ANNUAL
T h e S a l va t i o n A r m y A u s t r a l i a S o u t h e r n Te r r i t o r y
REPORT
Annual Report for the financial year ending 2004/2005
Financial pressures
continue despite surplus
T
he Salvation Army
Australia Southern
Territory has seen
a major turn around in
its end of year financial
position, which showed a
surplus of $2,745,000 for
the 2004/05 financial year.
This compares with a deficit
of $4,825,000 in the previous
financial year. While expenditure
on social programs increased by 5%
to $344 million, revenue increased
by 12% to $360 million. This was
due to careful cost cutting and
income growth. In the last financial
year we have seen a 15% increase
in our Red Shield Appeal to $25
million, a dramatic increase in our
investment income contribution
thanks to our MLC investment
portfolio and a transfer of funds
generated by our Employment Plus
organisation. These increases more
than made up for the down-turn
in the contribution by our Family
Stores.
There were many challenges
during the year in particular
the 11% increase in the number
of people seeking our welfare,
homeless, domestic abuse and
rehabilitation services, to name
a few. This year we assisted
1,500,000 people in these ways.
Earlier this year we reached
the conclusion to divest much
of our aged care services. Faced
with the prospect of spending
a very significant amount of
money upgrading facilities,
The Salvation Army decided in
February 2004 to cease providing
mainstream care, it’s new focus
being the provision of residential
aged care services for those who
are the most disadvantaged and
marginalised. As a result we
announced in March 2005 that
we had signed a procurement
agreement with Retirement Care
Australia (RCA) in relation to
14 of the 19 aged care hostels,
nursing homes, and retirement
residences. Transfer of ownership
of these centres took place on 1
July 2005. In addition, TriCare,
a long-established aged care
provider and retirement village
operator, acquired the Hayville
Retirement Village in Box Hill,
Melbourne, on the same date.
The Salvation Army retains
the following aged care centres
– James Barker House (Victoria),
Linsell Lodge (South Australia),
Seaforth Gardens (Western
Australia) and Barrington Lodge
(Tasmania), and continues to
provide Community Aged Care
Packages and day care centres
in some locations. In addition,
The Salvation Army continues
to provide Chaplaincy services
to those aged care centres that
have been divested. A significant
proportion of the net proceeds
generated from the sale of the 15
aged centres will contribute to
maintaining and upgrading, where
necessary, the four remaining aged
care centres, delivering services to
the aged who are economically
marginalised and general services
to the elderly.
The disasters here and overseas
have involved us in special relief
activities and in turn the public
has recognised our efforts and
contributed generously to our
appeals. The Tsunami Appeal saw
approximately $3 million donated
for the work of our relief teams
in Southern India, Sri Lanka and
Indonesia. The Eyre Peninsula
Bushfire Appeal raised $1.5
million for us to distribute to the
victims in South Australia.
The working capital for the
Australia Southern Territory
continues to be very lean. We
have only 10 days working capital
at any one time. While this is a
slight improvement on last year,
this remains a very tight position
and illustrates how reliant we
are on our many sources of
income and the desire we have to
ensure that every dollar is put to
maximum use.
The important contribution
we received from people leaving
money to us in their will was
more than $15 million this year.
This money is used for capital
expenditure to build new centres
and maintain existing facilities.
The majority of our reserves are
earmarked for specific projects
and cannot be spent elsewhere.
Our donors who want to see
our work maintained even after
they have passed away are very
important to the continued
development of our social and
welfare services.
For the financial summary see page 5
Gateways
Opening doors that lead people
back into their community
For full story see page 6
How to
achieve 100%
employment
for Australia
The Salvation Army’s
approach to Australia’s
ongoing employment
issues - Page 4
Inside
Creative Opportunities
provides work for Australia’s
long term unemployed.
Around the nation
International news
Editorial opinion
Fundraising
Community services
Territorial executive
Community services
Family Stores
Troubled times
Employment
Art
Life
Sport
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10-11
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Today’s fact
In 1884 The Salvation
Army opened a ‘home’
in Carlton which
catered for discharged
female prisoners, prostitutes and drug
addicts frequenting the opium dens of
the Little Bourke Street area. In its first
12 months this women’s refuge received
300 women who were in desperate need
of assistance.
The issues
that hit
Australians
hardest in
2004/05
Australians under the pump
The most recent issue to hit
Australians is the one packing the
strongest punch – petrol prices.
These costs have been on the
rise for the past 12 months and
they’re not going to come down
in the near future. Even though
it’s fair to say that most people
are feeling shorter of cash thanks
to their car, or multiple cars, the
real concern is with those who
rely heavily on, and simply can
no longer afford them.
While the top 10% of income
earners live on more than $1500
per week, the bottom 10% are
forced to live on less than $177
per week. Out of this meagre
allowance comes rent and all
the other necessities that life
demands, like groceries (and
these costs are increasing as a
result of petrol prices too), clothes
and medical assistance. Add on
petrol and car maintenance costs
and suddenly you’re left with
nothing. Also, those struggling
to live above the poverty line
typically cannot afford to live
near train stations because rent is
higher in those areas. This means
they rely on their car and it’s not
a new, economical machine either.
Usually it’s an older and larger car
that chews through the petrol.
When you put all these facts
together, you can see that life for
many Australians is extremely
difficult.
Petrol prices are taking a toll
on Australians and as a result The
Salvation Army is experiencing
an increased demand for food
Continued on page 2.
Budget overview 2004/05:
where our funds were spent
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
Aged care and disability support
Employment, education and training
Salvation Army Family Stores
Homelessness and domestic violence
Individual and family support
Children and young people at risk
Addictions and substance abuse
Administration and research
Allocations to/from reserves
2003/04
28%
22%
17%
11%
7%
7%
5%
3%
-
2004/05
25%
27%
15%
10%
6%
6%
5%
3%
3%
Change
-3%
+5%
-2%
-1%
-1%
-1%
-
2004/05
financial year:
Financial summary - page 5
2
Territorial executive
Commissioner Ivan Lang
Territorial Commander
In a year of natural disasters and increasing poverty, Australians have proven once again
that they care for each other. We have experienced overwhelming support from a community
determined to show battling Australians that they care, and they’ve trusted us, The Salvation
Army, to transform lives, on their behalf. We endeavour to achieve this.
This year, we’ve recorded significant success internationally and on home soil, amidst
many challenges. It’s from these achievements that we can look to the future and know
that we will be there when people are hurting most. We will bring them relief but most
importantly, we want to give them the spirit of optimism - the spirit that says, ‘we can.’ The
Salvos say ‘thanks’ to all Australians for demonstrating the ‘mateship’ that makes us who
we are. You might say, ‘thank God for the Salvos’ but we say, ‘thank God for those who
generously support us.’
1 Lieut-Colonel John Jeffrey
Chief Secretary
2 Lieut-Colonel Judith Jeffrey
Territorial Secretary for
Women’s Ministries
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2
3
4
5
6
3 Lieut-Colonel Ian Hamilton
Secretary for Personnel
4 Lieut-Colonel Brian Hood
Secretary for Business
Administration
5 Major John Vale
Secretary for Program
Commissioner Heather Lang
Territorial President for Women’s Ministries
This has been a good year in Women’s Ministries and there are many women across
our Territory who are committed to this ministry.
There has been growth in focus groups which identify needs in the community and
meet these requirements through relevant programming.
An example of a new initiative is the program ‘Sensational Living’ designed for women
who want more out of life. Excellent resources are being produced and a leadershiptraining course has been written to assist in developing women leaders.
Our mission statement ‘Transformed Women - Celebrating God’ is the central focus
for every activity in which we engage.
6 Lieut-Colonel Ian Smith
Assistant Chief Secretary
7 Lieut-Colonel Elaine Hood
Secretary for Leader
Development
7
Army’s perspective, alcoholism is
a major cause or contributor to
people’s misfortunes. If most people
saw what the Salvos experience
every day, they’d begin to realise
how serious the level of alcohol
abuse is, in this country.
From page 1.
vouchers, clothes and monetary
assistance. This means that there is
a whole new group of Australians
whose weekly income is not enough
to survive on. Where last year they
were able to just make ends meet,
nowadays they’re short of money.
This is a daunting occurrence
because The Salvation Army’s
resources are already stretched
just supporting those living below
the poverty line. Now there’s a
whole new band of people set to
drop below the poverty line in
the coming months. Solutions are
small, as Vina Fernandes, manager
of The Salvation Army community
services centre in Doveton explains,
“The budgets for this year have
already been set so we can’t give
people extra petrol vouchers. We are
trying to help them by giving them
extra grocery items, so the money
they save on groceries can be put
towards their petrol bill.”
Binge drinking
Australians love their alcohol. It’s
the most widely used psychoactive,
or mood-changing, recreational
drug in Australia. We drink to relax,
celebrate and have fun. We drink
while we’re playing with the kids,
while we’re cooking dinner, during
the day and night and sometimes
while we’re pregnant. This is a
long-standing issue that’s affecting
Australian lives every day.
This year The Salvation Army
conducted research into the
country’s drinking habits. The report
revealed that 4.8 million people
regularly drink more than double
the responsible drinking level in any
one drinking session. This includes
more than 750,000 women who
regularly binge drink and consume
9 to 30 drinks in any one evening,
and more than 1.2 million men who
regularly binge drink between 11
and 30 drinks in any one evening.
The sheer scale of binge drinking
in this country is phenomenal
and it’s affecting everyone in the
community. This type of habit can
lead to domestic violence, marriage
break ups, sexual and physical abuse
and homelessness. Yet it’s socially
acceptable to drink a lot these days
so the problem is more often than
not left unaddressed between family
members and peers.
More specifically teenage binge
drinking is an increasing concern.
58% of the time alcohol abuse is
the cause for teenage hospital
admissions and sadly most drug
related deaths. There are teens as
young as 14 establishing binge
drinking habits and they’re accessing
the drug from family, friends,
relatives and shops where they
know they’re not going to be asked
for ‘proof of age’ identification.
While the teenage binge
drinking ‘epidemic’ is astounding,
there are also grave concerns for
the number of women consuming
alcohol whilst pregnant. 1.2 million
women between 25 and 49 years
of age drink or have drunk during
pregnancy and 33% of these
mothers-to-be drink regularly.
This is quite surprising given that
most medical professionals advise
not to drink at all during pregnancy.
The message obviously isn’t getting
through or it’s not being pushed
hard enough. According to The
Salvation Army report, more than
3 million women aren’t convinced
that it’s necessary to abstain from
drinking while pregnant. They
mustn’t realise that Foetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the
most common preventable cause of
birth defect and brain damage in
children.
Every year, 1,000 babies are
born with FASD. Symptoms of
the disease show later in life and
can include a lack of ability to
distinguish between friends and
enemies, medical fragility, emotional
volatility and they can experience
difficulties in mastering basic skills
like literacy and numeracy.
The overall impact of mass
alcohol consumption in this country
is enormous. From The Salvation
The new Industrial Relations
legislation – how will it help
Australia?
It would be remiss of The
Salvation Army not to highlight
the impact the new Industrial
Relations (IR) legislation will have
on Australia’s youth, homeless
and unemployed. The legislation
is supposed to give workers and
unemployed people the opportunity
to define work contract details
individually with their prospective
or current employer. However,
there’s a danger that it could exploit
the vulnerable, less educated and
those unwilling to sacrifice family
time for work.
John Dalziel, communications
director for The Salvation Army
explains the Salvos perspective,
“There are only 100,000 jobs on
offer in Australia at the moment
but 500,000 people are looking for
work. This figure doesn’t include
the 800,000 people receiving
disability or childcare payments.
We want to see new infrastructure
projects commissioned that focus
on only employing those 1,300,000
people.”
From The Salvation Army’s
perspective, the current debate
about unemployment solutions
is too narrow. Individuals,
communities and government all
share the responsibility of solving
the problem. However, it seems
that the idea of full employment
no longer features in public debate
about unemployment. So much
so that goals for reducing these
numbers aren’t being set. Yet,
we regard full employment as a
critical social policy objective for
Australia.
International news
3
A year of natural disasters
I
t seems that something
intangible is brewing in
the world, wouldn’t you
say? In the last 12 months,
we’ve had natural disasters
thrust upon us, one after the
other. They’ve left millions of
people homeless, starving and
isolated, all around the world.
But there’s been amazing
support from Australians, in
conjunction with the local and
international Salvation Army.
The worst disaster in
Pakistan’s history
Most recently we’ve seen the
devastation a 7.6 earthquake
can cause. It struck a small town
100km north of Islamabad in
Pakistan, on 8 October 2005.
The death toll reached more than
35,000 and tens of thousands
more were injured.
Amazingly however, aid was
mobilised within 72 hours of
the disaster. The Salvation Army
is supplying truckloads of relief
equipment in addition to food,
clothing and tents. There are more
than 500 Salvation Army officers
and staff stationed in Pakistan.
The Australian community is
helping out, in conjunction with
its local Salvation Army, by
donating money to help those
left homeless, disabled, sick and
isolated by the quake. (You can
find more information and donate
money online at http://www.
salvationarmy.org.au/donations
• registered and begun helping
141,528 Social Services Cases
• received more than 60,000
inquiries and located 8,400
survivors.
Hurricane Katrina
“We had no food, no ice and no
water to give to the 450 people
that came on the first day seeking
shelter,” said Liz Daigneault,
service centre director for The
Salvation Army in New Orleans.
She put out a plea to the local
media and the community
responded. “I was crying because
I didn’t know how I was going to
feed all these people. I left for a
few hours and when I came back,
the freezer was full.”
