The Society participated in several key campaigns during the past year, including increasing the supply of social housing, advocating in elections both Local and Federal, and standing in solidarity with refugees and people seeking asylum.

Our Build Homes, Build Hope campaign continued calling on the NSW Government to invest in 5000 new social housing dwellings per year for the next ten years. Research commissioned by the Society from the Centre for Social Impact showed that this would reduce the number of households currently on the social housing waitlist by 75%.

Our Homelessness Week webinar was an opportunity for people to learn more about initiatives such as the End Street Sleeping Collaboration and how Vinnies Services and member volunteers are working together in response to the growing number of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. With access to affordable housing, a vital part of the response to homelessness, it was also a chance to update attendees on the lack of social housing stock relative to need.

Over the course of the year, active members of the Social Justice Network continued to engage with local MPs, sharing new information about homelessness and housing as it became available, and helping ensure the housing crisis remained firmly in the media spotlight.

Following the NSW Government’s change of leadership, we had the opportunity to show the new Minister for Families and Communities, Natasha Maclaren-Jones, through one of our homelessness refuges where she heard directly from people impacted by homelessness. St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO, Jack de Groot, also met with the new Minister for Homes, Anthony Roberts, to discuss the scale of investment required in response to the ongoing housing crisis.

In the 2021/22 financial year, members of the Social Justice Network sought to ensure issues impacting people experiencing poverty and disadvantage featured on the agenda for the Local Government elections on December 4, and the Federal Election on May 21.

In the lead-up to the Local Government elections, members were involved in events in Sutherland, Blacktown, Lake Macquarie, Campbelltown, Hornsby, Parramatta, and the Inner West which provided opportunities for aspiring councillors to commit to specific actions to increase the supply of affordable housing, support people seeking asylum and refugees, and take steps to mitigate the impact of climate change.

During the Federal Election campaign, members wrote to or met with sitting MPs and candidates in support of National Council’s A Fairer Australia platform. This was an opportunity to share statistics and stories about the number of people at risk of homelessness or living in poverty in each electorate, and champion key measures needed in response. Following the election, The Society welcomed the new Government’s commitment to develop a National Housing and Homelessness Plan, establish a $10b Housing Australia Future Fund, and implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart. With no plan to increase the JobSeeker rate, despite the rapidly rising cost of living, we will continue actively supporting the Raise the Rate campaign.

As more people were forced to flee their homes due to international conflicts, members of the Society continued in their efforts to foster a kinder and more compassionate response to people seeking asylum. Together with other Catholic organisations, members were part of meetings with key MPs across Sydney that helped secure a commitment to boost the number of places allocated to people fleeing Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.

As part of the 150 Days of Action for Refugees and People Seeking Asylum, the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW partnered with Jesuit Refugee Service Australia to develop five policy fact sheets that the Catholic community could use in their united advocacy efforts. We also supported this year’s Refugee Week events as a sponsor – an opportunity to promote the awareness and understanding needed to ensure our communities are places where people seeking protection feel welcomed, supported, and can rebuild their lives, prosper, and thrive.

Members of the Broken Bay Social Justice Network were particularly active in creating opportunities for community members to gain greater insight into refugee issues, collaborating with like-minded organisations to host two well-attended webinars. Attendees heard stories of courage and resilience from people who have suffered under a succession of repressive government policies and learnt more about the policy changes needed to deliver a more humane – and effective – response.

The Society was able to hold events, both virtually and in-person, which gave members, volunteers, employees, and supporters of the Society opportunities to learn more about key social justice issues. including:

Our annual Rosalie Rendu Forum which, in October 2021, focused the relationship between poverty and domestic violence. Facilitated by Padma Raman, CEO of Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, the event featured panellists Annabelle Daniel OAM, CEO of Women’s Community Shelters; Christine Robinson, Coordinator of Wirringa Baiya Aboriginal Community Legal Centre; Rosemary Kariuki, winner of the Local Hero 2021 Australian of the Year award, and lived experience advocate Pieta.

The World Day of the Poor Forum, during which the Bishop of Parramatta, Bishop Vincent; and Executive Director, Leo Tucker, led discussions about the Pope’s call to embrace the challenge of mutual sharing and how this resonates with the Vincentian way today. Three members also spoke about practical initiatives developed in response to new and emerging forms of poverty in our world today.

The bi-annual Social Justice Forum, where close to 100 St Vincent de Paul members, volunteers and employees from across NSW came together to discuss key social justice issues affecting local communities, and the role of the Society in advocating on behalf of the people we assist. The day included a panel discussion led by St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO, Jack de Groot, with guest speakers Fr Peter Smith, Alice Salomon, and Jihad Dib MP, and workshops on issues including the Uluru Statement from the Heart, responding to domestic violence, climate change and natural disasters, uplifting the voices of people with lived experience, and building local relationships. The afternoon focused on our Build Homes, Build Hope campaign and how people can take action in support of the campaign.

In the 2021/22 financial year, we increased our followings on all of our social media accounts.

+2.8%

+19.3%

+16.2%

+3%

It is important to shine a light on the diverse good works undertaken by the Society through coverage in the mainstream media.

At a time when digital and alternative outlets have disrupted the traditional media landscape, the Society continues to be regarded as a leading voice advocating for change and reform against the pressures that drive disadvantage and hardship. The Society is also able to elevate the voices of the people we assist by allowing them to share their stories to audiences in local communities, across the state and beyond.

During the course of the last year, through the effects of COVID, natural disasters and advocacy in between, we received in excess of 150 mentions per month across print, TV, radio, and online news media.

With the ongoing impact of the pandemic making the effects of politics tangible for the community at large, in a way rarely seen previously, the Society was able to offer commentary calling for greater support for those hardest hit. The Society was also able to provide a platform to Anna*, a mother supported by one of our domestic violence refuges, to share her story with the Sunday Telegraph.

The Society was the first major charity to distribute financial grants, up to $3,000, to households impacted by the floods that devastated Northern NSW. Thanks to the coverage generated in the mainstream media, the Vinnies NSW Flood Appeal was able to raise $3.8 million to help people recover and rebuild.

Taking place for the 17th year in 2022, the Vinnies CEO Sleepout set a record total with $9.6 million raised nationally. Through extensive coverage in radio, television, print and online outlets, the event helped to bring awareness to the importance of early intervention in addressing homelessness, while raising $3.8 million in NSW to support services providing accommodation, healthcare and much more.

The Society continues to be a leading voice calling for action on housing in accordance with our ‘Build Homes, Build Hope’ advocacy priorities campaigning for 5,000 new social housing properties to be built each year over the next ten years. During the course of the Federal Election, members in NSW spoke with a united voice on the National Council’s Election platform ‘A Fairer Australia’, calling on all parties to act on homelessness and housing, poverty and inequity, secure work, people seeking asylum and First Nations Peoples.

With the funds raised through our major fundraising appeals held during the Christmas and Winter periods, the Society has been able to alleviate the hardship faced by people in times of crisis. Each year, thousands of people turn to the Society where our members and staff offer a compassionate hand up of support.