Rebuilding Australiaissue 17 | June 2 011

The Salvation Army Austral ia Southern Terr i tor y

Social Programme Depar tment

Words have deep significance; there’s power in understanding what we mean when we communicate. Definition, culture and context help us make sense of our words.

On my first day in the workforce, in Bendigo (Vic.) in 1962, I asked my new colleagues for some lackers (lacker, or rubber, bands). They looked at me strangely, as ‘lackers’ meant ‘lollies’ in that place and time.

When stationed in Kenya I learnt quickly that sayings I was used to citing—‘the wreck of the Hesperus’ (meaning something that looks dishevelled, coming from Longfellow’s 1839 poem), or ‘It’s a wigwam for a goose’s bridle’ (meaning ‘I have no idea’)—could not be translated

gracefully into other languages. Reforming society is a large task worthy

of some examination. It needs clarity. I believe the goal of social change boils down to the individual. The word society was first used in the 1500s to describe a ‘friendly association with others’ (from ‘socius’, or companion). ‘Companion’ comes from sharing bread with other people (‘com’ meaning ‘with’, ‘pan’ or ‘pane’ meaning ‘bread’).

The answer is not as simple as reaching out to people in recognition of our common humanity. But it’s a good start. To reshape our collective life means opening ourselves up to others and to change on all levels. It begins with us, how we treat others and are treated in return—what we

refer to as Christ’s golden rule.We need to advocate corporately on

behalf of those who are hurting. We do so, often with a unified, national voice. But reforming society is best commenced with an acknowledgement that we ourselves need to change and be the agents of change. Without ethical integrity and openness to reform, in ourselves and our organisation, then we won’t succeed in reforming society.

Lieut-Colonel Lynette GreenTerritorial social programme secretary

Understanding our intentions

Engaging in the process of reformThere are 237 representatives of The Salvation Army’s Australia Southern Territory serving on external committees, welfare forums and peak bodies.

The groups include: Centrelink, the Victorian Bushfire Authority, Victoria’s Department of Human Services, the federal Attorney-General’s Department, the South Australian Department of Families and Community, emergency management bodies, shires and councils, community centres, men’s health services,

homelessness agencies, youth agencies, family violence agencies, the Victorian Office of Housing, legal services, consumer rights bodies, FaHCSIA (the federal Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs), disability councils, and foodbanks.

The Salvation Army is part of the Christian church and engages in advocacy and meets human need without discrimination. It is an apolitical body.

‘Men talk shoulder to shoulder, not around a table.’There is a measure of truth behind that astute

men’s sheds observation, cited by Derek Tickner, the coordinator of the men’s support service at Kwinana Corps (in Medina, WA). Recognising that truth has led Kwinana Corps to open the latest of several ‘men’s sheds’ run by The Salvation Army in Australia.*

On 28 April the shed opened for business, complete with planes, panel saws, lathes, angle grinders and other woodworking power tools. Though licensed to work with up to 30 people, the likelihood is that it will initially operate with six to 12 men.

While Derek explains that ‘women will also be most welcome to use the shed’ he notes that the designation of the facility as a men’s shed is in line with demographic reflection of his community and the pressing social needs of local men.

‘Kwinana is recognised as one of WA’s key areas for lower socio-economic, unemployed males and male disability pensioners,’ he says. ‘The shed is a good expansion of our men’s support service, which has been funded by local company Austal. While the Army’s Positive Lifestyle Program has been a success for us, the service itself hasn’t been as broadly effective as we hoped.

‘Guys tend to be more open on a one-to-one basis, but collective social interaction is vital for men—and blokes are reluctant to meet to talk about their problems in a group setting. When you take the interaction that happens with a shared task around a workbench, however, you find that the difference is huge.’

Derek (who is also Kwinana’s corps sergeant-major, or chief elder) has six years of paid work in this field and prior years of volunteer work; those years have taught him that ‘many men feel left on the sidelines in today’s society’.

In the wake of rapid social change and the global financial crisis, Derek believes that, ‘Fellows who were raised to be the breadwinners and heads of families now feel disempowered and useless. They deal with loneliness and low self-esteem; they feel marginalised, ignored and excluded from society.

‘These men are human beings who need to talk with other human beings and share their lives.’

Funded by the federal government and in partnership with The Salvation Army Employment Plus**, Derek says the Kwinana men’s shed exists ‘to get men out of their caves, to help them gain the confidence to re-engage with their community, get needed help, and regain employment if possible’.

*For more information on the development of men’s sheds, view the Australian Men’s Shed Association site (www.mensshed.org).

**See an article on TSAEP on page four.

Blokes try to work it out

painting a different futureA l l t h i n g s A r e f A r f r o m e q u A l f o r i n d i g e n o u s A u s t r A l i A n s i n A l i c e s p r i n g s .