Since late September when
Hurricane Katrina hit, The
Salvation Army has assisted more
than 500,000 survivors. Officers,
volunteers and employees have
worked endlessly to provide basic
necessities to those left without
a home and family, totalling more
than 262,764 hours of work.
The support (both monetary
and physical labour) f rom
all around the world has
been overwhelming. In total,
The Salvation Army has:
• received US$106 million
in donations
• served 1,395,411 hot meals
• served 2,673,870
sandwiches, snacks and
drinks
• provided 102 ‘mobile
feeding units’ (canteens)
in the many areas affected
• provided 10 ‘field kitchens’,
capable of producing 20,000
hot meals per day (each)
• distributed 30,576 ‘cleaning
kits’ (broom, mop and
detergent)
• distributed 49,637 ‘food
boxes’ (groceries)
Eyre Peninsula bushfires
In January this year, South
Australia’s Eyre Peninsula was
scorched by some of the nation’s
worst bush fires. They destroyed
more than 80,000 hectares of
property, 100 homes, and took
the lives of nine people, not to
mention the hundreds of people
that were left homeless.
Immediately, The Salvation
Army Emergency Services and
Rapid Response Teams were
dispatched from Whyalla and
Port Augusta to set up emergency
food vans and shelters. There were
also trained counsellors sent in to
support and assist the hundreds
of affected families.
Australians’ response to the
Eyre Peninsula Bush Fire Appeal
was outstanding. In addition to
enormous amounts of clothes
and furniture, the general public
donated more than $250,000 in
cash. One very generous donor
gave $100,000.
Support from local and national
television stations was impressive
too. Channel 9 featured the
appeal during an international
cricket match and gave $10,000
to start the night. More than
1,500 people phoned in their
donations during the broadcast.
The South Australian Football
Club donated $10,000 and a
number of corporations who
wanted to remain anonymous
also gave substantially.
A family
100% of donations received were
escaping the Eyre
distributed to the victims of the Eyre Peninsula
bushfires.
Peninsula fires.
Australians had only recently
given to the Tsunami Appeal, but
this didn’t stop them from being
very generous to those suffering
at home. Much of the feedback
The Salvation Army received
was based on the notion that
‘we gave to the Tsunami Appeal
but we must give to people in
our own backyard.’ There were
also many wonderful volunteers
who gave their time, energy and
own resources to feed volunteer
fire fighters and receive donated
goods. We are very grateful to all
those who helped. Thank you.
* A full report on The Salvation Army
Tsunami Appeal was included in last
year’s Annual Report.
Children in detention
are finally set free
B
y 1 August 2005 the
Federal Government had
released all children held
in the custody of the immigration
department.
The Government ’s more
humane policy for families of
asylum seekers came more than
14 months after The Salvation
Army joined other churches and
non-government organisations
in lobbying for the release of
refugees’ and asylum seekers’
children. The issue of placing
children behind razor wire is a
longstanding one. At the height
of the crisis, 1 September 2001,
there were 842 refugee children
in detention throughout Australia
and allied nations.
Studies have shown that
children in detention centres
are significantly traumatised: in
addition to taking on the everyday
stress of virtual imprisonment,
many have suffered and/or
witnessed physical and sexual
assaults. Several refugees in
Australian detention centres have
attempted suicide, mutilated their
bodies and swallowed shampoos
and detergents. Some have
been diagnosed with clinical
depression and post-traumatic
stress disorder.
The Salvation Army, in
partnership with the Australian
Red Cross, is now working
nationally to provide housing,
living expenses, health care,
education, transport and
communit y suppor t f or
families who will be cared for
in the community under the
Government’s new residence
determination provisions.
The Salvation Army currently
aids more than 3,000 refugees
and asylum seekers with family
welfare annually, and is providing
accommodation and support for
asylum seekers released by the
Commonwealth Department of
Immigration and Multicultural
and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA).
The Government and DIMIA
retain full responsibility for
detention compliance, security,
visa and status assessments and
other legal provisions.
The Army previously joined
bodies such as the Brotherhood
of St Laurence and St Vincent de
Paul to develop a system of care
for children and families outside
of detention, based on their
combined expertise in dealing
with compliance cases and welfare
provision. This was prompted by
a 900-page report by the Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission, released in May
2004, which recommended
alternatives, or a ‘better way’, to
safeguard detainees.
Acting executive director of the
Brotherhood of St Laurence, John
Wilson, noted at the time that
‘enough damage has been done
to children and their families.’
It is now time to learn from this
graceless period in our history
and set our human rights record
straight.’ Wilson added that not
only would the proposed release
of children into communal care
be a humane act but it didn’t
compromise Australia’s security
and immigration processes and,
tellingly, was ‘18% cheaper than
the (then) current system.’
Salvation Army spokesperson
John Dalziel, when calling for the
change, urged political leaders to
‘create a society of inclusion and
(produce) a better way of dealing
with children and families seeking
asylum. As welfare organisations
and as people of good conscience,
the fact that children and families
are suffering in detention–many
after fleeing dangerous situations–
compels us to act.’
John Dalziel accepts
a donation from Paul
Donavon of Deakin
University.
Chipping in when
times get tough
This year it’s been remarkable to
see so many different community
groups and individuals rallying
together to raise much-needed
money for people facing crises
worldwide. Throughout the year,
we’ve received support f rom
grandparents, young couples,
Scout groups, schools, universities
and sporting associations, to name
only a few.
The generosity and creativity
in collecting money has been
wonderful. In particular we’d like to
thank a group of Deakin University
students in Victoria, who raised
funds for the Hurricane Katrina
victims. Their effort collected more
than $1000 and a cheque was
presented to The Salvation Army by
student Paul Donavon. 100% of the
money will go directly to the most
needy victims of the hurricane.
Editorial opinion
4
The last shall be first
A
t the end of the parable
concerning the ‘Workers
in the vineyard’ (see
below) Jesus says ‘so the last shall be
first, and the first last.’ This parable is
all about work being given to those at
the end of the ‘seeking employment’
queue as well, and paying them what
they need to survive not what they
are ‘worth.’
In the past 15 years The Salvation Army
has seen the number of people who
come to us asking for assistance more
than triple to 1.5 million people a year.
Just one of
the many people
enjoying The
Salvation Army’s
Creative
Opportunities
employment
program.
Some years ago the Salvos put out
a book called ‘A Working Society’
in which we proposed 10 ways to
develop full employment. That
is, employment not just for those
who are able, intelligent, skilled
and mentally stable. We believe
this is in the spirit of what Jesus
taught, in his parable ‘Workers in
the vineyard.’
In the last 15 years The Salvation
Army has seen the number of
people seeking assistance triple to
more than 1.5 million a year. We
estimate that 98% of our clients
don’t receive an earned income
but rely on government benefits
and help from welfare agencies.
There are some who don’t receive
any support from governments
and rely totally on welfare agencies,
like refugees and many homeless
people.
The ever growing gap between
the poor and the rich
The recession in 1993 caused
a huge increase in the number of
people asking for assistance. In
previous recessions we also had
more pressure on our resources but
the level of demand returned to
‘normal’ once the recession ended.
This was not the case for ’93 though.
Since then the need increases by
approximately 10% every year.
Currently, Australia is experiencing
the lowest unemployment rate
for three decades and yet the
community has never faced more
challenges. We believe one main
cause is the deinstitutionalisation of
mental patients. Another, the huge
reduction in unskilled jobs, with
machines and computers taking
over tasks that are typically first
jobs for the uneducated and young,
and the only jobs available for those
with limited education and mental
ability.
Today we face the prospect of
an ever increasing divide between
the employed and the unemployed.
Our 5% unemployment rate hides
the 8% of the population receiving
a disability pension, in addition
to the large number of people on
single parent allowances and other
welfare benefits.
Australians do care
In the past, much of the
population was intolerant of
people who relied on welfare but
an interesting new dimension is
emerging in Australia. The paid
workforce is far more tolerant of
the need for welfare nowadays. We
even have a significant number of
taxpayers who think welfare and
social issues are far more important
than receiving tax cuts. According
to a Newspoll survey conducted
in June this year, 63% of people
think welfare issues are more
important than national security
(59%), taxation (53%), interest rates
(51%), defence (49%) and industrial
relations (41%).
We think this highlights how we
cannot rely on our political leaders
to change our welfare philosophies
in Australia, but they will follow the
voters if pressure is strong enough.
There is still a perception among
political leaders that tax cuts will
ensure political success at the ballot
box. However, once a political party
loses an election with inadequate
welfare policies and promised tax
cuts, we will know that a new era for
welfare has arrived in this country.
Budget blunders
Why is our current surplus of
$13.6 billion not used to develop a
fairer society which gives everyone
the freedom to enjoy employment?
We should provide training for
those that school has failed. And
why are those who choose to give
themselves to the nurturing of
their children, penalised because
they don’t have assets or a partner
to support them? We don’t support
them in their choice and force them
to ‘work’ outside the home. Why do
the Salvos have to turn away more
than 35 people every night from
our emergency homeless centres in
Melbourne alone? Why isn’t there
sufficient public housing or long
term low cost housing available?
Did you know that for about
$5 billion a year we can turn
these challenges into positives?
This figure would double current
government funding, provide
protected industries for the disabled
and, establish skill training schemes
and schools for homeless children.
It would also allow for legal aid
increases for the abused, refugees
and others in desperate need.
That said, this figure of $5 billion
doesn’t include a solution for our
biggest shame of all - adequate
funding and assistance programs for
indigenous Australians. They need
housing, education, and especially
health problems addressed. We need
new indigenous leaders to show us
the way to solve this blight on our
nation and we must insist that our
governments follow this lead.
Relying on the problem
There are other problems grossly
affecting Australians which aren’t
poverty-related, like domestic
abuse and addictions involving
drugs, alcohol and increasingly,
gambling. Why should the scourge
of poker machines, which exploits
the vulnerable, continue to pay
for health and education in all
states except Western Australia?
By John Dalziel
Communications Director,
The Salvation Army Australia
Southern Territory
Why can’t we let those that want to
gamble do so, but without causing
others pain through our privatised
and government licensed gambling
industry? We know there are many
reasons for the plight of vulnerable
problem gamblers, one of them
being a lack of alternative public
places of entertainment, but our
government is so beholden to this
form of revenue that it is not fit to
provide independent regulation of
the industry. Poker machines are the
most hated machines in Australia
(source: AustraliaSCAN). We know
from other surveys too that 82% of
Victorians think there are far too
many poker machines and that the
state is far too dependent on them.
At the end of the day, it’s what
people value that determines our
priorities as a society. Jesus’ values
expressed in the Good Samaritan
story still resonate with those
inside and outside the church
boundaries.
To the whole of our society
our message is, that voters should
decide what our priorities are as a
community. We get the government
and the policies we deserve. As
long as the majority of people
believe that there are undeserving
poor people and they should not
be assisted as generously as those
regarded as deserving, we will have
governments that follow that lead.
I say there are no undeserving
poor people. The last should be first
receiving pay for being available just
as Jesus taught.
Workers in a vineyard
(Matt 20:1-16)
As Jesus was telling about what
the kingdom of heaven would be
like, he said:
Early one morning a man went out to
hire some workers for his vineyard.
After he had agreed to pay them the
usual amount for a day’s work, he
sent them off to his vineyard.
About nine that morning, the man
saw some other people standing
in the market with nothing to do.
He said he would pay them what
was fair, if they would work in his
vineyard. So they went.
At midday and again about three
in the afternoon he returned to the
market. And each time he made
the same agreement with others
who were loafing around with
nothing to do.
Finally, about five in the afternoon
the man went back and found some
others standing there. He asked
them, “Why have you been standing
here all day long doing nothing?”
“Because no one has hired us,”
they answered. Then he told them
to go and work in his vineyard.
That evening the owner of the
vineyard told the man in charge of
the workers to call them in and give
them their money. He also told the
man to begin with the ones who
were hired last. When the workers
arrived, the ones who had been
hired at five in the afternoon were
given a full day’s pay.
The workers who had been hired
first thought they would be given
more than the others, but when
they were given the same, they
began complaining to the owner
of the vineyard. They said, “The
ones who were hired last worked
for only one hour. But you paid
them the same that you did us.
And we worked in the hot sun all
day long!”
The owner answered one of them,
“Friend, I didn’t cheat you. I paid
you exactly what we agreed on.
Take your money and go! What
business is it of yours if I want to
pay them the same that I paid you?
Don’t I have the right to do what
I want with my own money? Why
should you be jealous, if I want to
be generous?”
Jesus then said, “so it is. Everyone
who is now first will be last, and
everyone who is last will be first.”
The Salvation
Army Services
Addiction services
(alcohol, drug and gambling)
Aged care • Child sponsorship
Counselling • Court and prison
chaplains • Disability services
Domestic violence services
Employment Plus • Family Stores
Family support (emergency relief)
Family tracing service (missing
persons) • Homeless services
Migrant support • Youth
and children services
Flying Padre
Fundraising
Red Shield Appeal sets
record of $57.5 million
T
his year, the volunteers
and organisers of the
Red Shield Appeal,
outdid themselves, raising a record
amount of $57,498,000. This is
a 16% increase on the previous
financial year, which indicates a
hike in community support. We’ll
be looking to sustain this support,
if not increase it again.
The fundraising goal for the
financial year was $53 million
which means that for once the
Salvos can do more than what
they originally thought possible.
On top of the $57.5 million, those
leaving a bequest in their will to
The Salvation Army donated
an additional $41.2 million.
