Nourishing all

UnitingCare Australia is driven by its commitment to social justice and is defined by the Uniting Church's vision of a renewed world in which all people are valued, belong and can contribute. A sustainable, just and fair society where no one misses out is what we strive for.

The sustainability and viability of community and social services is critical in addressing the entrenched, and increasingly intergenerational, disadvantage facing many people. Not-for-profit organisations, businesses and governments can and should work together, as without adequate investment in the delivery of sustainable social services we fail those who need our support most.

The issues facing Australia's most vulnerable and disadvantaged people are complex, requiring careful and often long-term and multi-faceted responses which are above combative zero-sum politics, needing investment in financial and human resources that extend well beyond the budget or election cycles.

Beyond our local preoccupations, climate change threatens the wellbeing of the earth and is a material risk for current and future generations, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. But we need not despair or succumb to apocalyptic thinking. We can adapt and function in a carbon-constrained world. We can work together to craft a sustainable path.

In community services, we understand that real power is not to be found in our social and political structures, but at the grassroots, in the real stuff of life. This is where lives are lived, and where transformation can take root and flourish.

In the UnitingCare network, which reaches across Australia at more than 1,300 sites meeting the needs of one in eight Australians every year, we are the inheritors of a justice tradition that takes dominant notions of power and turns them on their head.

Power is found in serious commitment to solidarity, to the oneness of all peoples, to hope.

I believe justice, hope and opportunity matter.

Politics matters.

People matter.

We can do better as a nation if we choose to focus together on what matters most.

What matters to you?