Living with extreme poverty and hunger, coping with homelessness or overcrowded accommodation, indigenous people are talked down to and dismissed. Disparaged and wronged. Pre-judged. The Salvation Army in Alice Springs tries to counter that discrim-ination through local advocacy for individuals through its Aboriginal program.

Offering free showers and laundry facilities, as well as advocacy and advice, they treat people with dignity and hope. There is also a strong social element of inclusion, with a Bible study, two choirs, a guitar group and, intermittently, the sharing of a movie day.

Peta Boon, the Aboriginal program manager, says the main area of social reform the corps addresses is ‘spiritual poverty, with people have lost hope because of the great divide between the “haves” and the “have nots”, which has been exacerbated by the intervention’.

‘We’d want Aboriginal kids to be able to learn in an Aboriginal way in schools; they are not included in the curriculum. In school, children are

taught in English instead of their first language. We need to help Aboriginal people have the freedom to worship God in the way they want to, and we need to vigorously oppose racial discrimination.’

One way the program works to

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The Australia Southern Territory has joined forces with other churches, NGOs and children’s rights advocates such as Melinda Tankard Reist to resist the ‘adultification and sexual- isation of children’ and the dehumanisation and objectifica-tion of women [treating women as objects] in Australian society by media outlets and the advertising industry.

Calling for a mandatory G-rating for all billboards in the wake of offending or provocative signs by groups such as Sexpo and companies such as Calvin Klein, The Salvation Army told a senate inquiry into advertising standards that allowing the industry to regulate itself was ineffectual and failed to protect children (especially girls) from sexual exploitation.

The submission, written by the Australia Southern Territory’s social policy and program development manager, Elli McGavin, challenged the current system of self-regulated media monitoring of billboards (a public complaint has to be received before action is even consid-ered) and cited research that showed sexualisation of female Australians led to eating disorders, poor self-esteem and mental illness.

‘The self-regulatory system currently in place offers little protection for children’s rights whose voice may be absent, nor does it work to specifically monitor, analyse and act on issues impacting children,’ wrote Ms McGavin. The submission called for stronger regulation and ‘much clearer mandatory guidelines’ to prevent public use of ‘sexualised images that impact the development and self-image of girls and women’.

The inquiry also heard from consumer lobby groups including Collective Shout, which was co-written by Ms Tankard Reist. Declaring that the advertising industry’s ‘self-regulation model enables [it] to be seen to be responsible and to avoid real scrutiny of its long history of irresponsible and profit-driven behaviour,’ Collective Shout contended that, ‘Sexualised representations of women and girls dis-played in a workplace constitute sexual harassment under anti-discrimination law,’ yet ‘the open display of similar objectified and sexualised images of women in the public domain is exempt from sexual harassment laws...

‘If this material has been ruled inappropriate for work-places or schools, why is it considered acceptable as the “wallpaper” of the public domain, where we have no choice but to view it?’

As ‘pornographic representations of women in the public space have become normative,’ it added, ‘a growing body of research [shows] the detrimental effect of these representations, especially on children and young people. In addition, advertising plays a crucial part in socialising men and boys to see the sexual objectification of women and girls as normal.’

The Salvation Army and other like-minded groups and individuals call for reform in this area to counter negative physical and mental health outcomes in young people. The sexualisation of children and objectification of women are abhorrent and exploitative marketing tactics that are detrimental to the health of our society. They constitute a form of sexual exploitation that requires an urgent response.

Treating women and girls with respect

painting a different futureA l l t h i n g s A r e f A r f r o m e q u A l f o r i n d i g e n o u s A u s t r A l i A n s i n A l i c e s p r i n g s .

reshape its community is by providing a venue and promoting the works of more than 30 local Indigenous artists. The artists come to the drop-in centre and/or paint from home. Some live in town, some out bush.

The artists are mostly low-income earners; 70% of them are women. Apart from a group of younger women in their 20s and 30s, the artists are aged in their 40s to 70s. Many have a strong Christian faith.

They generally use the traditional style to capture traditional themes such as gathering bush tucker and the ‘dreamings’ that inform Aboriginal culture and life. This gives them a

measure of independence and satisfaction, and helps generate higher self-esteem.

For some artists, painting at the drop-in centre means the chance to create in a safe, unthreatening environment. Cuppas and light snacks are available and music or videos add to a good work atmosphere. The Aboriginal program has the capacity to buy some of this artwork to add to the gallery, which comprises local artists’ works. This ‘not for profit’ gallery adds only a minimal administration fee to the cost of the artwork. Other artists choose to market and sell their own works.

In the midst of this Salvation Army community, people find practical care, justice and the capacity to reform their community. *If you are interested in purchasing these paintings, please contact The Salvation Army Aboriginal Program, PO Box 2187, Alice Springs, NT 0871, email: corps.alicesprings@aus.salvationarmy.org, ph.(08) 8951 0207.