Then, there’s the $6.3 million
we received from the public for
Tsunami Appeal, for all countries
affected by the 26 December 2004
disaster.
The success of this year’s
Appeal means that Australians
donated a total of $111,833,000
to The Salvation Army. This
gave us the power to assist more
than 1.5million Australians, an
11% increase on the previous
year. It’s wonderful to see this
level of support and it helps The
Salvation Army to meet growing
demand for all its services. We
say a big ‘thank you’ to all donors
and volunteers who made this
impressive result possible. You
have all shown what a ‘good
spirited community’ can achieve
for fellow Australians living below
the poverty line.
Red Shield Appeal results
Australia Southern Territory
State or Territory
Northern Territory
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
Total Southern Territory
2005 results
$361,000
$4,627,000*
$1,519,000
$14,002,000
$4,391,000
$24,900,000
2004 results
$ 356,000
$ 3,020,000
$ 1,045,000
$12,804,000
$ 4,386,000
$21,611,000
Difference
+ 1%
+ 53%
+ 45%
+ 9%
+ 0.1%
+15%
* This figure includes donations totalling $1,513,728 for the Eyre Peninsula bush fire victims
Total Eastern Territory
$32,598,000
$28,050,000
+16%
Total for Australia
$57,498,000
$49,661,000
+16%
2004 results
$15,942,000
$29,352,000
$45,294,000
Difference
-.25%
+1%
+.8%
Help the Salvos
shield those in need.
Wills and Bequests results
Territory
Southern Territory
Eastern Territory
Total for Australia
2005 results
$15,901,000
$29,758,000
$45,659,000
DOORKNOCK, LAST WEEK OF MAY – CREDIT CARD LINE 13 32 30
www.salvationarmy.org.au
Tsunami fundraising results
Territory
Southern Territory
Eastern Territory
Total for Australia
2005 results
$2,931,000
$3,369,000
$6,300,000
Southern Territory finance summary
Other/miscellaneous donations
Territory
Southern Territory
2005 results
$2,376,000
2004 results
$2,112,000
Difference
+12.5%
2004 results
$37,553,000
$57,402,000
$94,955,000
Difference
+23%
+14%
+18%
Total fundraising results
Territory
Southern Territory
Eastern Territory
Total for Australia
2005 results
$46,108,000
$65,725,000
$111,833,000
Australia Southern Territory – fundraising
■
■
■
■
Red Shield Appeal
Wills and Bequests
Tsunami
Special gifts/other donations
$24,900,000
$15,901,000
$2,931,000
$2,376,000
The Salvation Army’s social expenditure continues to grow,
with more people every year seeking assistance with housing, refuge,
clothing, employment, food, drug addiction, and finding missing
family members.
Surplus: $2,745,000
Social expenditure 1983 – 2005
��������
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���
���
���
��
�
Fundraising costs: 13 cents for every dollar raised
�� �� ��
�� ��
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Income: $359.7 m
Help
the Salvos
shield
those
in need.
Every week the Salvos provide
180,000 meals, 20,000 food vouchers,
3,500 beds for the homeless
and 600 blankets. Imagine what
that costs. Please support the
2005 Red Shield Appeal so the Salvos
can continue to help shield those
in need. They’re counting on it.
www.salvationarmy.org.au
CREDIT CARD DONATIONS 13 32 30
A new Chief
Financial Officer
Recently Greg Stowe was
appointed to Chief Financial
Officer for The Salvation Army
Southern Territory. Stowe brings
to the position more than 15 years
experience in the government and
commercial sectors. He’s also been
with the Salvos for 12 years in a
finance capacity. He is responsible
for directing, controlling and
administering the financial activities
of the Territory, as well as overseeing
the implementation of strategies
and new business processes.
Stowe outlines at a high level
what his new position goals are;
“I want to develop the strategic
planning capabilities of the Territory
where possible, so that we can better
meet our organisational goals.
I also want to enhance our financial
management reporting capabilities
and I’m keen to provide more
opportunities for staff development,
within the finance area.”
When Stowe began with the
Salvos, he was Chief Accountant
in the finance department and
recently held the position of
Finance Manager. “I’m excited
about my new role because in the
last three years there have been
significant organisational changes.
As a result, financial operations
have improved greatly and I’m
keen to build on this success. We
also have an excellent team here at
the headquarters, and within the
divisions, which will only help me
to achieve the department’s goals,
and consequently the Salvos’.”
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
Government subsidies
Trading revenue
Residents contributions
Red Shield Appeal/other donations
Investment income
Legacies
Miscellaneous
Expenditure/net allocations: $357 m
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
Aged care and disability support
Employment, education and training
Salvation Army Family Stores
Homelessness and domestic violence
Individual and family support
Children and young people at risk
Addictions and substance abuse
Administration and research
Allocations to/from reserves
�� ��
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Financial year
03/04
04/05
55%
57%
16%
15%
11%
10%
7%
8%
3%
5%
2%
2%
6%
3%
Financial year
03/04
04/05
28%
25%
22%
27%
17%
15%
11%
10%
7%
6%
7%
6%
5%
5%
3%
3%
3%
Melbourne Advisory Board Members 2005
Elizabeth Alexander (Chairperson) • Cliff Breeze • Michael Coomer • Angie Dickschen
• Michael Johnstone • Peter Mahon • Elizabeth O’Keeffe • John Paterson • Mark Pearce • Jane
Perry • Commissioner Ivan Lang • Commissioner Heather Lang • Lieutenant-Colonel John Jeffrey
• Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Hood • Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Smith • Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Hamilton
• Major John Vale • Major Rodney Barnard • Major Wayne Pittaway • Major Neil Venables
5
6
Community services
Gateways
Opening doors that
lead people back into
their community
When one
small change
makes the
world of
difference
1. Katrina Hogan and
Mark Dixon
2. Gateways family
unit and playground
3. Gateways
recreational lounge
room
4. Gateways has six
bedsits on the
property
1
2
3
4
S
ince its inception in
2003, Gateways Crisis
Accommodation
Program has assisted
thousands of men, women
and children - 1043 in just
the last 12 months. Without
the support of its 26 dedicated
workers and round the clock
help, homeless members of
our community would be left
by the wayside.
Gateways is set on a four acre
property in Croydon, Melbourne.
It has five family units, six single
bedsits, one disability modified
bedsit, two rotundas, two
playgrounds, extensive landscaped
gardens, BBQs and a resident cat
called Wilma who’s integral to the
healing process. They’ve supported
people as old as 84 and babies
who are one day old. Gateways
is never closed and there’s not a
personal or community issue that
the workers haven’t faced.
Gateways’ core business is
to provide immediate housing
and support for anyone who is
homeless. Mark Dixon, regional
manager for Gateways, explains,
“If they’re homeless then we
take them in and find out how
they came to be on the street.
We try to peel back the layers
of issues and emotional baggage
associated with homelessness to
determine what the real problems
are. By giving people a safe and
supportive environment to work
through these things you’re giving
them the tools and time they need
to help themselves and ultimately,
to re-enter the community and
live a quality life.”
A community safe-haven
There are full time, part time
and casual crisis support workers
at Gateways, 24 hours a day,
seven days a week – this is what
differentiates the program from
others. When other support
centres close down at the end of
the day, Gateways keeps going.
“Our workers take referrals up
until 10pm every night and these
can come through a number of
avenues. They are a very skilled
team capable of working with
anyone, regardless of what
problems they’re experiencing,
what their mental or physical
ability is or their age,” explains
Mark.
What we take for granted
In addition to connecting
the homeless with vital services,
support, medication and programs,
the Gateways team teach basic
skills to the homeless that we take
for granted every day. People who
end up on the street haven’t been
This year you can help
fellow Australians
by donating vouchers to
the Kmart wishing tree.
educated about the importance of
cleaning the home or how to cook
a basic meal. Also, they struggle
with the challenge of budgeting
and good parenting. Karina
Hogan, manager of Gateways,
explains, “It’s not uncommon
to have to sit down and teach
someone the importance of not
spending all their pay in one day.
We begin the educative process
of helping them to budget, buy
groceries and set aside money
for upcoming bills. It’s very
empowering for people to learn
how to manage their small income
so that the family can eat properly
for the week.”
The definition of success
The vibe at Gateways seems very
upbeat and proactive even if there
are 15 families there, all having
just reached crisis point and all
dealing with high-pressure issues
like money, drugs, family breakups
and mental illness. “There is a lot
of emotional baggage here so
we carefully manage all of that
whilst conducting thorough case
management for every person
that comes through the door. We
want to create independency. We
want to provide them with the
skills and knowledge they need
to function in our communities,”
says Mark.
Lucy was a young girl notorious
on the street for being aggressive
and threatening. When Gateways
came into contact with her, she
was 22 years old and had been
homeless for five years. She’d
been involved in drugs and
prostitution for a number of years
and would talk of how she felt like
she was losing her mind, literally.
Even fellow homeless people
thought she was a problem on the
street. She was angry and would
act very strangely but inside she
Karina talks about what her and
the Gateways team call success,
“If the people at Gateways can
see change in their life, then
that’s success. If they’re enjoying
time with their kids as opposed
to fighting, that’s success. Seeing
family dynamics change or seeing
someone survive on their own for
the first time in years is fantastic.
And if someone’s situation is
quite dire, sometimes we even
define success by the fact that
they’re safe, healthy and alive.
That’s how basic some needs are.
We’ve come across people who
can’t pick up the phone to make an
appointment. So we take the time
to show them how to do it and then
they try it. It’s really empowering
for them to overcome a challenge
in their life, no matter how small it
seems to us.”
The dawning of Christmas
Christmas is a ‘high pressure’
time of year for most but for the
people at Gateways, it’s a stark
reminder of their homelessness.
It can be a time when people are
most unhappy as the pressure
to buy gifts for children grows.
Also, the fact that people spend
Christmas Day there means they
You can contribute to or purchase entirely, a $30 Kmart voucher this Christmas,
for families facing crises. This gives people the means to buy clothes, toys,
books and household items at their leisure. You can contribute at any Kmart
stores right around Australia and your donation is 100% tax deductible.
was in turmoil. She thought she
was going crazy. She often felt like
she was lost in a fog in her own
mind and didn’t know where she
was or what she was doing.
Once the Gateways team
ascertained how she felt
emotionally and mentally, they
had an assessment done and
provided Lucy with the medication
she required. It turned out that she
suffers from a type of psychosis.
“The difference in her personality
was amazing. Once she had the
right medication, she was a whole
new person. She was no longer a
‘wild child.’ She dressed differently,
got off the street, was pleasant
to talk to, showed no signs of
aggression and is very intelligent.
It’s the perfect example of how
having access to the right support
and medical assistance can change
your life,” explains Mark.
have little or no family network.
Karina recalls, “One year we
took in a dad and his two kids on
Christmas Day. It’s very sad but
the team here plan for the season
in advance and make sure that
everyone at Gateways has a gift,
yummy lunch and all the support
and smiles they need.”
From Gateways’ perspective,
the Christmas period is not only
an emotionally challenging time
but a busy one. “Generally, during
the season, monetary pressures
peak as families begin to fall
behind in paying bills and living
expenses, and the next thing they
know, it’s the new school year,
there are books and uniforms to
buy and rent to catch up on. We
see a substantial increase in the
number of people needing our
services from December through
to February.”
How you can help
Although Gateways is running
a top-notch program, it’s still in
dire need of assistance. “Whatever
people have in their homes that
they don’t need, we’d love to use.
Continued on page 7.
Community services
From page 6.
It will make a big difference
to those trying to set up a new
home. Also, we’re hoping to find
someone who’s a gardener to
adopt us. It would be great if they
could donate some time to work
in our garden and build a veggie
patch with the residents. We also
desperately need more public
housing. This would mean that
we could have a lot more people
coming through our doors and
out into an independent home
sooner,” Mark explains.
Karina talks further of
Gateways’ needs; “We’re finding
it increasingly difficult to keep
up with the demand for food and
clothing, especially with the hike
in petrol prices. In recent months
we’ve noticed a huge increase in
the need for our food vouchers,
and it has coincided with the
drastic climb in petrol costs. And
we expect this need to continually
increase, but we’re not sure how
we’re going to meet it.”
A talented
‘green thumb’
gets another
chance at life
Not so long ago, Chris arrived
at Gateways broke because of a
serious gambling addiction. During
his short stay there, he turned his
life around. These days Chris has
a full time landscaping job and a
new home.
Chris was 27 years old when
he received a WorkCover
compensation payout for an
accident. He was paid a lump
sum of more than $200,000 and
within a short period of time, he’d
spent the lot. He lived a short ‘life’
of excessive gambling and making
extravagant purchases. Chris had
gone from being a hard worker with
a previous long term work history,
to being long term unemployed
with a gambling addiction and
suffering from extreme anxieties
and depression. When he arrived
at Gateways he hadn’t worked for
10 years (since his accident) and
had been sleeping in his car for
many months.
During his short stay at
Gateways however, Chris took
Chris’ handiwork at Gateways.
the first, most important steps to
regaining control of his life. He
was connected with a significant
support network and had his
income re-established. He was
also enrolled in an employment
/training program through which
he developed new skills to find
new work.
Over time, Chris’ depression
eased and his anxieties ceased.
With assistance from the caretaker
and staff members, Chris revamped
the gardens at Gateways, utilising
his creative landscaping talent.
A local business owner was so
impressed with the work Chris
had done he employed Chris on
a fulltime basis and offered him
accommodation as part of the
employment package. Chris has
been working with the company
for approximately 12 months
now. He’s enjoying life again and
is positive about his future.
