The 2021/22 financial year has been one where the Society has continued to adapt to challenges resulting from natural disasters and the ongoing COVID pandemic. We have the benefit of being part of the Society and the long history and strong Catholic traditions that provides us to build on. We also have the advantage of being an organisation that has, at every turn, shown its capacity to evolve as new demands are placed on us.

The Rule tells us that: “No work of charity is foreign to the Society. It includes any form of help that alleviates suffering or deprivation, and promotes human dignity and personal integrity in all their dimensions.”

It goes on to clarify the inference here to be on the front foot to identify emerging needs when it says: “Faithful to the spirit of its founders, the Society constantly strives for renewal, adapting to changing world conditions. It seeks to be ever aware of the changes that occur in human society and the new types of poverty that may be identified or anticipated. It gives priority to the poorest of the poor and to those who are most rejected by society.”

This is a wonderful call to action and shows that the Society can simultaneously have strong, Catholic traditions and always be actively looking for new ways to help as the world and the needs of the people inhabiting it change around us.

It also provides good insight into our One Society framework. No matter how we come to the Society, we are all here for one reason: to assist the people we serve. Whether you are a member visiting someone’s home, a volunteer in a Vinnies Shop, or a professional fundraiser, or anything in between – we are all making a contribution.

Nowhere has this been better exemplified than the help the Society provided to people worst affected by the Northern Rivers floods in early 2022. Our members, volunteers, and staff did everything they could to help on the ground before, during and after the disaster. They helped people prepare for the floods, were involved in the immediate clean-up, provision of support to people who needed it most, and ongoing assistance as people began to rebuild. And they did it with all the experience the Society has from assisting with natural disaster relief in Australia for more than a century.

We have, over time, developed systems that help target support to people who need it most and mobilise and provide resources in a timely manner. All of the resources of the Society were brought to bear and this allowed members to focus on providing help and volunteers and employees to support these good works. We do this because we want to have a greater impact on the lives of people who are experiencing poverty and homelessness and because we always want the Society to be able to respond when there is need.

The thing we do – offer assistance to people in need as part of a lay Catholic organisation with a strong, faith-based tradition – never changes but the way we do it has done and will continue to do so. To that end, in the 2021/22 financial year, our members assisted 34,000 people experiencing disadvantage, our services helped more than 8,600 people, and our bushfire recovery and community development program provided more than 7,000 instances of service. The ongoing bushfire recovery support has been active in 29 communities in partnership with 20 partner organisations. It’s not just helping people recover from the fires but also helping them prepare for future natural disasters.

Our domestic and family violence services helped more than 2,000 women and children escape abusive partners. This work is especially important considering that more than a quarter of people assisted by our homelessness and housing services overall cited domestic violence as the reason they were seeking support. And 764 people made their homes in our social and affordable housing units around the state.

2022, also marks the 100-year anniversary of Vinnies Shops. Vinnies Shops are an institution older than the ABC, they are older than the Harbour Bridge, they even predate construction of Old Parliament House in Canberra! They are another great example of purpose remaining true to the original charitable intent coupled with an adaptive mindset that has allowed them to thrive.

This financial year has also seen the Society make good progress towards the goals of our Strategic Plan. Given the challenges we have faced over the last two years, we decided to extend our current strategic plan by 12 months until June 2023. This extension has given us time to understand the impacts of rapid changes in our external environment on the individuals and communities we serve and to consider how the Society can continue to evolve to meet key social challenges so that we remain contemporary and relevant.

It is pleasing to report that the average progress on all strategic initiatives in the Year 3 implementation plan is 83%. As of June 2022, 74% of all planned actions were completed or are on track to be completed as scheduled. The largest proportion of actions that are behind schedule are due to staff capacity or constraints and this is something experienced throughout Australia due to the pandemic.

The Strategic Plan has helped us achieve things like the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mentorship and training program, the implementation of our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, provision of better support to conferences, and pursuit of sustainability so that we can continue into the future. One of the most pleasing results is our improved capacity to help members engage in advocacy through the Social Justice Network.

The Strategic Plan has helped the Society in NSW continue to flourish despite the ongoing natural disasters of the past three years and the COVID pandemic. As we close in on its conclusion in June 2023, we look forward to engaging the whole of the Society as we develop the next one. And, as always, we thank our generous donors and supporters for their continued support. We could not provide assistance to the people we serve without it.

Richard Stewart – Chair

Jack de Groot – CEO