The Bendigo Uniting Churches' Social Justice Group
INTRODUCTION
The Bendigo UC's Social Justice Group began as the Combined St Andrews/Forest St UC's Social Justice Group in November 2007. Subsequently, in October 2009, with an expanded membership from other Bendigo congregations it assumed its current name.
Currently its membership is drawn from the Central and ELM Clusters of the Bendigo Uniting Church.
The Group meets monthly on the first Tuesday in the Randall Room at St Andrews UC Complex, Myers St from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. Others are welcome.
KEY AIM: To encourage interest in & response to social justice issues at local, State, National & International levels by members of the Bendigo UC's. To accomplish this the Group is informed by publications such as "Just Focus", a bi-monthly publication compiled by the Justice & International Mission (JIM) Unit, Synod of Victoria & Tasmania ( Refer to http://jim.victas.uca.org.au)
Latest news sheet
Issues the Group are working on/advocating for currently:
1) Continuing the quarterly rotation of the Asylum Seeker banners protesting against Coalition Government policy. These are displayed by the five participating Bendigo Uniting Church faith communities and now includes Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR).
2) Following up on possibilities emerging from the distribution of the Group's Discussion Paper "The Need for Accommodation for People with Mental Illness in the Loddon Mallee Region" by the Loddon Mallee Presbytery.
3) Developing a process to monitor the implementation of the City of Greater Bendigo's recently adopted "Affordable Housing Action Plan". The Group has contributed to the Plan's development since its commencement in 2013.
4) Making written Submissions to the Government Land Standing Advisory Committee encouraging the Minister for Planning to include a provision for social housing when determining the future zoning for the former Bendigo Teacher's College and Golden Square Primary School sites.
5) Following the on-line Workshop in August last on the Uluru Statement from the Heart, discussions are being held and advice sought on how we could proceed.
6) Advocacy via letters to relevant decision makers/policy developers on a diverse range of issues are being exchanged. These include Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility, Changes to the JobSeeker Rate, Support for the proposed National Framework for Adaptation & Mitigation Bill with respect to Climate Change, Closure of Forest St Emergency Relief Centre, Ceasing Funding Fossil Fuel Expansion by ANZ Banking Group and Accelerating the Transition to Emissions Free Vehicles.
Click here for Information about the Social Justice group and what happened with the group last year.
For more information on this group please email Garth: Social Justice
For wider information visit the Uniting Church web site Justice and International Mission