Baby brings new beginnings
“Just after I found out
I was pregnant, my
boyfriend left me. I was
devastated and didn’t
have anyone to help me
deal with the sadness
and emptiness that I felt.”
- Denise
Denise was a young, happy 25
year old woman when her son was
conceived. She’d been living with
her partner for a number of years,
they both had good jobs and were
enjoying life together. The two
were planning to marry in the
near future but, Denise suddenly
discovered she was pregnant.
Although it was an unplanned
pregnancy, Denise was excited and
felt that she and her partner were
leading stable enough lives to be
good parents. Denise’s partner
however, felt the opposite. He
was totally shocked by the news
and didn’t want Denise to have
the baby. He was worried about
finances and wasn’t ready to raise
a child. Two weeks after they
discovered Denise was pregnant,
her partner left her.
In the months after, Denise
began to get depressed and
lonely. She had tried to talk to
family members but they weren’t
able to provide her with the
emotional and financial support
she needed. As well as trying to
get her relationship back on track,
Denise was working, but still
battling to pay for the rent, food
and additional medical expenses.
By the sixth month of her
pregnancy Denise had stopped
working at the supermarket. She
was bored, scared and depressed
and started drinking to ‘escape.’
Denise was drinking a bottle
of wine almost every night,
sometimes more. She was also
smoking marijuana and most
nights she’d pass out on the
couch. She was eating junk food
and had even begun to miss her
regular doctor appointments.
In her eighth month of
pregnancy, Denise was kicked
out of her unit with nothing more
than a backpack. Luckily however,
a caring neighbour took it upon
herself to help Denise, taking her
to the local Salvation Army crisis
centre. It was here that Denise
received the support she needed.
She was connected to drug and
alcohol rehabilitation programs
and was educated about how her
addictions were not only affecting
her health, but her baby’s.
Denise was in the care of the
Salvos for about three months
and in that time, she kicked her
drug and alcohol addiction and
acquired the skills a new mother
needs. She was also put through
a thorough medical check up and
began to rebuild her relationship
with family through special
counselling services. “It was such
a relief to be with the Salvos. I was
feeling so isolated and I couldn’t
help myself at all. I wasn’t even
brushing my teeth. And then I
was kicked out of the house. If
it hadn’t been for my neighbour
taking pity on me, I would have
ended up walking the streets. I
didn’t want to go home at that
stage and I didn’t get any support
The Melbourne
Toy Bank
Ros and the team at
the Toy Bank work ‘round
the clock’ at Christmas
organising toys for kids
all over the country.
Every Christmas the Melbourne
Toy Bank distributes more than
15,000 toys to Victorian children
living below the poverty line. It’s
made possible by just two full
time employees and a handful
of volunteers. During the year,
these dedicated workers unwrap,
categorise and pack thousands
and thousands of toys that you,
the community, have generously
donated. Every day they take
calls f rom different welfare
centres throughout Victoria
seeking assistance for the coming
Christmas. However, even though
the warehouse is full, the Toy Bank
simply cannot meet the demand.
Most years the Toy Bank is short
approximately 2000 gifts.
“It’s terrible, but we have to stop
taking orders for toys weeks before
Christmas because we simply don’t
have enough items to go round,”
explains Ros Lomax, an employee
at the Toy Bank. “The need
continues to grow and although
we get marvellous support from
the community, it’s not enough.
We need more people to think
about buying that one extra gift
at Christmas for a child that may
otherwise go without.”
That said, without the Toy Bank,
15,000 children or more would go
without a gift at Christmas. Inside
the warehouse are Barbie dolls,
Tonka trucks, soft toys, jigsaw
puzzles, books, computer games,
board games, Matchbox cars and
toy prams, to name only a few
things. Come Christmas Day,
children throughout regional and
central Victoria will have gifts
from my friends. I wouldn’t have
thought there were people out
there who would help me just
because I needed it. But the
Salvos did. They listened to me,
put me in touch with counsellors,
gave me a place to stay and helped
to rebuild a life with my family. If
it hadn’t been for them, I probably
would have had the baby on the
street. I wouldn’t have known
what to do.”
By the time Denise’s baby
boy was born she was on her
feet again. She was receiving
government support, was back
living with her parents and her
spirit had lifted dramatically. It
seems at this point that the baby
is unaffected by Denise’s past
drinking and smoking habits but
the medical profession states that
often the effects on babies don’t
show until they are a toddler or
older. Denise prays that she didn’t
cause harm to her son but will
have to wait and see.
The Salvation Army Australia
Southern Territory
Annual Report 2004/05
Publisher:
The Salvation Army
Australia Southern Territory,
5 Hamilton Street, Mont Albert, VIC 3127
under the Christmas tree thanks to
the Toy Bank’s amazing employees
and volunteers, and just two trucks
and two vans.
The Toy Bank also supplies
gifts to women in prison and at
crisis centres where possible, using
the donated goods from chemist
suppliers. It also receives and
distributes food donations all year
round.
Ros tells us what she loves about
her job: “I started out as a one-
day-a-week volunteer, now I work
five days a week, seven days during
the busy times. And although it’s
absolutely crazy in here towards
the end of the year, I couldn’t think
of a more inspiring place to be.
We’re surrounded by thousands of
generous gifts and we make sure
that those needing a toy get one.
Christmas is such a challenging
time of year for most people, so I
feel happy to be able to help any
way I can.”
While every effort has been made to
ensure the accuracy of information in
this publication, the publisher assumes
no responsibility for error or omissions
or any consequence of reliance on this
publication.
© 2005 The Salvation Army Australia
Southern Territory
Editorial Director: John Dalziel
Editorial Contributors: John Dalziel,
Ivan Lang, Brian Hood, John Vale,
John Jeffrey, Heather Lang, Ian Hamilton
Senior Writer and Editor: Frances Ward
Designer: Francene Collings-Pearce,
Designgrant
Financials desktop publishing:
Jeremy Norgren, Velocity Graphics
Printer: John Herrod and Associates
7
8
Around the nation
People at the
grassroots
At The Salvation Army Public Relations Department we continually try to
communicate to the community exactly how their generosity is helping fellow
Australians. We do this by staying connected with the people working at
grassroots level, giving support to people facing crises.
We have hundreds of Salvo support centres in the Southern Territory and they
all assist thousands of people every year. Some offer emergency housing, while
others provide drug and alcohol rehabilitation services. On the whole they offer
all of us a variety of vital support services.
Most of the time however, we’re the go-between, receiving information from
the centre managers about the people they are in touch with, the tools they need
to do their job better and how they’re faring in a difficult economical climate.
This year, we’re connecting you with the centre managers directly. Below is a
series of comments and thoughts about the last 12 months from managers
around Australia.
VICTORIA
Shepparton Pathways
Accommodation and
Support Services
“Like all Salvo centres, the last
12 months have been hectic. But it’s
been successful. By this I mean that
we’ve helped many people through
crises and it’s wonderful to see them
enjoying life again. For example, we
recently assisted a 19 year old girl
with finding a house and a job. She’s
back on her feet now, undertaking a
business administration traineeship
and is working as a receptionist at
Shepparton Pathways.
“Also, this year we extended our
emergency services offering. Now
we have housing and job seeking
assistance, material aid, financial
counselling and youth services, all
under the one roof. This makes it
much easier for people to get the
help they need in the one place,
which saves on travel expenses.
“At the end of the day however,
the Shepparton areas we service
are huge so we need a lot more
support from the community, not
just from locals but all Australians.”
- Craig Kelly
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Perth Family
Support Services
“I firmly believe in Jesus’ words
‘What you have done for the least
of these you have done for me.’
These words consume my actions
to do what I love to do and the
soup run is apart of that. My aim
is to show people there is a better
way of life and to help people find
it by providing relevant material and
practical help.
“Every year we help around
27,000 people. This could be in the
way of food, blankets, clothing or
support services. What we are most
well known for in WA however, is
our ‘Soup Run.’ Every day we serve
between 75 and 120 homeless people
and it’s thanks to a huge amount of
volunteers, ranging from students
to managers of restaurants, to real
estate agents and shop assistants. It’s
to these people that we give thanks.”
– Captain Colin Eldridge
NORTHERN TERRITORY
‘Top End’ Drug
and Alcohol Services
“In the last year there are three
people, that come to my mind, who
have benefited immensely from our
program. They have certainly come
out the other end in a very positive
way.
“One 53 year old gentleman by
the name of Greg who had a huge
amphetamine addiction completed
the program. After some time
back in the community he started
to work as a volunteer driver for
The Salvation Army. He then
decided that he needed to get his
relationship with God on the right
track so in November he became
a soldier in the Darwin Corps.
He just keeps getting better and
better.
“Bruce a 56 year old gentleman
from the bush with a raging alcohol
addiction completed the program in
the middle of 2004, after drinking
for 40 years. He has spent the
better part of this year regularly
attending the Darwin Corps, and
has also started to work within The
Salvation Army Homeless Mens
Shelter, as a supervisor.
“The last gent I want to mention
is a little younger than the last two
guys, but he was one person that
I thought would never make it
through the program. He proved me
wrong. Wally is 42 years old and has
spent a great deal of time living in
the ‘long grass’ up here in Darwin.
(The ‘long grass’ means living in the
open areas around the city.) Wally
has been living rough this way for
the last ten years. When he came to
us, his health was very bad, he had
tropical sores all over his body. Wally
was determined to do something
about his plight to homelessness
and completed the program earlier
this year. He has moved into
his own flat now and works as a
volunteer gardener for us to help
keep him busy. It has been a very
positive time for us up here and I
can only hope that it will continue.”
– Ross Webster
Messages of
encouragement
from those who
have donated to
our services.
TA S M A N I A
Tasmanian Bridge Program
“This year we helped 524 adults
from across Tasmania who had
drug and/or alcohol addictions,
through our outreach and
residential programs. But we lost
government funding for a family
support worker this year, which will
leave a large hole in the services
we offer to the community. It also
means that The Salvation Army has
to invest a large portion of its Red
Shield Appeal with us, to maintain
existing services. In effect, it means
we’re going backwards. On top of
this, we’ve just received reports
that identify a growing need to
provide specialist services focused
on helping youths and women with
residential rehabilitation issues.”
– Andrew Verdouw
“I am feeling good about myself
and putting the skills I learned at
the Bridge into action. I have a new
found confidence and purpose. I
respect myself and have too much
to lose if I pick up a drink.”
– Quote from Bridge Program ‘client’
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Salvo Care Line
“Of the 10,118 people who
sought emergency accommodation
through Salvo Care Line in Perth in
the period July 2004 to June 2005,
6822 (67%) were referred to a service
or agency, and 3296 (33%) were
not able to be assisted. The main
reason that we were unable to assist
was lack of government supported
emergency accommodation.”
– Ric Dale
VICTORIA
Social Housing Service
(Barwon South West)
“Our 35 dedicated staff members
offer two innovative services to the
community. One is focused on
helping men find a home after
they are released from prison. We
work in conjunction with Barwon
Prison to do this. The other service
I refer to is in partnership with the
Grovedale Motel. It operates as a
not-for-profit motel for homeless
people. Guests can stay for up to
a week and receive help finding
permanent housing from the staff
who are available 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. Local volunteers
help with overall maintenance and
cook bbqs every Sunday for motel
guests. It’s completely self-funded
and has assisted 6,642 people
during 2004/2005.” – Brett Bedson
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Family Tracing Service
“Our aim in life is to facilitate
reconciliation within families
and assist with reopening
communication. Our ministry is
very much about “bringing families
back together.” Just to give you
insight into how critical our work
is, here are some figures to think
about:
- On average, any conclusion
(resolved family tracing case) could
change the lives of up to eight
people
- 159 successful case resolutions
could affect up to 1,272 people
- 19 enquiries during the 2004/05
period involved people who’d been
56 years or more without contact.
“The people we help have many
reasons for wanting and needing to
get in touch with family. It can be
because they want to renew contact,
to say ‘sorry’, they may want to
know what happened to a family
member even if it means they are
now deceased. And sometimes,
people just need to at least know
that they have tried to get in
touch.
“It is indeed a great privilege to
be asked to become involved with
those who are looking for, and also
those who are missing from, their
families.” – Kathy Smith
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Kununurra Community
Outreach Centre
“What has given me great joy and
encouragement this year is seeing
five kids from The Salvation Army’s
Kununurra Youth Group giving
their hearts to Jesus and making
their Junior Soldier promise. These
children (aged 10-14 years) have no
Christian support in their families,
and have taken this major step in
their young lives trusting in the
Lord, and The Salvation Army
for their guidance and Christian
nurturing. It is so wonderful
to see God at work in people’s
lives! He is just so amazing.”
– Gillian Lefmann
VICTORIA
The Positive Lifestyle Centre Team
Positive Lifestyle Centre
“Our Positive Lifestyle Centre is
founded on the mission ‘to change
the world one life at a time’ and ‘to
see lives changed in beautiful ways.’
Since its inception in 1993, we’ve
been helping more than 3000 people
every year to overcome challenges
as a result of their childhood, the
environment they live in and their
parents’ upbringing. We show them
that they are good people and that
there’s always support available
to them, to help turn their lives
around.
“The Positive Lifestyle Centre
is one of many centres that
‘walk’ people through the Salvo
Positive Lifestyle Program. It’s
an amazing program that’s seen
much success and we’ve recently
become the Training Centre for
all those wishing to be a facilitator
of the program. We see this as a
compliment to the work we do
here.
“ W ithout our dedicated
volunteers and, students studying
to become counsellors, helping
our full time employees to do
their job, we’d have turned away
hundreds of people this year. It’s
my dream to see this place totally
funded by government some day.”
