Unemployment – Australian Cardijn Institute

Work founded in human dignity

In his message, the Pope expressed his appreciation for the movement’s dedication to helping the Church accompany Catholics in the workforce.

Recalling his words in Evangelii Gaudium, he noted that work is “an essential component of life and human dignity”.

“Work is not simply a productive activity, but a means by which we cooperate with God in the work of creation and realize ourselves as human beings,” he said.

The Pope added that human labor helps us to be “co-creators and to participate in building a more just and fraternal world.”

Pope Francis added that it is the Church’s mission to walk with people in all aspects of their lives, including participation in the workforce.

Accompanying people on the peripheries

He said the Church especially needs to accompany people who are on the peripheries of the world of work.

“Our commitment cannot be limited to isolated speeches or actions,” he said, “but must be a constant witness of solidarity and support to people in situations of labor and social vulnerability.”

The Church’s mission with workers, he added, includes being close to people who have lost their jobs or suffer from a lack of employment opportunities.

Christians cannot remain enclosed in the walls of our church buildings, he urged, inviting everyone to reach out actively to those in need and to seek “just and lasting solutions” to job insecurity.

The Pope lamented the fact that unemployment continues to affect many families, saying the Church bears the responsibility of standing in solidarity with “people who face despair and exclusion due to joblessness.”

He concluded his message by encouraging the members of Catholic Action to “weave bonds of fraternity, bear the light of the Gospel, and build a more just society.

“I urge you to continue to be God’s people in the midst of working life, and to continue to weave stories of love and solidarity,” concluded Pope Francis. “The Church needs you.”

SOURCE

At least 20,000 Centrelink debts were either wiped or reduced in a nine-month period, newly released figures show, The Guardian reports.

The data, tabled in parliament this week, confirms what was already known about extent of problems with the so-called “robo debt” system.

It shows 7,456 debts were reduced to zero and another 12,524 were partially reduced but not wiped entirely, between July last year and March.

For the first time, the data gives a geographic understanding of where debts were issued. It shows high numbers of inaccurate debts in areas of western Sydney, Bundaberg, Mackay, Toowoomba, the New South Wales central coast and around Cranbourne in Melbourne’s south-eastern fringes.

Victoria Legal Aid’s executive director of civil justice, Dan Nicholson, said the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups were less likely to have appealed.

“I think on the face of it, it’s a shocking number of wrong debts to be alleged but in fact the most concerning thing is the very large number of people who would not have challenged their debts, and would now be paying back debts that were wrongly or unlawfully raised against them,” Nicholson said.

“We know those people are most likely to be the most disadvantaged in the community, and therefore the people that it may affect the most.”

The human services minister, Alan Tudge, has insisted the system is capable of calculating debts fairly. He pointed to to the ombudsman’s report earlier this year, which made a string of criticisms of the system but found it was able to accurately raise a debt, so long as it was provided with the proper information.

Criticism of the system began just before Christmas last year. From July last year, the government introduced a new way of clawing back debts from welfare recipients.

FULL STORY

Centrelink scandal: tens of thousands of welfare debts wiped or reduced (The Guardian)

See

Do you know of anyone who has had to repay a Centrelink debt? How did it work for them?

Were they able to repay the debt? Was the debt correctly calculated?

The Not My Debt website has collected many cases of people who have had problems with Centrelink.

https://www.notmydebt.com.au/stories/notmydebt-stories

What do you think of these cases? Do you know of any similar ones?

Judge

Did the system work well? Was it fair?

Act

Do you know of anyone who may need assistance in dealing with a Centrelink debt?

How could you help?

Category: Unemployment

Accompany the marginalised: Pope to Spanish workers

Work founded in human dignity

Accompanying people on the peripheries

Local – 20,000 Centrelink debts wiped