Rev Elenie Poulos, National Director, UnitingJustice Australia has been included in Who Speaks for and Protects the Public Interest in Australia?, a book of essays by notable Australians launched in Canberra on 26 February.

Elenie’s essay discusses how the values of a decent society must influence policy decisions made in the public interest.

“The concerns of groups and individuals who are marginalised in society, who struggle to be seen let alone have their voices heard, are exactly those we must listen to if we are truly interested in policy reform in the public interest. It is only by allowing ourselves to be confronted by those who suffer as a result of the way things are, that we will understand what truly is in the public interest. For the values of neoliberalism do not serve the wellbeing of our societies. They promote inequity, breed isolation and fracture social cohesion.”

For further information, or to order a copy of Who Speaks for and Protects the Public Interest in Australia? go to the Australia21 website

The Uniting Church has joined with over 200 organisations to express dismay at the significant harm and abuse suffered by children in immigration detention and to call upon the Government to introduce legislation that prevents children from being detained, ends the offshore processing of asylum seekers, and refers allegations of child abuse to a Royal Commission.

The Uniting Church in Australia is calling for the immediate release of all children and their families from Australian-run immigration detention centres, after the publication today of a shocking report by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

The Uniting Church in Australia has joined churches, NGOs and others in voicing concerns about Indonesia’s resumption of the death penalty.

UCA President Rev. Prof. Andrew Dutney is one of 14 organisational leaders who’ve written to both the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia and to the Australian Foreign Minister, expressing grave concerns for at least 11 people facing imminent execution.

UnitingJustice has written to the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr Najib Riphat Kesoema, seeking mercy for those facing iminenent axecution in Indonesia.

UnitingJustice has written to the Foreign Minister regarding the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons.

On the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Australian Coalition to End Immigration Detention of Children is calling on the Australian Government to immediately release all children from detention.

The Uniting Church in Australia Assembly was one of 14 religious organisations to sign a multi-faith open letter Fossil Fuels and Global Poverty at the G20 in The Courier Mail, Brisbane, calling upon all national leaders to commit to a rapid transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. 

The Uniting Church in Australia joined with ANTaR, Oxfam Australia, Fred Hollows Foundation, ACOSS, Reconciliation Australia and the ACTU calling for a renewed sense of urgency to move towards a referendum to recognise the First Australians in our Constitution.

This Joint Statement calls on the Government to not rush through legislation, as it requires more public consultation.