such person. ...

IT MAY only be August but the Synod Communication Services Unit (CSU) has been hard at work consulting as many people as possible to help decide on the 2010 Christmas postcard theme. This year the slogan is: “This seat is reserved for you this Christmas.” The back of the card will say “Worship with us” and have a space for ...

NATIONAL DIRECTOR of UnitingCare Australia Susan Helyar said today social policies announced by both the ALP and the Coalition during this election campaign amount largely to punitive, short-term measures that will encourage prejudice in many people, but will do little to address the intergenerational cycle of poverty and disadvantage experienced by some Australians. The campaign has predictably been fought on economic ...

Voters in the seat of Ryan will have the chance to hear if their candidates for Federal Parliament want to help Make Poverty History at a forum being held at University of Queensland St Lucia Campus on Thursday 29th July 2010. Make Poverty History Spokesperson Steph Carter said the forum was a chance for voters to learn about their prospective ...

OVER FOUR days members of the 28th Synod meeting grappled with the financial situation of the Church in Queensland. On the final day of the meeting members recognised, by consensus, the significance and complexity of the financial posit-ion of the Synod and supported the process which has commenced with presbyteries and agencies to identify underutilised assets and reallocate those resources. ...

Blue Care staff will again be at the forefront of evidenced-based, best practice research as a key partner in an eight-year, $28 million wound management research project. Blue Care Executive Director Stephen Muggleton highlighted the project during the Australian Wound Management Association’s national awareness campaign, Wound Awareness Week, which ran from 15 to 28 March. Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science ...

Tuvalu people are as low as you can get. They are also out of sight on world maps as they belong to such a tiny country, which is, however, a glaring example of the looming danger of climate change. Tuvalu national, the Rev. Tofina Falani, is in Copenhagen for the United Nations climate conference, and when he opens his arms ...

David Lovell Publishing Melbourne, 2009 RRP $24.95 Reviewed by James Huges. Father Ted Kennedy, the Catholic priest in Redfern, is a personal hero of mine so I was glad to be able to review a book about his life and ministry. This passionate advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died on 17 May 2005 (the same day as ...

Billie Brooke, Alaina Yeates and Aleisha Brownie are no different than any other 13-year-olds that desperately want something. But these girls are more than willing to go out and get it themselves if they have to. The girls have started a campaign to get them to the Uniting Church ‘Summer Madness’ camp at Alexandra Headlands in January. Rather than asking ...

An exhibition of children’s letters to pharmaceutical companies and governments is going on display at the United Nations in New York as part of a campaign by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and its partners to promote the treatment of children with HIV. "If governments and pharmaceutical companies were to increase access to testing and provide appropriate paediatric treatment for children ...