CEB Staff Newsletter #13 - 3 May 2024

Staff News

Gab O’Brien from the Warrnambool office will be on sick leave from Friday 3 May and is scheduled to return on Monday 20May. In Warrnambool, there will only be administrative support offered by Maxine on Wednesdays for the next three weeks.  

For CEB staff visiting Warrnambool, a swipe card to enable access to the Warrnambool office is available from Ballarat reception. In the event you are working from the Warrnambool office and not travelling from Ballarat, please contact a Warrnambool-based colleague for access to the building. The phone will be re-directed to Ballarat. 

If there are administrative requirements or support that would typically be provided by the Warrnambool office, please contact Tina Munro.

We wish Gab all the very best for her period of leave and look forward to welcoming her back when she is well enough.

People and Development Update

2024 CEB Pulse Survey

To follow up on the 2023 Employee Engagement Survey, a pulse survey will ask for feedback on communication, which was the main area to improve. The 2023 feedback said that better communication across CEB (as explained below) would help everyone feel more engaged and positive. 

A summary of the feedback related to communication includes: 

• Having crucial conversations (including the giving of and listening to feedback provided). 
• The flow and connection of information (vertically and horizontally).  
• The spirit of communication, including partnering and presumption of good intent. 

You can read further details about the feedback on communication here. 

The pulse survey provides another opportunity to ensure we are on track and progressing with actions from the 2023 Engagement Survey and to provide feedback. 

The survey will open on Monday 13 May and close on Friday 24 May. 

Is my feedback anonymous?  

Absolutely! The survey is administered by Culture Amp on a secure website and information is securely collected and kept by Culture Amp. Individual responses will be part of a larger team and organisational reports and there is no way to tie responses back to individuals. 

What happens next?  

The survey is administered by Culture Amp. On Mondy 13 May, you will receive an email invitation from ajones@dobcel.catholic.edu.au via Culture Amp inviting you to participate. It should only take approximately 5 minutes to complete. 

Click here for more info on the Pulse survey and accessing your Culture Amp account.  

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Fiona Murphy or Tania Lund. 

CEB Workplace Giving Program

The CEB Workplace Giving Program is now underway. The program aims to promote and support action in advancing the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. The two charity partners this program supports are  Ballarat Catholic Bishop’s Charitable Fund and Caritas Australia.

Donating to these agencies through workplace giving allows regular donations to be made via pre-tax pay. Small contributions can have a big impact and every dollar can change lives. Staff can select any amount of money to contribute pre-tax from their fortnightly pay and can contribute to one or both partners. Donation amounts can be changed at any time.  

To learn more about the CEB Workplace Giving Program or to join, access the FAQs here or complete the CEB Workplace Giving Payroll Form available on Knowledge Banks, Submit the completed form via email to payroll@dobcel.catholic.edu.au.

Please contact Tania Lund, Staff Wellbeing & Engagement Advisor if you have any questions on the program. 

Flourish Wellbeing e-Magazine – March 2024

The May 2024 edition of Converge International’s Flourish Health and Wellbeing eMag is now available.

Featured Articles:

• National Sorry Day
• Family & Domestic Violence
• Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

Also in this edition:

• The Volunteering ‘Feels’
• Managing Personal Issues in the Workplace
• The Wellness Wave hits the Pet World
• Beyond the Noise
• And more!

For more information about the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) visit Converge International website.

Catholic Identity and Mission Update

Social Justice Update: Modern Slavery - Care for People

‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Luke 10:27

Laudato Si’ - RESPONSE TO THE CRY OF THE POOR      

Slavery is a thing of the past, right? Wrong. 

Today, over 50 million people worldwide are subject to some form of modern slavery, with many businesses unknowingly contributing to the problem. That’s why the Australian government introduced the Modern Slavery Act in January 2019.  

What is modern slavery?
According to the Global Slavery Index 2023 there are 50 million people living in situations of modern slavery on any given day, with the highest number in the Asia Pacific region.  In Australia, an estimated 41,000 people are enslaved in Australia.