– Suzanne Maxwell
Community services
Alcohol, a part of Aussie life, say youth
Do you think you drink too
much?
Cheryl Probably, if you think that
two glasses of say, wine, is enough.
But no one sticks to that do they?
Bec Sometimes, but sometimes I’ll
only have a six pack at parties and I
reckon that’s behaving myself.
Tim In my parent’s eyes I’d drink
too much (if they knew) but I don’t
if you go by how much everyone
else is. I’m pretty average I think.
Jack Probably yeah. But if you’re
not drinking everyday and just on
weekends, then it’s not really a prob
you know?
I
n light of recent research
about youth binge drinking,
we took the time to speak
with some everyday teens
and young adults about their
drinking habits.
The interviewees were
five youths aged between
16 and 22, a mix of males
and females. Following is a
transcript of the interview.
Do you guys think that Aussies
drink too much as a nation?
Cheryl Probably, but I think people
love it too much to give up.
Jack Nah, but I think we drink
a bit.
Nick We do drink a bit.
Tim Nope. That’s just what we’re
like. We love a drink!
Is alcohol drunk in your homes
every night?
Cheryl Most nights, yeah.
Dad loves a beer.
Jack Yep.
Nick Yeah, we do.
Tim Not always.
Bec Most nights, yeah.
For those of you that are underage,
have you two tried alcohol yet?
Bec Yeah, I have a few beers at
home and at parties, yeah, usually
at parties.
Tim The first time I had a drink
I was at a party…I was ‘bout 14.
That’s when everyone starts to have
a try. I don’t know one person who
waited until they were 18 to try a
beverage.
Do you all have a drink regularly?
Tim Most weekends, I don’t really
drink during the week…unless it’s
the (school) holidays and there are
some parties happening.
Bec Every weekend….is that
regular?
Cheryl Yep, most nights I’ll have a
drink of wine. Not much though, a
coupla glasses, but I guess you’d call
that regular.
What do you like to drink?
Jack Breezers and UDLs mostly. I
hate wine, it just doesn’t do it for
me.
Cheryl I used to drink a bit of gin
and vodka but I’ve discovered wine
lately and it’s cheaper so my friends
and I are going through that at the
mo.
Tim Mostly beer, we usually go in
on a slab or two depending on how
many of us there are. Or sometimes
we’ll buy a bottle or two of spirit
and mixer and drink that.
Nick A bit of all of what they said.
Whatever’s cheapest most of the
time.
Bec I like beer but then again we’ve
often bought one of those casks of
wine to share cos they’re cheap.
Who drinks more (in terms of
quantity) guys or girls?
Nick Girls! For sure. I swear there’s
always some chick at a party that’s
had way more than any of the
blokes.
Tim I must admit I’ve seen girls get
more (drunk) than guys at parties
but I think it’s cos they can’t hold
as much (alcohol)…also, girls drink
stronger drinks….guys drink beer.
Cheryl It seems to be pretty even
from what I’ve seen.
How much do you drink in say,
one night out on a Saturday?
Cheryl We’ll often drink more
than a bottle of wine each on the
weekend, sometimes two. Depends
on how big the night turns out to
be. When you’re out from 8 o’clock
til 5 the next morning, and you’ve
been on the go that whole time, you
would’ve probably drunk more.
Tim I’ve drunk almost a whole slab
by myself once. I was pretty sick the
next day but I reckon that’s a fair
effort.
Bec I usually just grab a six pack of
UDLs (vodka mixer drinks)…that
usually does me.
Do you enjoy it? What are the
effects you feel?
Bec I like it. When you’re hyped up
it’s great to feel that little bit numb
from a few beers and then you have
a few more and then you feel chill
or hyped..I think it depends on
how you’re feeling before you start
drinking… but either way you just
feel great.
Jack You have so much more
confidence, you know? And when
everyone’s having a drink and
everyone’s a bit drunk it’s great.
Everyone’s mixing and carrying
on…..it’s funny. People do stupid
stuff, it’s hilarious.
Nick Once you’ve had a few you’re
laughing and feel so good. You
feel…numb, yeah, and it makes you
and your friends closer and stuff.
Surely you’ve all seen the bad
side effects of drinking too much
though?
Nick Yeah, but we’ve all been there
and made an idiot of ourselves and
no one really notices and remembers
anyway. They’re all drunk too.
Bec I saw one guy fall off a balcony
once, that was pretty bad. But it was
funny too cos he was being an idiot
trying to walk on the railing. What
do you call bad though cos you see
people vomiting a lot but that’s not
really that bad….
Cheryl I think when you’re out in
the pubs and bars and stuff now
you see a little more dangerous
things happen cos of drinking,
like when people have their drinks
spiked. I know a chick that was so
sick because someone had spiked
her drink with something. Luckily
she was sent home in a taxi but it
could have been dangerous if she’d
lost her friends and been left there
alone.
Tim Apart from that stuff though,
it’s all pretty harmless. Sometimes
there are fights but I haven’t seen
anything serious with knives at one
of our parties.
How do you know when you’ve
had too much to drink?
Bec Umm, you fall asleep?
Nick Yeah, you have to go to the
toilet and you’re sick…then you
know that you’ve had a bit. But
then I’ve seen some get straight
back to it.
Cheryl If you can’t talk and you’re
boring then you’ve had enough I
reckon. But most people I know
just keep going.
How would you define an alcohol
addiction?
Bec When you just have to be
drunk all the time and you lose
your family and your job, that’s
when you need help and you’re fully
addicted.
Nick Like I said before, technically
you might be called an addict if you
can’t go one day without a drink
but really I think it’s when it starts
affecting your life badly.
Cheryl I think if you can’t go a day
or two without having a sip then
you probably have a low case of
addiction, but nothing to worry
about.
Jack When you’re drinking hard
liquor all the time, you know, like
Jim Beam straight or when you’re
sitting at a bar by yourself on a
Friday night….
Tim Addicts are the older ones
that you see getting around (drunk)
and drinking straight spirits….or
when you’re trying to hide it from
family.
What effect do you think alcohol
has on our nation?
Tim Well, I don’t think it affects
people that badly…the level of
alcohol that kids my age drink
isn’t really a problem because we’re
young and not addicted. I do hear
a bit on the news every now and
then though about how many
people are homeless from drinking
problems….so I guess when you
look at it like that you could say
that it’s a bit of a problem. No one
should be homeless.
Cheryl Positive and negative. I
mean, it’s a social thing that most
people like to do so what’s the
problem, but I can see that it would
be a big problem for those having
trouble at home with money and
stuff. There’s really two sides. And
the negative is probably less than
the positive effect it has.
Bec There are people who don’t
know when they’ve had enough so
that can mean that alcohol causes
problems at home but really I
think that if someone is going to
end up homeless or something then
it’s going to happen regardless of
alcohol. It’s probably not a totally
positive thing for Australia, but it
has a pretty positive impact too.
9
10
Family Stores
Family Stores
generate income
of $53 million
D
uring the financial
year 2004/05, the 205
Australian Family
Stores generated an income of
$53 million. This is a fantastic
contribution to The Salvation
Army’s budget, especially when
you consider that the average
price of a Family Store item is $5.
There have been so many generous
people in the community who
made an effort to donate their
unwanted furniture, clothes and
bric-a-brac. More to the point, it
indicates that there’s a growing
need for second hand items
among the general public.
Every dollar spent at our
Family Stores help those in our
community facing crises. Our
Stores also provide employment
opportunities and help the
community ‘get smart’ about
managing their hard waste.
More than 1600 volunteers
assist in the Stores and hundreds
of community members come
through our doors every day.
There were 31 new stores
opened this year, just in the
Southern Territory and we’re
planning to open another 30
during the next year. There are 36
trucks that conducted more than
150,000 pick ups to collect more
than 450,000 items of furniture
this year.
Not only do our 729 employees,
1,749 volunteers and 500 ‘work
for the dole’ participants spend
hours sorting and pricing donated
goods, they provide top-notch
customer service too. Here’s
just a few of the inspiring letters
we’ve received from our ‘visitors’
during the year:
go
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Who needs trucks???
Noble Park Cluster staff thought
the following was worth sharing!
This gentleman was ‘caught on
camera’ as he left the Doveton (Vic)
Family Store transporting his latest
purchase!
Disposal costs drain Family Store budgets
Although The Salvation Army’s
Family Stores have had a good
year, the annual cost for rubbish
disposal is enormous. The total
amount spent on getting rid of
people’s waste was more than
$1.5million, just for the Southern
Territory. Even more alarming
is the fact that this figure has
increased by 30% during the last
couple of years and it’s for two
reasons:
1. Some genuine donations
are becoming rubbish due
to theft/pilferage and bad
weather
During
December alone,
The Salvation
Army
will assist
more than
300,000
Australians.
We will:
• give more than 250,000 toys
• serve 8,000 Christmas dinners
• provide 10,000 people with shelter
• give 150,000 food parcels and vouchers
• provide refuge for hundreds of abused Australians
Please give generously to our Christmas Appeal.
The Salvos shield those
in need by giving
3,500 homeless people
a bed every week.
Help transform the lives of Australians
living in poverty.
www.salvationarmy.org.au
CREDIT CARD DONATIONS 13 32 30
2. People are dumping rubbish at
Family Store sites
The Salvation Army ask you,
please consider carefully what you
donate to Family Stores. If it’s not
usable, clean and a genuine ‘gift’
then please dispose of it yourself,
thoughtfully.
Allen Dewhirst
moves into
position of CEO
for Family Stores
Earlier this year, Allen
Dewhirst was appointed to CEO
for The Salvation Army Family
Stores. In his new role, he will be
responsible for the development
and success of more than 200
Family Stores nationwide.
Previously Dewhirst was the
managing director for a marketing
company where he consulted to
high profile companies such as
National Australia Bank, ANZ,
Telstra and Australia Post. Prior
to this he had been responsible for
leading and developing the local
Hertz Rent-A-Car operation, as
managing director.
During recent years Dewhirst
was the President of the
Australian Marketing Institute
and was the first Australian to
become an Honorary Fellow of
the Japan Marketing Association.
He’s also co-written an industry
recognised book called “How to
write a marketing plan.”
Dewhirst was born in England,
grew up in South Africa and
moved to Australia with his wife
and two children in 1978. Both
husband and wife were born into
Salvation Army families.
Family Stores
11
From tin shed to
the busiest Family
Store in town
Back in the early 1900s the
Abbotsford Family Store was a
workplace for men recently released
from prison, who were struggling
to find work. Today, it’s one of
the most popular Salvation Army
Family Stores. Every day between
200 and 300 Melbournians step
through its door in search of
anything from a leather couch, a
pair of Country Road pants, the
latest Bryce Courtney novel or
antique cup and saucer.
Val Kennedy, manager of the
store, shares her experience sorting
and selling the recycled goods; “It’s
truly amazing the sorts of items we
have donated to us. Although we
can be given things we can’t sell,
most items are in good nick and are
sold quickly. For example we had a
great brown leather couch here that
we sold for about a thousand dollars
recently. It was in perfect condition
and the people who bought it got a
real bargain.”
It does however, take Val and
her team of workers and volunteers
time and ‘an eye for a bargain’ to
sort through the piles of bric-a-brac,
clothes, furniture and books left out
the back of the warehouse every day
of the year. These items are all then
cleaned up, priced and displayed in
the enormous shop front for the
next lucky buyer. On average five
people work ‘front of house’ in the
shop, while six others spend their
day in the warehouse sorting goods,
marking prices and picking up bits
and pieces from houses.
Val has been working for The
Salvation Army for 13 years.
She started working casually in
the Williamstown Family Store
warehouse but quickly moved into a
managerial position, moving around
the state helping to establish other
Stores, and training employees.
The sheer volume of quality
clothes, shoes, books, CDs and
furniture at the Abbotsford Store is
astounding. You quickly appreciate
why there are so many locals (and
people not so close by) wandering
the aisles. “I’d say the fastest moving
items are clothes. We have a huge
selection here and they’re all in
good condition and most of them
are good brand names. It’s hard to
imagine how someone would come
to toss out a new season handbag
or top, but people do. There’s never
a shortage of quality labels on our
racks,” says Val.
“We often get unusual items too!”
Val continues. “Recently I found a
solid brass bowl, which was quite
unusual looking and very heavy.
We had it valued and it’s estimated
to be worth between three and five
thousand dollars! Someone mustn’t
have meant to put it out or they
didn’t know what a little gem they
had in their hands. It hasn’t been
claimed though, so we’re going to
put it on “e-bay” and we’ll see what
we get for it. Hopefully we get the
right price because it would be a
great ‘leg-up’ for the Army and its
cause.”
When the average item costs
about $5, it’s hard to imagine
how many goods Family Stores
collectively pick up, sort, clean,
price and sell to generate an income
of $53 million last financial year!
Manager Val Kennedy
loves working with
Family Stores.
Pudding helps
the Salvos do
their job
Putting an end to
our struggles
T
The Moffat family
‘thank God for the
Salvos’ every day.
hanks to the Salvos, says
John Moffat, anxiety and
stress are a thing of the
past. This time last year things
were really bad for our family.
My wife, Bernadette, and I owed
$4,500 in rent, we owed money
to the electricity and gas people,
and had other bills that we just
couldn’t pay. The only reason our
kids didn’t go hungry was because
I am a chef by trade. I was also
struggling with bipolar disorder
and other health-related issues
and was addicted to speed and
heroin.
