Queen of Apostles Social Justice Group
The Social Justice Group endeavours :
The Group meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month and new members are always welcome to join. Parishioners can contact the office if they would like to be part of an initiative.
Contact: Through the Parish Office Ph: 3356 7155
- To bring social justice issues before the parish so that parishioners can think about and respond to such issues.
- To broaden our thinking of social justice issues in our world.
The Group meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month and new members are always welcome to join. Parishioners can contact the office if they would like to be part of an initiative.
Contact: Through the Parish Office Ph: 3356 7155
Reconciliation Action Plan
A Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) provides a framework for people and organisations to support the national reconciliation movement and to lead communities on a new path of trust and respect. Following the release of the Brisbane Archdiocese RAP , the Queen of Apostles Social Justice Group created a RAP Implementation Plan for our Parish. The Implementation Plan identifies actions that we can take as a Parish to bring the RAP to life.
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For more information about RAPs and why they are needed, refer to this flyer from the Archdiocese. As stated there, as a Christian people we are called to forge the path of healing between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians.
The RAP is designed around three concepts – Relationships, Respect and Opportunities. It enables us to contribute to reconciliation in those 3 ways – that is:
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USEFUL LINKS
NATIONAL VOICE TO PARLIAMENT
The Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for the establishment of National Voice to Parliament – a body (made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) enshrined in the Constitution, that would enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide advice to the Parliament on policies and projects that would practically and culturally affect Indigenous people. This gives the Australian Government the opportunity to make policies with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, rather than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. When Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who know and understand the best way to deliver real and practical change in their communities have a say through a Voice, we will finally be able to close the gap that still exists between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. This is why it is so important.
Work is progressing, with the government having recently released the draft wording for the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to parliament in the constitution. This constitutional change will be put to the Australian people during this parliamentary term, most likely towards the end of next year. The proposed wording is a basis for dialogue – something to give the conversation shape and direction – with the final wording yet to be decided.
The links below provide more information about the Voice and the referendum.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for the establishment of National Voice to Parliament – a body (made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) enshrined in the Constitution, that would enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide advice to the Parliament on policies and projects that would practically and culturally affect Indigenous people. This gives the Australian Government the opportunity to make policies with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, rather than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. When Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who know and understand the best way to deliver real and practical change in their communities have a say through a Voice, we will finally be able to close the gap that still exists between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. This is why it is so important.
Work is progressing, with the government having recently released the draft wording for the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to parliament in the constitution. This constitutional change will be put to the Australian people during this parliamentary term, most likely towards the end of next year. The proposed wording is a basis for dialogue – something to give the conversation shape and direction – with the final wording yet to be decided.
The links below provide more information about the Voice and the referendum.
- From the Heart site
- Interview with Tom Calma, Chancellor of the University of Canberra, who has been a leading participant in Indigenous affairs for many years and together with professor Marcia Langton prepared a report for the Morrison government on the Voice.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING
- ABC Religion and Ethics program – We Come to Take You Home
This is the story of Kamilaroi elder Bob Weatherall, who has devoted the last four decades to the repatriation of sacred Indigenous ancestral remains – bones, skulls, teeth and hair that were stolen from graves and murdered bodies to be sold to museums and universities in the name of science. - Documentaries on SBS On Demand
- Off Country – Follows the lives of seven Indigenous students as they leave home to spend a year boarding at one of the oldest and most elite boarding schools in the country, Geelong Grammar.
- First Australians – Chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia from the perspective of its first people.
RAISING THE AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
Did you know that:
Research has proven that diversion programs cost less and are more effective than locking up children, but still we continue ... Refer to the Raise the Age website for more information, including action you can take on this important matter.
Update: The Tasmanian Government has announced that it will change the law so the minimum age for imprisoning children will increase from 10 to 14. This is a welcome announcement, but more is needed and the Raise the Age team are urging us to send an email to our State Premier, calling on her to #RaiseTheAge to at least 14 years old. The Raise the Age team have all the details you need for this email and it will take less than 5 minutes to send this important message. You can use this link to find more information on how to do this.
Did you know that:
- Across Australia, children as young as 10 can be arrested by police, charged with an offence, brought before a court and locked away in a prison?
- In just one year, close to 600 children aged 10 to 13 years were locked up and thousands more were hauled through the criminal legal system?
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are disproportionately impacted by these laws and pushed into prison cells at even higher rates, accounting for 65 per cent of these younger children in prisons?
Research has proven that diversion programs cost less and are more effective than locking up children, but still we continue ... Refer to the Raise the Age website for more information, including action you can take on this important matter.
Update: The Tasmanian Government has announced that it will change the law so the minimum age for imprisoning children will increase from 10 to 14. This is a welcome announcement, but more is needed and the Raise the Age team are urging us to send an email to our State Premier, calling on her to #RaiseTheAge to at least 14 years old. The Raise the Age team have all the details you need for this email and it will take less than 5 minutes to send this important message. You can use this link to find more information on how to do this.