H E L E N W H I T E

Rebuilding AustraliaEmployment is a critical building block in any society. To survive we need resources—food, water, shelter, clothing, education, etc., and increasingly in our modern society we need money to gain those resources. Employment is a key way to alleviate poverty, which is a clear indicator of societal dysfunction.

Many Australians, especially indigenous Australians, suffer from deficits in health, housing and education: employment can positively impact all three of these areas.

Creating jobs helps remove the stigma of unemployment, which unfairly labels people. There’s less stigma now than in the past, due to decreasing official unemployment rates*. We are also better educated as to the causes of unemployment. Some people still demonise unemployed people, however, declaring their lack of a job to be ‘their own choice’ or ‘their own fault’. In truth, that is rare.

Post the 2009 GFC, we still face near-chronic underemployment, continuing retrenchments and unemployment compounded by behavioural issues relating to addictions, grief and bereavement, mental health issues, family and relational breakdowns—the list goes on, and the cumulative impact of these factors affects people’s employability.

We help to reform society and transform lives every day. We own the Army’s holistic mission; we have an obligation to it, but our focus is primarily on the social outcomes of our work. Through our contract with Job Services Australia, we assist unemployed people to become job-ready and gain jobs. We also have other specialist areas of work, such as pre-release programs for prisoners** and indigenous community programs***.

Homelessness is probably the hardest, most complex challenge for Australia. It is often symptomatic of many underlying issues,

such as mental health issues. These run the gamut from depression, grief and anger episodes to suicide and bereavement. An under-standing of mental health issues is essential for our staff, so they can competently recognise symptoms and refer people to qualified counsellors.

Our clients often have minimal skills and experience, meaning we need to find them entry-level positions in sectors such as construction, local governments, mining, retail, security and service, and organise training to allow them to gain skills. Either way, through employment or by gaining skills, our clients work towards having decent, meaningful work.

In the 2009/10 financial year, we placed more than 26,000 people into the workforce. That’s more than 100,000 lives changed for the good, in numerous Australian communities. When you help one person into a job, you can impact an entire community. We also offer clients the Army’s Positive Lifestyle Program and other personal development programs.

We never give up. We believe in reforming society. For every life we influence, even just a little, we commence the journey of a reformed society as a person’s values change. One life can change a whole nation—one person aided is one person brought one step closer to Jesus.

*Statistics are based on registered unemployed people; many do not register. There is also an official figure for underemployed Australians, engaged in inadequate part-time work: some 800,000 people.

**Such as several programs in Queensland’s Capricornia region—between Cairns and Rockhampton—which aim to employ 200 Indigenous Australians in areas such as infrastructure, mining and the retail sector.

***Prisoners engage with Employment Plus in pre-release programs up to six months before they are due to walk out of incarceration. They are educated and prepared for the world they will re-enter. Employment Plus is the sole provider of this service in WA, holds the majority of contracts for this work in Qld and runs a strong program in NSW. Employment Plus hopes to expand this work in the near future.

Others The Salvation Army Social Programme Department • Editor-in-Chief Captain Mal Davies • Supplements coordinator Major Libby Duracher • Departmental liaison Barry Gittins • Designers Simon Robertson, Richard Lewis • Proofreader Dawn Volz • Address PO Box 479, Blackburn 3130 • Phone (03) 8878 2315 • Email onfire@aus.salvationarmy.org

Social Programme has prepared a sermon resource on reforming society: go to salvationarmy.org.au/corpsresources/post.asp?post=855

Major ritchie Watson, eMployMent plus director, says eMployMent is a vital engine in reforMing society. at a glance

� Other than the Red Shield Defence Services, The Salvation Army Employment Plus is the sole service provider operated by The Salvation Army across both Australian territories. � As an integral part of The Salvation Army in Australia, Employment Plus is just one of its many facets of ministry/mission. Employment Plus stands beside other corps, emergency response, children’s and young people’s work, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, homelessness, aged care, family welfare programs and Salvos Stores. � Employment Plus helped more than 26,000 people find jobs in the 2009/2010 financial year. � Employment Plus has placed 530,000 people in jobs since it was created in 1998. � The inter-territorial mission enterprise has channelled $68 million back into Salvation Army mission coffers since it commenced across the two Australian territories. � Employment Plus staff can readily relate to the Australia Southern Territory’s mission goals of caring for people, transforming lives and, to some extent, reforming society, through their daily service to jobseekers. In terms of ‘making disciples’, Employment Plus makes the services of its chaplains available (on request) to clients and staff alike. � The Employment Plus team has The Salvation Army’s largest ‘congregation’: approximately 52,000 jobseekers, as well as staff, employers and contractors.