We’d been going to The
Salvation Army for help for a
fair while, because a lot of our
money was spent on things other
than food, and when we didn’t
have anything to hock we’d have
to go and get food vouchers.
But last year the Salvos put us
onto a program called Towards
Independence and we met a lady
called Karen Sheffield who helped
us so much.
Karen helped us, not so much
with food vouchers but with our
financial problems. She spoke to
the person who owns our house
and rang up the gas and electricity
people and organised for us to pay
off our bills using direct debit
where possible. This made me
feel like we didn’t have anything
to worry about any more, because
we would have gas and electricity
and somewhere to live. It took
away a lot of stress from our lives,
which is something I don’t deal
with very well, and let me focus
on other things.
I ended up working for a Salvo
men’s hostel, and I guess it was
my way of giving back, because
people from the Army had got
me back on track, and because I
knew what some of these guys
were going through I thought I
could probably help them. Karen
also came to court with me when
I breached my probation and was
a good advocate for me. She acted
as a mediator for us with other
organisations in town when we
needed her to and helped me
get on proper medication for my
illness.
Things now are so much better.
We owe less than a $1,000 on our
rent, and our bills are all paid on
time. Our house is chock-a-block
full with things we’ve never ever
had before and looks absolutely
beautiful. And with the kids,
where before it would usually
take us to the end of winter to get
them any warm clothes, this year
we got everything ready early.
Bernadette and I are both back
at work, which is something we
haven’t done in a long time, and
the kids are happy and healthy
and winning awards at school.
I’ve also been clean (from drugs)
for more than a year, and I know
that I’m strong enough now that
I don’t need the stuff any more
because I’ve got other buzzes, like
my kids, in my life. Now I’m a
lot more patient and I’m just so
happy all the time because I don’t
have to worry about financial
things any more, thanks to the
help I received from Karen and
The Salvation Army’s Towards
Independence Program.
Once again The Salvation Army has
cooked up a storm, with thousands of
puddings hitting towns and cities
across Australia for the festive season!
They’re packed full of sultanas, dates,
treacle and spices and every dollar
you spend on a pudding will be used
to support families facing crises
this Christmas.
The Salvation Army pudding
continually receives the thumbs up
from the food experts…
Coles’ supermarkets
will be selling the Salvo
500g pudding ($12.90)
or you can order our 900g
pudding ($19.95) online at
www.salvationarmy.org/christmas
or by calling (03) 9326 5211.
“With a good dark fruit character
typical of the traditional style, this is
the sort of pudding you’d expect to
find sixpences in!” - feedback from the
Epicure pudding tasting team in 2003.
The Salvation Army’s Towards
Independence Program
focuses on helping males and
females over the age of 18
years of age with drug and
alcohol rehabilitation. For more
information please contact the
referral counsellor in Adelaide
on (08) 8227 0351.
*900g S
alvo P udding
12
Troubled times
Compassion on the line
He may be anonymous, but Ric Dale gives Salvo Care Line all his heart and mind.
I
t’s 11.00pm: I nose the car up to
the gate, slide down my window
and punch the numerical code
I’ve been given into the postmounted keypad. After the gate
trundles open, I roll forward into
the darkened, near-empty car park.
On my left is a discreet building,
nondescript in this semi-industrial
Perth suburb. After parking, I can’t
help but take a furtive look around
before I step up to the door and
press the doorbell.
The air of mystery dissipates
when Ric Dale, manager of Salvo
Care Line, which is housed inside,
opens the door and good-naturedly
shows me into the offices. ‘It’s not a
counselling service,’ he informs me
moments later. ‘Our primary role
is referral. ‘Twice a day we find out
from about 30 hostels around Perth
how many spare beds they have. In
the morning we do a ring-around
for a bed count; in the afternoon we
do another bed count. And then
on the basis of those figures, when
people ring us we tell them where
there are vacancies that suit their
age, sex and circumstance.’
With 60% government funding
and the remainder coming from Red
Shield Appeal funds, it’s certainly
considered a necessary service. And
while ‘referral’ doesn’t sound as lifeaffecting as ‘counselling’, Ric knows
how vital the service is. ‘Most of out
callers don’t call for counselling,’
he says. They’re either calling for a
bed, welfare assistance, or they’re
just lonely and want someone to
listen to them. ‘More than half our
calls come from people who ring
us on a regular basis; some ring us
two to three times a day (and some
have been calling for as long as 12
years).
The majority of these have a
mental illness and already work
with a counsellor, psychologist,
psychiatrist or social worker. ‘What
they ring us for is to have another
human being who will listen to
them and won’t try to analyse
them… They’ve probably worn out
their family and their friends. So
these telephone services are really
the only places they can go.’
It’s unhealthy for both caller and
listener to allow such relationships
to flourish, so a 20-minute time
limit has been imposed on these
callers, plus a ‘whoever answers
is who you get’ policy, so that
callers don’t ask to speak to their
preferred staff member. As you can
imagine, this sometimes leads to
irate responses (hence the need for
relative anonymity). The need to be
compassionate notwithstanding,
Ric says the vast majority of staff
and volunteer stress stems from
encounters with regular callers.
The Salvation Army’s Bridge Program focuses on helping males
and females over the age of 18 years of age with drug and alcohol
rehabilitation. For more information please contact the referral
counsellor on (08) 8227 0351.
But such stress comes with the
territory; especially when you
consider the current shortage of
homeless accommodation in Perth.
On the night I was with Ric there
are 20-odd vacancies indicated on
the office whiteboard; that, says Ric,
is unusually high. Telling someone
who calls the line in desperate need
that there’s nothing you can do to
help them can be a devastating
experience. Therefore it’s no surprise
that strength of the heart and mind
are prerequisites to landing a gig at
Salvo Care Line.
‘When we interview volunteers,
two things we require are maturity
and emotional health. We’re very
upfront about that.’ Once volunteers
are trained and on-shift, a multitiered debriefing process exists to
protect their wellbeing and prevent
burnout. Primarily this involves
those on shift ‘chatting’ informally
about calls. (Formal counselling
processes are also available, though
rarely required.) It’s an effective
system. Despite the demands of
the role, several of the Salvo Care
Line’s volunteers have clocked
between 500 and 800 hours, with
one volunteer recently hitting 1,100
hours.
Do the math (volunteers typically
work in fortnightly five-hour-shifts)
– that’s a considerable commitment.
What Ric finds most astonishing
is that the majority of volunteers
are not Christians, let alone
Salvationists. ‘I look at (volunteers
who aren’t Christians) and I see
them caring more than I see a
lot of Christians caring about the
community,’ Ric observes. ‘I see a lot
of Christians caring about people in
their church…but they don’t look
outside into the community. ‘So
here are these non-Christian people
who are caring for the community
just because…why? God isn’t their
motivation. But they’re still doing
it.’ To be distinctively Christian
among people like these is a genuine
challenge, Ric accedes. The real
challenge, then, is for he and the
few other Christians involved in the
service to ‘be Christ’ among them; to
be the proverbial ‘yeast in the dough.’
I think having non-Christian people
in our social programs is great,’ Ric
says, ‘ as long as you’ve got a nucleus
of Christian people who are genuinely
in touch with the holy spirit and being
moved with him, among them.’
To maintain Ric’s anonymity we
have not run his photo with this
article.
Down, but definitely not out
In his battle with HIV, Jeffrey
Robertson found help and
acceptance in God.
In 1996, after two years of illness,
I was diagnosed HIV positive. At
the time I was living in the western
suburbs of Sydney, was married
with two children, a Christian and
a regular church attender, but as you
can imagine this diagnosis was lifechanging. I felt I couldn’t go near
my children because I was afraid
of giving it to them and my wife
had the same kind of fears. There
was also the question of whether
they had already been infected
and, if they were, what would we
do? When I later found out that my
family was okay I was so relieved. I
was also angry because I didn’t know
where I’d contracted the disease. I
was especially angry with God and
kept asking him ‘Why did this
happen to me?’. Eventually I turned
my back on him. When my wife
left, later that year, I basically gave
up on everything and my life started
spiralling downhill, emotionally,
physically and spiritually.
For the next five years I went
through a period of depression
and drinking, and was basically just
waiting to die. Finally I suffered a
complete emotional breakdown and
was unable to talk or communicate
with anyone for about 18 months.
In 2001, I moved to Victoria
to try to get my head together,
and eventually ended up at The
Salvation Army Bridge Program
in Warrnambool. The staff at the
program helped me deal with a lot
of my issues and I started to move
forward emotionally, but I was still
fearful of people finding out about
my HIV. I was also confused about
my Christianity. Looking back I
know that God was with me all the
way, but at the time I just wasn’t
aware of his presence.
After I finished the program
I started working there but then,
because of my fear of people finding
out about my health, I did a very
stupid thing—I betrayed someone,
a staff member of the program
Judy Brown, who’d been trying to
help me, and I fled. Later I rang
her and apologised for what I’d
done. In response she showed me
so much grace and forgiveness that
I went back to Warrnambool and
began to work through the issues
regarding my HIV status. It wasn’t
easy; people said and did some
terrible things to me. Judy was also
harassed simply because she was
supporting me, but through it all
she never once said ‘If it weren’t for
you this wouldn’t have happened’.
All along she just kept showing
me the love of Christ. Her example
brought me to the point of realising
that I needed to ask God to come
back into my life, which I did in
November 2003.
From that moment on, my
spiritual life changed dramatically
and during the past three years I
have come to fully understand the
wonderful impact of having Christ
in my life, reading the Bible and
talking to God on a regular basis can
make. However, during the same
time, I deteriorated physically and
am now confined to a wheelchair as
a result of a couple of HIV-related
strokes. Five years ago, if my health
had been as bad as it is now, I would
have been drinking myself to death,
but now I know God is with me
and he has given me the most
amazing peace. I’m no longer afraid
of dying, because I know that when
it happens I will go to a better place.
I’m also no longer afraid of people
knowing about my illness. In fact
I now speak at schools and TAFE
colleges about what it’s like to live
with the disease. I could never have
done that before.
Employment
Pro-active change
By Major John Simmonds CEO, The Salvation Army Employment Plus
Resources in each Employment Plus
office include:
- Computerised job search kiosks
where candidates can search the
national job vacancy database
- Job search phone, for candidates
to make direct contact with
employers
- Workspaces, including tables,
chairs, newspapers, faxes and
photocopiers
T
he Salvation Army
Employment Plus is the
largest ‘Job Network’
provider in the country. It owns
14.7% of Australia’s network,
which means it’s twice the size of
its nearest competitor. Recently, the
Federal Government extended the
organisation’s ‘Job Network’ contract
for three years, to mid- 2009.
Employment Plus is a national
organisation consisting of 93 sites
and 1,650 employees. In the last
financial year we have referred more
than 168,000 people to jobs and
placed more than 72,000 people in
employment. In addition we also
established opportunities for a high
number of special needs groups
including 21,000 mature aged,
31,000 youths under 21 years and
nearly 43,000 highly disadvantaged
people.
The challenges of 2004-2005
Amidst success however, we faced
significant changes during the last
12 months.
Firstly, the Federal Government
introduced the ‘ Workforce
Participation Scheme’ in May 2004.
This is increasing the number of job
candidates we see by 30,000. These
candidates have significantly greater
needs (in terms of preparing them
for employment) than our 120,000+
existing candidates, many of whom
are disadvantaged.
Secondly we’ve experienced
an increase in the demand on
consultants’ counselling time and the
need for specialist training and skills.
Consultants now have to be equipped
to assess, place and manage some of
the most disadvantaged candidates in
the country who have very specialised
needs. This means that our consultants
are now handling fewer cases.
Overcoming hurdles
To combat these issues,
Employment Plus is pro-actively
strengthening its existing programs,
creating new programs and
improving employee productivity
by introducing new technology and
specialised training for consultants.
We’ve already instigated a training
and development program for
our existing 1400 consultants, to
better equip them to deal with
these changes. We’ve almost
finished the enormous task of
automating and aligning nationally,
our administration processes, to
give consultants more time with
employers and candidates.
During the last year we recruited
a national ‘Workforce Participation’
team of 80 consultants, 30 of which
are trained to work with indigenous
people seeking employment. We
anticipate employing approximately
600 new consultants to manage
the influx of candidates coming
via the ‘Workforce Participation
Program.’
Employment Plus has relaunched its successful ‘Mission
Project Partnering’ initiative, which
combines a selection of services and
resources. This funds new projects
such as accredited training and life
skill mentoring programmes, to
address candidates’ social, emotional
and spiritual needs as well as their
practical need for job skills and
employment.
What our ‘network’ looks like
Each Employment Plus office
is clearly signed and located in a
high profile position. The offices
are equipped with a range of
resources to provide quality and
professional services to candidates
and employers.
- Computers, to prepare resumes
and cover letters, or respond to
jobs online
- Candidate resource rooms
- Training rooms
- Interview facilities for employers
to use when required
The Employment Plus spirit
Not only is our heart in the
right place, but our business is
on track too. The Salvation Army
Employment Plus continues to
perform above the national average
success rate for ‘Job Network’
providers. This is strong evidence
of our passionate belief that all
people are employable. No matter
who comes through the door, we
work with them to build their skills,
confidence and hope, so they too
will find a job.
For us, success is more than just
placing candidates in jobs. We seek
to secure sustainable job placements
for candidates – it is these jobs that
best demonstrate how we assist
unemployed people to become
economically self-sufficient.
We also evaluate the success of
Employment Plus through our
ability to help people develop
improved confidence, self esteem
and connection with their
community. These are immeasurable
qualities that we strive for.