Modern slavery refers to situations of exploitation where a person cannot refuse or leave, because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception. Modern slavery is a non-legal umbrella term that includes:

Although modern slavery is illegal everywhere, millions of people continue to be forced to work in factories, fields, fisheries and mines. People are recruited and maintained in modern slavery by poverty, vulnerability, corruption, unethical business practices and systems that create the conditions and opportunities for coercive control and abuse.

Modern slavery is not the same as poor working conditions or low pay, although such conditions often underpin and are indicators of modern slavery.

Today,  deceptive means are used by agents, recruiters and employers to hold captive their workforce and exploit their labour. Children and vulnerable workers are targeted, using control tactics such as charging extortionate recruitment fees and deductions, debts, threats of violence, arrest and deportation, withholding of wages and confiscation or destruction of identity documents. 

It is unthinkable that one human should ever be allowed to deny another human of these basic rights through fear, exploitation, deceit, or physical or emotional restraint. Action against modern slavery is fundamental Catholic Social Teaching. Pope Francis has called modern slavery “a crime against humanity.” He has pledged with other global religious leaders to rid the world of this affront to human dignity and human freedom.

The Christian tradition affirms the inalienable dignity of each person: created in the image of God, with unique gifts and talents, connected with the whole of creation, enriched by relationships of friendship and love lived out in a shared common life, capable of astonishing creativity, insight and achievement, and invited into communion with the Triune God revealed by Jesus. This core Christian vision of the human person is fundamental to the mission of DOBCEL.  

But slavery isn’t really a problem in Australia, right? Wrong. 

The number of reports of modern slavery that the Australian Federal Police has received each year has generally increased over time, ranging from 70 in 2013–14 to about 340 in 2022–23. Increases in reports may be related to an increase in awareness and/or ease of reporting rather than changes in the true number of modern slavery cases in Australia. (Modern slavery - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare)

One of the insights we have learned from the COVID pandemic is the truly global reach of our human interdependence, with the potential for outbreaks of disease in remote parts of the world to have a dramatic impact on our local community. This interdependence is also relevant to the various forms of modern slavery, which have many opportunities for connection to the operations and supply chain of our schools and homes, often in ways that are not immediately apparent. Practices such as human trafficking, child labour, and exploitation of workers for minimal or no wages are terrible abuses of human dignity and are contrary to the fundamental respect that Christians seek to promote for each person.  

Eradication of such networks of social, economic and environmental abuse must be at the forefront of our shared global fraternity, and particularly the intention of our shared Christian lives. This is no easy task as every day the decisions we make about what we buy and what we use will have a significant impact upon countless lives and communities. 

The eradication of modern slavery in our Dioces’s operations and supply chain is an extension of our mission identity and Catholic Social Teaching which emphasise respect for the human dignity of the person. We are taking significant steps to identify and address ways in which it might be at risk of supporting modern slavery, putting in place structures, partnerships and policies that will help all involved in Catholic education in the Ballarat Diocese to grow in awareness of modern slavery, and to act in ways that promote the dignity, freedom and wellbeing of each person. 

We each share in the responsibility to uphold the inherent value, dignity and freedom of every human person – especially the most vulnerable and forgotten in our global communities. 

Laudato Si’ Action:
Watch the short documentary, Modern Slavery - Short documentary

Upcoming significant Ecological Events:

• 🗓️ Wednesday 1st - Friday 31st May 2024 Mindful in May (month)
  For further information see the Mindful in May website: Mindful in May
• 🗓️ Wednesday 15th May 2024  International Day of Families
• 🗓️ Thursday 16th May 2024 International Day of Living Together in Peace
• 🗓️ Sunday 19th - Sunday 26th May 2024  Laudato Si’ Week

Caritas Australia Resources for  Laudato Si Week 2024 – 19-26 May
Our new Laudato Si’ Week resources are now available to download here.