As an organisation committed to addressing injustice and alleviating disadvantage, it is important that we take a stand on pressing matters of our time.

During the last financial year, we updated our Social Justice Statements on Housing and Homelessness, People Seeking Asylum and Refugees, and Cost of Living, and launched a new Statement focused on Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Each statement clearly outlines our positions with detailed advice for policy makers by drawing on expert research and the lived experiences of people directly impacted.

Using our Social Justice Statements as a framework, we also made numerous submissions to policy processes and inquiries – helping ensure that the values and experiences of the Society, and the people we assist, shape decision-making processes in ways that transform the causes of poverty. This included dozens of submissions to local Councils to inform the development of Local Strategic Planning Statements and Housing Strategies to give greater priority to social and affordable housing.

A home is more than four walls and a roof to keep over your head. It is where families are raised, friends socialise, and people become part of communities. Our Housing and Homelessness Social Justice Statement outlines the steps the NSW and Federal Governments must take to ensure all people have access to housing that affords them physical safety, protection from the elements, and security of tenure, at a cost that does not compromise access to other essentials like food and energy.

Read the full Housing and Homelessness statement.

Our communities should be places where people seeking protection can rebuild their lives, care for their families, prosper and thrive. Our Refugees and People Seeking Asylum Social Justice Statement offers practical recommendations to government to better support people seeking protection, and to ensure we uphold their human rights.

Read the full Refugees and People Seeking Asylum statement.

Every day we work closely with those experiencing mental health difficulties and see first-hand how homelessness, unemployment and social isolation can significantly impact mental health and wellbeing. Our Mental Health and Wellbeing Social Justice Statement recognises the challenges people face when experiencing mental ill-health and offers recommendations to government to assist them in accessing the support they need to lead fulfilling lives.

Read the full Mental Health and Wellbeing statement.