Everyone at Employment Plus
is very proud of their work. It gives
hope, dignity and a future to many
Australian individuals, families and
communities. At The Salvation
Army Employment Plus, we never
give up.
Join the Army
for a day.
The Salvos need your help. They need 100,000 volunteer collectors.
Call 13 32 30 or visit our website to volunteer for just a couple of hours
as a collector for The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal Doorknock.
Volunteer Line 13 32 30
www.salvationarmy.org.au
DOORKNOCK, LAST WEEK OF MAY
Barry
struggled to
find work and
a quality life
Barry grew up in the outskirts
of Sydney. He had a relatively
normal upbringing in that he
had parents and two siblings,
went to school and had plenty of
friends. By the time he turned
19 he was working at a local
bottleshop and spending all
weekend with mates, enjoying
the nightlife Sydney has to
offer.
During that year though,
Barry lost his job because he’d
started turning up for work late
and one day he even fell asleep
out the back. He was out on the
town with friends every night
spending all his money, drinking
a lot and was beginning to try
speed and ecstasy. There were
about six teenagers in the
friendship circle that constantly
partied together, Barry explains,
and every single one of them
lost their part-time job that year.
That was a big turning point
because suddenly they didn’t
have an income to support their
party habits.
Soon Barry started dabbling
in shop lifting to support his
24 hour leisure time, which
meant that most of the time he
was looking over his shoulder
wondering if the police were
going to catch him. And then
one day, the cops did catch
him, just after he’d stolen some
jewellery. They threw him in
the ‘lock up’ but luckily for
Barry the shop owner didn’t
press charges.
This incident was a wake-up
call for Barry’s family and for
Barry himself. By this stage
he’d been living ‘hard and fast’,
partying and stealing for about
one year. Being in the slammer
brought home to Barry just how
ugly his life had become. It had
changed from being a series of
fun nights out with friends to
a lifestyle of theft and drug
abuse. It was then that Barry
and his family sought help and
counselling from a local Salvo
centre.
In the course of 12 months,
Barry tamed his life immensely
and began to work again
with the help of the Salvos’
Employment Plus program.
The people there re-taught
him the skills needed to apply
and interview for a job, and
they helped him to find a
career path for the long term.
All of this support gave Barry
the confidence and structure
he needed to get his life back
on track. Now he works as an
assistant computer programmer
while studying a relevant
degree at TAFE. He still
maintains regular contact with
Employment Plus support staff,
keeping them up-to-date with
how he’s enjoying his new life.
13
14
Art
Classifieds
Art and soul
F
or a decade Jo
Darvill has been
helping kids reach
their potential.
Jo Darvill knows what it means
to have one’s creative impulses
frustrated by outside influences.
The Melbourne-based
volunteer, mother of two and
visual artist vividly recalls that
as an impoverished art student,
money or, more to the point,
a serious lack of it, constantly
thwarted her artistic aspirations.
It may have been sheer survival
that led her to take on a part-time
position at the inner-city Prahran
high-rise estate adventure
playground 12 or so years ago,
but it was insight that kept her
there and, later, altruism that
encouraged her to take the first
steps in a new career direction.
‘Down at the playground I saw
lots of terrific talented kids who
could never reach their potential
because of their environment,’
she explains. ‘I would often
see children who came from
two or three generations of
unemployment who never had a
hope of getting a job.’ Something
in her, she says, ‘just snapped
into place. I knew I had to do
something for those kids.’
But how could she, a struggling
artist, possibly help? A period
of soul-searching followed, and
soon Darvill and her partner at
the time, renowned artist David
Larwill, had their answer. They
would stage an art exhibition and
auction, with all proceeds going
directly to the kids. Artists for
Kids Culture (AKC) was born.
‘Back in the early ’90s there was
this art movement (in Melbourne)
called Roar (which has since
disbanded),’ she explains. ‘And
Roar’s members each donated a
painting. It was probably the last
collection of their work as a group,
so it was a very valuable collection.
Certainly, today, it would be worth
more than $50,000.’
‘Unfor tunatel y, in our
inexperience we raffled the work
off and embarrassingly only
made $2,000 or $3,000. All that
money went in a flash. We were
just flying by the seat of our pants,
and consequently all the bikes we
bought for the kids were stolen by
their older brothers not long after
and hocked in the second-hand
shop, so we kind of didn’t do that
again.’
That first auction was the start
of a steep learning curve, says
Darvill, who adds they knew they
needed to get better ‘at doing the
fundraising gig.’
And what strides they’ve
made. ‘A few years ago we started
making some serious money,’ says
Darvill. ‘We had some particularly
good artists. Last year’s auction
raised a staggering $120,000 and
the year before we got $100,000.
The money has already made a
big difference to the lives of kids
in need.’
Jo Darwill believes
every child deserves
a warm loving life.
The exhibitions aren’t just cash
cows, however. Alongside 70
works from wellknown Australian
artists (such as Tim McGuire
whose work went for $200,000
at a recent Sotheby’s auction in
London) are 30 pieces produced
by the kids. ‘We bus them into
the exhibition so they get to see it
with their families and then they
get the experience of seeing their
works go for between $50 and
$450. They have ownership of that
money.’ Art isn’t the only pastime
AKC funds. We don’t dictate to
the kids what to do, says Darvill.
‘It’s important for them to come
to us and be able to say, “Well, I’m
actually interested in soccer rather
than art”.’
Two Melbourne teens, who
represented Australia in the
recent Homeless World Cup, got
their first pair of soccer boots and
uniforms thanks to AKC funds.
A wholly non-profit, office-less
organisation run by volunteers,
all money raised by AKC goes
directly to kids who live in several
inner-city estates and, recently, as
far afield as Turkey Creek, 160
km out of Alice Springs, and
even Tibet.
Being at the helm of a volunteer
organisation and the primary
carer of a five and a two-and-ahalf year-old, as well as still doing
‘little bits and pieces of (personal)
artwork’ can be hard to juggle but,
says Darvill, it’s nothing compared
to ‘those poor mothers in the
estate. It’s hard enough managing
kids period, let alone on a small
income in a high-rise flat. ‘(My
role) requires somebody who’s
probably a bit irritating. People
describe me as a person like a dog
with a bone. I’m relentless. I don’t
give up. Probably if it was too easy
I wouldn’t be so determined. I’d
be sitting back with my feet up.’
Multimedia for marginalised youth
The Salvation Army
has contributed more
than $300,000 towards
‘Youthworx,’ a Melbournebased three-year project
using radio broadcasting
and media arts to help
100 homeless and
disadvantaged young
people each year.
The aims and methods of the
new project are similar to The
Salvation Army’s streetradio.net,
a Sydney-based internet radio
station project run by the Oasis
Youth Support Network.
‘ Youthwor x wil l off er
experiential learning and skills
training in eight-week courses
for participants mostly aged
between 15 and 25,’ explains
project director David Mackenzie.
‘Participants will be encouraged
to stay connected to the project
thereafter, with 40 youth going
through the program at any one
stage.’
The project, housed at the
Salvos’ property in inner city
Collingwood, will commence
with radio and the internet
and may subsequently include
television and film production.
The project’s hands-on training
opportunities and experiences
may subsequently help young
people find employment.
Youthworx project manager
Ken Young says the facility was
‘still waiting on a lick of paint and
a lot of wiring – then we’ll install
a demountable sound studio….
My vision is to give young people
from outside the mainstream the
opportunity to have a voice, and
to gain employment skills and
confidence.’
Keith Waters, director of
social services for the Salvos’
Melbourne Central Division,
said the funds come from the
Red Shield Appeal and selected
Salvation Army centres will
recruit Youthworx participants.
‘Youthworx is a recognition that
education and vocational training
opportunities for young people
are an important pathway out of
disadvantage,’ explains Waters.
‘Often with the young people
we see in our social programs
there is little opportunity for
self-expression through the arts
or multimedia. Youthworx will
provide that, helping to build up
their own levels of self-confidence
and self-awareness.’
Mackenzie, a Swinburne
University academic, is a long-
time partner with The Salvation
Army in social research,
specifically youth homelessness.
‘We have learnt that you can
achieve more together than you
can separately. These kinds of
partnerships are vital in effecting
change.’
Youthworx is a joint venture
between the Salvos, the
Melbourne youth radio station
SYN FM (90.7 FM), the
Victorian offices of housing
and youth, and a federation
of government and academic
bodies including a partnership
between Swinburne University
(Melbourne), Q ueensland
University of Technology, Edith
Cowan University (Perth),
Australian National University
(Canberra) the University of
Wollongong (NSW) and Charles
Darwin University (Darwin).
Community-spirited businesses wanted
Join our corporate donors’ program and
achieve benefits for your business – through
increased customer loyalty and staff morale
and having your name associated with
The Salvation Army’s extensive range of
community services.
In partnership with The Salvation Army, you
can support the community through cash
gifts or donations, cause-related marketing,
payroll deductions, staff fundraising,
volunteering, gifts in kind and pro bono
services.
Phone:
Northern Territory
(08) 8981 8188
South Australia
(08) 8379 9388
Tasmania
(03) 6278 7184
Victoria
(03) 9895 6248
Western Australia
(08) 9227 7010
Sponsor a child
The Salvation Army’s child sponsorship
program assists thousands of needy
children in developing countries around
the world.
Just $20 a month allows The Salvation
Army to provide food, medicine, housing,
clothing, and education. Funds are sent
to Salvation Army officers who provide
the children with a safe and spiritual
environment in community centres, mission
hospitals, schools and village churches.
Visit: www.salvationarmy.org.au/
childsponsorship
Furniture
The Salvation Army Family Stores home
collection service picks up unwanted
furniture in good condition for sale through
the Stores.
For furniture collections call 13 16 40.
Food Bank
To donate bulk non-perishable food items
to our Food Bank contact:
Victorian Relief
4/2 Somerville Road
Yarraville Victoria 3013
(03) 9362 8300
Overseas aid
Contribute to The Salvation Army’s work
in developing countries by calling:
The Salvation Army Australia
Southern Territory donor enquiry line
(03) 9895 6270
Workplace giving program
The Workplace Giving Program offers a
way to support our vital work in a simple,
effective way. You can arrange for your
employer to deduct as little as $2 a week
from your pay and transfer it directly to
help the Salvos. It’s fully tax-deductible and
you can be confident your money will go
towards providing life-changing care and
assistance for Australians in real need.
Contact: Tony Armstrong
(03) 9895 6247
Become a Salvos Partner
When you become a Salvos Partner for as
little as $20 a month, you’ll help provide a
future for the homeless, food for the hungry,
help for families in crisis and training for
those without jobs. It’s only through regular
committed giving that the Salvos can count on
helping Australians in need, day in day out.
Contact: Sandra Haffenden
(03) 9895 6262
Are you missing a loved one?
..then let The Salvation Army help you.
The Family Tracing team specialises in
reconnecting families who have lost touch
with each other for myriad reasons such
as job transfer, immigration, conflict, travel
and family breakdown. The Family Tracing
unit began operation in 1885 in England
and is focused on bringing families back
together. It has a success rate of more than
75%. All avenues of investigation are strictly
confidential and no information relating to
the missing person will be revealed without
their consent. For more information or to
launch an enquiry please contact your local
Salvation Army centre.
Life
Aussie Salvo receives
Army’s highest honour
Mr John Dalziel is one of
Australia’s influential ‘voices,’
constantly engaged in community
debate. He’s batting for Australia’s
marginalised, less educated, disabled,
mentally unstable and young. John
has been an advocate for these people
and as a result he’s received The
Salvation Army’s highest honour
- the Order of the Founder.
Since the award’s inauguration
in 1917, only 24 Australians have
received the award. John received
the honour for his ‘exemplary
spiritual leadership as a local officer,
impeccable moral character and
his contribution to enhancing the
reputation of the Army within the
Australian community.’ The Order of
the Founder is rarely given and every
nomination is carefully scrutinised
by a panel of senior leaders at the
Army’s International Headquarters
in London.
For the last 15 years, John has
been the Salvos’ Communications
Director and spokesperson.
Technically his career began
with the Salvos 30-odd years ago
when his advertising agency was
approached to assist with the Red
Shield Appeal (RSA). It was at
this time that John and his team
created the slogan “Thank God for
the Salvos” and initiated the Army’s
first RSA national TV campaign.
Since then, the Appeal has grown
from $350,000 to more than $58
million.
As Communications Director,
John has tackled every issue affecting
Australia’s most marginalised and
he still is. His career has seen him
build strong relationships with
media, government, community
groups and other Church leaders.
The Salvation Army Australia Southern
Territory – Public Relations Offices
Major Wayne Pittaway
TPRS
Melbourne
Office: 03 9895 6200
Fax: 03 9899 2340
Bram Peck
DIR
Greater Melbourne & Gippsland Office: 03 9895 6286
Red Shield Neighbourhood
Fax: 03 9897 1273
Appeals Office
310 Elgar Road
Box Hill VIC 3128
Major Lyn Cochrane
DPRS
Northern Victoria
Office: 03 5443 4288
Fax: 03 5441 6079
PO Box 973
Bendigo VIC 3552
Major Heather Jenkins
DPRS
Western Victoria
Office: 03 5331 3088
Fax: 03 5332 2929
209A Dana Street
Ballarat VIC 3350
Captain Mark Kop
DPRS
South Australia
Office: 08 8408 6937
Fax: 08 8338 3361
39 Florence Street
Fullarton SA 5063
Warren Palmer
DPRS
Western Australia
Office: 08 9227 7014
Fax: 08 9227 7134
333 William Street
Northbridge WA 6003
Stuart Foster
DPRS
Tasmania
Office: 03 6228 8422
Fax: 03 6278 7193
27 Pirie Street
New Town TAS 7008
Major Ritchie Watson
ROPR/RO Northern Territory
Office: 08 8981 8188
Fax: 08 8941 2966
49 Mitchell Street
Darwin NT 0800
The Order of the Founder
John Dalziel is awarded for his exemplary Salvationism and
his spiritual leadership as a local officer of outstanding influence.
