This group, many
of whom are Executive Staff of church community
agencies, work together on a number of issues.
This is also the group that works with Heads
of Churches as they prepare to meet with the
Premier.
Mandate
of the Commission
Review
of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights
June 2011
Minutes
of 5th July, 2010
Interchurch
Criminal Justice Taskforce:
A number of our
member churches have for some time been concerned
at the conduct of the current political debate
in Victoria on criminal justice matters. The
focus of being 'tough on crime' seems to have
been fueled as much by political pressures as
by a reasoned, principle-based approach to this
complex area.
Arising out of
this, the Commission for Social Questions agreed
in April this year to establish an interchurch
taskforce on criminal justice, with the objective
of providing a Christian voice in the media
on these matters.
The taskforce
has now met several times. Regular attendees
have included Denis Fitzgerald, Antony McMullen,
Fr Tony Kerin, Jonathan Chambers, Janette Shepher,
Joan Clark.
The initial work
of the taskforce is the preparation of a letter
to Victorian politicians on community safety.
The group is also focusing on a pre-election
statement on criminal justice issues. This will
draw heavily on material that is already in
the public domain, and will form a basis for
informing congregations and the general public
about the building blocks of true community
safety.
Victorian
Council of Churches
Social Questions Commission
Death Penalty Position
The churches
and church bodies that make up the Victorian
Council of Churches either hold a position that
the death penalty should never be applied (such
as the Salvation Army, the Uniting Church in
Australia, the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne)
or that it can only be used in cases of absolute
necessity, but that such cases are very rare,
if practically non-existent (as in the case
of the Anglican Church and Catholic Church).
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The Commission
on Social Questions is to help the churches
and church members to be instruments of God's
love and justice, living in such a way that
all people in our communities have the opportunity
to fully develop all their capabilities, and
to ensure that all structures in society support
such endeavours. It will do so with explicit
awareness of, and regard to, the Australian
Aboriginal and Islander Communities, the multifaith
and secular environment.