Social Justice Advocacy
The Social Justice Forum
The Social Justice Forum (SJF) is one way the tradition of prophetic ministry and social justice advocacy continues within the Synod of NSW and the ACT.
The Forum was established in 2009 to strengthen collaboration and to encourage capacity building in community advocacy through campaigns and training.
It’s made up of senior leaders within the Synod and its community services agencies.
The Uniting Advocacy Team
The work of the SJF is supported by the Uniting Advocacy Team within the Mission, Communities and Social Impact directorate. The team is led by Head of Advocacy Emma Maiden. It includes Earth Advocates who lead our climate and environment campaigns - visit the Uniting Earth Web site for more info on these. Full list of current team members under Contact us below.
It aims to encourage individuals, Congregations and Presbyteries to be informed and to take action on social issues as an expression of their faith.
The Social Justice Forum and the Uniting Advocacy Team:
-
Recommends action and advocacy initiatives for the Synod. Currently we have four main campaign priorities: the Fair Treatment campaign for drug law and policy reform; the Uniting Affordable Housing campaign; The Give Hope: Uniting for Asylum Seekers campaign; and climate and environment campaigns led by our Uniting Earth Advocates.
-
Encourages and supports all parts of the church to engage in social justice activity. This happens through provision of information and other resources, including an advocacy training package and guidance on meeting with MPs.
-
Shares information about social justice advocacy happening around the Synod through the SJF Facebook pages, Social Justice E-news, Synod's Insights and other means.
UNITING ADVOCACY TEAM
Emma Maiden Head of Advocacy emaiden@uniting.org
Kyle Cox Senior Campaign Adviser kcox@uniting.org
Dee Davidian Social Justice Advocate ddavidian@uniting.org
Alex Hogan Social Justice Advocate (on leave 2019-20) ahogan@uniting.org
Jason John Uniting Earth Advocate 0438 609 097 jjohn@uniting.org
Jessica Morthorpe Uniting Earth Advocate (02) 9768 6897 jmorthorpe@uniting.org
Jon O’Brien Advocacy Senior Specialist 0477 725 528 joobrien@uniting.org
Stafford Sanders Social Justice Advocate 0412 070 194 ssanders@uniting.org
Dom Schuster Government Relations Specialist 0466 714 899 dschuster@uniting.org
Bronwyn Seneque Advocacy Project Specialist 0420 578 028 bseneque@uniting.org
SJF email: socialjustice@uniting.org
Advocacy team email: advocacy@uniting.org
The Advocacy team is located on:
Level 5, 222 Pitt St Sydney NSW 2000
and
Level 1, War Memorial Building, 13 Blackwood Place, North Parramatta NSW 2150.
Sign up to our monthly newsletter to stay informed on our campaigns, and for opportunities for you to get involved.
Be sure to follow our social media for news and live updates about all of our campaigns and to join in on the discussion!
For resources and further reading, go to our resources page.