Of impeccable moral character, John Dalziel has been the face and
voice of The Salvation Army in the Australian media. In clearly
delineating the ethical standards and compassionate ministry of
the Movement, he has enhanced the reputation of The Salvation
Army with the Australian community at large.
LETTER SCRAMBLE
26-28 Prospect Street
Box Hill VIC 3128
TPRS = Territorial Public Relations Secretary, DPRS = Divisional Public Relations Secretary, RO = Regional Officer,
ROPR = Regional Office Public Relations, DIR = Director
Thank you to our donors
The Salvation Army Australia
Southern Territory acknowledges
the support of the many
individuals, corporations, trusts and
foundations that give so willingly
to the Red Shield Appeal.
Without their generosity we
would be unable to deliver our
social services and programs.
In 2004/05, our major corporate,
trust and foundation supporters
were:
A A Holdings Pty Ltd - A B C Giving Tree
Committee - A G Cowley Trust - Adelaide Bank
Charitable Foundation - Adelaide Football Club
- Advance Bricks & Pavers - Advertising
Federation of Australia - AER Foundation Ltd
- AGL - Ahrens Engineering Pty Ltd - Alcohol
Education & Rehabilitation Foundations - Alinta
Limited - Allens Arthur Robinson - Alpha
Magnetics Pty Ltd - Amelia Eliza Holland Trust
- Annetta Adami Charitable Trust - Annie &
John Paterson Foundation Ltd - AON Risk
Services Australia Limited - Arts Projects
Australia - Assoc Beneficienza Calabrese in
SA - AWB Limited - AXA Asia Pacific Holdings
Ltd - Bell Charitable Trust - Bulleen Village
Pharmacy - Bunnings Building Supplies Pty
Ltd - Burswood Inter. Resort Casino Caravanning Australia - Channel 7 Adelaide
Pty Ltd - Channel 9 - Christian Radio Inc T/a
Life FM - Christmas Party for Special Children
- City of Bayswater - City of Norwood
Payneham & St Peters - Clive & Diana Pty Ltd
- Clough Offshore Corporate Golf Day - CMV
Foundation - Colin Bisdee Trust Allocation Collier Charitable Foundation - Collingham Pty
Ltd - Commander Australia Limited - Connect
Community Foundation -Consolidated
Chemical Company - Crommelins Machinery
- CSR - Daniel Scott Estate - Data Mobility
Voice Pty Ltd - David Taylor Galt Estate Department of the Premier & Cabinet Detmold Packaging - Dibbs & Massie
Foundation - Drakensberg Trust - Electel
Resources Pty Ltd - ElectraNet Pty Ltd - Eltrak
International & Staff Pty Ltd - Enjo Pty Ltd Estate Late David Fereday Allen - Estate of
Anna M White - Examiner Newspaper Pty Ltd
- Fagg’s Mitre 10 - Flaming Rhino Design Pty
Ltd - Flinders Charitable Foundation - Ford
Motor Co of Aust Ltd - Frank & Hilda Perry
Trust - G P Smith Equipment (Vic) Pty Ltd George and Linda Sobee Bequest - George W
Vowell Foundation Ltd - Gideon Lang
Foundation - Glyde Metal Industries Pty Ltd
- Goldman Sachs JBWere Ltd - Government
of South Australia - Government Of Victoria Government of Western Australia - Graeme
Johnson Pty Ltd - Guthrie Family Charitable
Trust - Healesville & District Nursing Home Helen Macpherson Smith Trust - Hills
Transplants Pty Ltd - Hilton White Bequest HS Sales & Contracting Pty Ltd - Hugall &
Hoile Ltd - Hugh Williamson Foundation I.N.C. Corporation Pty Ltd - Independent
Gaming Corporation - Inner Range Pty Ltd Inner Sense Life Training - J Boag Clothing Pty
Ltd - Jack Brockhoff Foundation Ltd - Jack
Family Charitable Trust - Jayleaf Holdings Pty
Ltd - JB Hi Fi - JDV Limited - Jennifer Hutchins
Charitable Fund - Jenny’s Shoppe - Jobs
Statewide - Joe White Bequest - John & Betty
Laidlaw - Joseph Herman Trust - Kel & Rosie
Day Foundation - Kilwinning Nominees Pty Ltd
- Knispel Fruit Juices Pty Ltd - KPMG
Foundation - Lionel R V Spencer Trust Lotteries Commission - M K H Industries Pty
Ltd - Main Roads Pty Ltd - Mallesons Stephen
Jaques - McEwan Foundation - McGregorWest Pty Ltd - McLaren Vale Bocche Club
Members - Melbourne Airport (Management)
- Mike Carney Toyota - Moreland Bowls Club
Inc - Multan Plastics Pty Ltd - Myer Community
Fund - N P & J I Cretan - Namarrgon
International Pty Ltd – Name - National
Australia Bank - NJ Horton & Grace Horton
Charitable Fund - O’Brien Contracting Pty Ltd
- Onesteel Whyalla Steelworks – Orica Orphan Australia Pty Ltd - Overseas Glass
Agencies Pty Ltd - Paper Agencies (Aust &
NZ) Pty Ltd - PB Foods Ltd - Pitcher Partners
- Pressfast Industries Pty Ltd - Print Force
Australia Pty Ltd - Qantas Airways Ltd - R E
Ross Trust - Reece Pty Ltd - Ritchies Stores
Pty Ltd - Robert Clark Memorial Trust - Russell
Allport & Co Pty Ltd - Savings & Loans Credit
Union - Segue Portfolio Partners Pty Ltd Seven Cares Children’s Foundation Inc Seventh Day Adventist Church - Shell
Company of Australia Limited - Shire of
Roebourne - Silvant Nominees Pty Ltd - Smith
& Smith Cabinet Makers - Smith & Smith
Manufacturing - Snowy Nominess Pty Ltd South East Australia Gas Pty Ltd - Southern
Cross Television (TNT9) Pty Ltd - Spring Hill
Pastoral Pty Ltd - State Government Of
Tasmania - Stratco S A Pty Ltd - Swan
Plumbing Plus - Swan Transit Operations Pty
Ltd – Tasfreight - Tasmanian Community Fund
- The Advocate Newspaper - The Bowen
Foundation Inc - The Dagda Trust - The Danks
Trust - The Good Guys - The Hayden Way Pty
Ltd - The Marian & E H Flack Trust - The Mars
Stride Trust - The Media Alliance Pty Ltd T/as
- The Miller Foundation Ltd - The Orloff Family
Charitable Trust - The Pratt Foundation - The
Stan Perron Charitable Trust - The Wearne
Charitable Trust - The Wyllie Group - Tieco
International (Aust) Pty Ltd - Toll Priority (c/oToll
Transport Pty Ltd) - Tower Trust Limited - Trust
Company of Australia Ltd - UBS Investment
Bank - Varian Australia Pty Ltd - Va-Vite Pty
Ltd - Warrambo Holdings Pty Ltd - Westpac
Banking Corporation - Whyalla Electrical
Discounters - William Angliss Victoria Charitable
Fund - William J Turner Pty Ltd - Wonteco Pty
Ltd - Woodside Energy Ltd - Worley Parsons
- Wythenshawe Pty Ltd - Yamboon Pty Ltd Zoltans Pool Products Pty Ltd
15
Sport
Winning on and off the field
Celebrating the win.
A chat with Broncos’ Brad Thorn
and Scott Minto, north of Tweed River
W
hile he was raised
by Christian parents
(both are preachers at
Rockhampton’s Christian Outreach
Centre), Scott Minto only became
a Christian three years ago.
Unhappy with how he was living
his life, Minto gave up alcohol ‘cold
turkey’ and got into following Jesus’
teachings and helping others.
He’s also dead keen to compete
again (‘I’m raring to go,’ he declares)
since his injury last season. While he
prefers to play centre, the Broncos’
rich playing list means Minto’s
happily training and playing on the
wing, and establishing himself.
Minto balances his life out
with hospital visits and church.
The Broncos have recently
commenced attending meetings
at the Salvos’ Red Hill drug and
alcohol rehabilitation centre, talking
with guys who are down but not
out. The experience, he says, is
mutually beneficial.
When it comes to faith he
says ‘a lot of the boys are open
to talking about God and stuff
and they’re curious about why I
became a Christian.’ While he
occasionally cops good-natured
stirring and honorifics such as
‘Saint Scotty’, Minto takes it as a
sign of acceptance; he loves his life
and clubmates, and wouldn’t change
his life for quids.
Being a public Christian and a
footballer can be an uneasy mix
at times (AFL Fremantle Docker
Shane Parker’s pre-final sledging
by St Kilda’s Fraser Gehrig as a
‘Bible-bashing [chap]’ is a case in
point), but it would take a foolhardy
opponent, or a highly inebriated
barracker, to taunt the Broncos’
power forward Brad Thorn about
his Christianity.
When it comes to on- and offfield pressures, the laidback secondrower says stresses dissipate through
exercising faith and ‘confidence in
yourself and your players; knowing
that you’ll go out and do your job.’
Mateship is crucial, being able to
trust your team mates is an essential
aspect of success. In football, as
in life, trust has to be earned and
repaid. It’s a part of what makes a
successful team, just as clearly as it
is part of living a life of integrity
and worth.
There’s life lessons aplenty in that
observation. Thorn says he’s learnt
to train hard and trust in God and
his mates. After three grand final
wins with the Broncos (counting
both Rugby codes he’s played in a
grand final each year since 1999) he
knows what he’s on about.
The seasoned warrior has another
two years on contract with the
Broncos, and God knows how many
seasons he’s yet to play, fearlessly
‘taking the ball up’ and launching
his body at adversaries like a human
battering ram. Through it all Thorn’s
head, despite the scrums, the big
hits and hard knocks, is screwed
on tightly.
‘Whether you win or lose you
give 100%, but you know that
football’s not the “be all and end
all.” You’re not playing for sheep
stations,’ he laughs, ‘and you know
God still loves you regardless.’
The dual footy code champ
(Thorn left the Broncos’ a few years
back to successfully play Rugby
Union and represent the All Blacks
before returning) is a thoughtful
commentator on what it takes to
succeed in the big games-and the
reality of being a flawed human
being.
‘You hope that God’s nature
will come out for your time on the
paddock,’ Thorn says slowly, ‘by
showing courage, perseverance and
a good, honest work ethic.’
The ‘Salvo Hawks’ (pictured
left) handed the AFL’s Hawthorn
a premiership for the 2005 season
by winning the D-grade final by
one point. Ian Dicker, the current
AFL Hawks’ president, presented
the premiership cup to the Salvo
Hawks at St Kilda’s Junction Oval,
in Melbourne at the end of the
season. Playing in the Victorian
RecLink’s Australian Rules
competition, the Salvo Hawks (one
of only 12 football clubs Australiawide to be officially affiliated with
Hawthorn) narrowly defeated
the Western Port Warriors after
a seesawing contest – with three
minutes to go the Hawks were 10
points behind.
RecLink players come from all
walks of life but share a common
struggle against homelessness and
addictions to gambling, alcohol
and other drugs. Co-founder and
team manager David O’Halloran
explains, ‘Salvo Hawks are a funnel
to help people come back from
being disadvantaged. Most of our
players wouldn’t get a chance to
play in a regular team because they
lack social skills to relate in such a
team. However, this competition
gives them a start and, from
beginning as players here, people
have completely turned their life
around.’
O’Halloran paid tribute to the
Hawthorn club, with its four-year
support of the Salvo Hawks.
‘We play our home games at the
Hawks’ ground, Glenferrie Oval,’
he added. ‘They help us out with
barbeques and personnel support
and Ian Dicker, former AFL coach
Alan Jeans and former AFL player
Geoff Ablett provide tremendous
encouragement.
‘The Salvo Hawks team is just
one of the recreational activities
for the homeless and those affected
by addictions organised through
The Salvation Army EastCare
program. All the things we do
together give us time to look at the
deeper things in life and God is at
the top of the list. Without God I
wouldn’t be here today.’
But when someone comes in
with a dirty tactic in a tackle, be it a
low-blow or a head-high shot, or a
litany of other types of skulduggery,
Thorn concedes it’s difficult to avoid
retaliating. Turning the other cheek
can be tough in football, as it tends
to invite concussion.
‘Often I do try to knock their
block off,’ he admits, ‘and that’s just
it. Being a Christian, I know I’m
not perfect. There are moments on
the paddock when things get heated
but I believe (there’s sense in)
showing respect to your opponent,
shaking hands after the game and
moving on.’
Regardless if God is a footy
fan or not, you get the distinct
impression the best things that
happen on football’s big days - the
bravery, the triumphs of the will, the
love of life and vitality that swells
from players’ deeds - provide the
creator a few choice moments to
smile down on his creation.
Over Christmas the Salvos provide 150,000 food parcels and vouchers,
accommodation for 10,000 homeless people, refuge for hundreds
of victims of abuse and Christmas dinner for 8000 people with
nowhere else to go. Please support The Salvation Army Christmas
Appeal. With your help there’ll be signs of hope this Christmas.
Credit Card Donations 13 32 30 or salvationarmy.org.au
SALRED214
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