April 2022 – the final report produced by the Australian Catholic University (ACU) in partnership with Catholic Social Services Victoria and St Mary’s House of Welcome outlining COVID-19’s ongoing impact of jobs, insecurity and social services in Victoria has been launched at an event held at ACU Christ Theatre on the 6th of April.
The report was launched by Professor James McLaren, Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) of ACU.
Guest speakers and panelists:
- Dr Tom Barnes, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, ACU
- Robina Bradley, CEO and Company Secretary, St Mary’s House of Welcome
- Joshua Lourensz, Executive Director, Catholic Social Services Victoria (CSSV)
- Netty Horton, Board Director of Wintringham and Council member of CSSV
- Tony Nicholson, former Executive Director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Dr Tom Barnes’s article from The Conversation – “Pandemic pain remains as Australia’s economic recovery leaves the poor behind” about the report findings is available here.
The event was attended both in person and online. Some very positive feedback was received including the following comment.
“It was good to be the launched of ‘Scarring effects of the pandemic economy’ last night. What an utterly solid piece of work – a brilliant ground for advocacy”
The report highlights the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis at two levels – macro in terms of unemployment and underemployment, as well as at a service level – the response of social services and changes to the demographics of those seeking assistance.
Those involved in producing the report hope it will bring awareness to the true impact of the pandemic and inspire positive change as result of the collaborative project.
Join our mailing list
Keep up to date with latest news, information and upcoming events.
We respect your privacy, as outlined in our privacy policy.