CEB Staff Newsletter #19 - 14 June 2024
Catholic Identity and Mission Update
Artwork: Victoria Villasana and Zabou Street Art, London, UK, 2016.
World Day Against Child Labour - 12 June 2024
The theme of World Day Against Child Labour 2024 is 'Let's act on our commitments: End Child Labour.' It’s time for us to commit to promoting the safe and healthy conditions of all children, in particular those facing the risk of child labour.
“Tens of millions of children are forced to work in degrading conditions, and are victims of slavery and abuse, harassment and discrimination. I truly hope that the international community will extend children's access to social protection to eradicate this curse.”
“We all need to renew our commitment, especially families, to protect the dignity of every boy and girl and to offer them the opportunity to grow in a healthy environment. A peaceful childhood allows children to look at life and the future with confidence."
Pope Francis, general audience at The Vatican, 11 June 2014
World Day Against Child Labour
Article by Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace_ https://socialjustice.catholic.org.au/
The Catholic Church teaches that child exploitation is a serious violation of the dignity of the human person, with the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church n 296 stating that “Child labour, in its intolerable forms, constitutes a kind of violence that is less obvious than others, but it is not for this reason any less terrible”. In an address from the Vatican on the 2014 World Day Against Child Labour, Pope Francis urged all people to renew their commitment to protect the dignity of every child, offering children the opportunity to grow in peaceful, healthy environments that foster hope and confidence.
According to the United Nations, children are are classified as child labourers when they are:
“…either too young to work, or are involved in hazardous activities that may compromise their physical, mental, social or educational development. In the least developed countries, slightly more than one in four children (ages 5 to 17) are engaged in labour that is considered detrimental to their health and development.”
Almost nine out of every ten children in child labour worldwide can be found in Africa, Asia and the Pacific regions, with the Americas (11 million), Europe and Central Asia (6 million), and the Arab States (1 million) also having some form of child labour. Child labour effects 5% of children in the Americas, 4% in Europe and Central Asia, and 3% in the Arab States.
The impact of COVID-19 affects the poorest countries and those in already disadvantaged or vulnerable situations. These include children, particularly women and girls. In 2019 it was estimated that there were 152 million child labourers with 7 out of every 10 of these children working in agriculture. The UN asks all nations to work towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal Target that seeks an end to child labour in all its forms by 2025.
Going Deeper: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-day-against-child-labour
Prayer - For An End to Child Labour
God of freedom,
we pray for all your children around the world
who are bound by unjust child labour.
Free them from their work so they can learn and grow.
Heal their physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds,
and protect them from further harm and exploitation.
We ask that you sustain child labourers with hope
for new beginnings in safety and peace.
Amen.
- Fiona Dyball
Music:
Let them Fly by Ridma Weerawardena and Charitha Attalage
Sourced from https://www.musicagainstchildlabour.com/songs
Here are a few tips for helping end child labour:
- Educate yourself.
Learn and teach using humane education resources, and share what you learn with friends, family, co-workers, and others, and work together to increase your “voting” power. - Contact retail stores, manufacturers, and importers.
Kindly ask them questions about the origins of their products. Let them know you want to buy products that don’t involve child labour, and give them suggestions for ethical products and services they can offer instead. - Buy fair trade and sweatshop-free products whenever possible.
Buy used when you can’t, or borrow, share, trade, make it yourself, etc. Look for certified fair trade labels such as Fairtrade Australia, and the Goodweave label to ensure that you’re supporting positive practices that don’t involve child labour.
Also be sure to use Food Empowerment Project’s Chocolate List to ensure that the chocolate you’re purchasing wasn’t made using child labour. - Grow more of your own food.
Buy from farmer’s markets (verify their labour practices first), Community Supported Agriculture, and Pick Yourself farms. - Share your time and money.
Forgo that daily latte or expensive make-up or go out to eat a bit less, and funnel that money toward supporting reputable groups that are helping free children from exploitative labour and helping them get a good education. Volunteer your time when you can. - Contact local, regional, and national legislators.
Ask them to pass laws that ensure no products in your city/state/country are made with child labour, and encourage them to adopt “codes of conduct” which include concern for humane, sustainable, just practices. - Contact businesses that do business in countries that have child labour.
Encourage them to put pressure on government officials to take appropriate action and on businesses that use child labour to use sustainable, fair-trade practices. - Invest ethically.
If you’re a shareholder, use your voice to ensure that your companies support humane, sustainable, just practices that don’t include child labour. - Contact government leaders.
Write letters to the heads of countries that permit any form of child slavery/forced labour and ask them to strengthen and enforce their laws, and to increase educational opportunities for children and humane, sustainable business opportunities for adults. - Educate others.
Give presentations to schools, communities of faith, nonprofits, and other groups to educate them about child labour issues and encourage positive action.
Upcoming significant Ecological Events:
- Wednesday 12 June World Day Against Child Labour
- Monday 17 June 2024 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
- Sunday 16 June to Saturday 22 June 2024 World Refugee Week
- Thursday 20 June 2024 World Refugee Day
- Sunday 7 July to Sunday 14 July 2024 NAIDOC Week
Article submitted by Sarah Page.
Ignatian Spirituality Reflection Day
An opportunity to stop, rest, refresh and connect with others.
Join a guided prayer, reflection, journaling, sacred listening and spiritual conversation. Facilitated by the First Spiritual Exercises Ministry (Vic Regional Team) and supported by local Christian Life Community (CLC) members.
- When: Sunday 23 June 2024
- Time: 10am – 3pm. Please sign in at 9.45am.
- Venue: The MacKillop-Glowrey Room, St Patrick’s Cathedral, 3 Lyons Street South, Ballarat
- Cost: Free to Participants
- RSVP: Sunday, 16 June
- Doreen Roache:
- Ph: 0417 117 382
- E: doreenroache@bigpond.com
- Anne Slingo
- Ph: 0417 854 540
- E: anneslingo@bigpond.com
- Doreen Roache:
Lunch & refreshments provided.
Article submitted by Kate Lawry.
Stewardship Update
Policy Central: What You Need to Know
Click here to visit Policy Central
The Assurance and Risk Team is officially launching Policy Central, an online policy management and resource system that allows DOBCEL staff to search, share, download, report, and monitor organisational policies, procedures, and supporting forms.
Policy Library
The Policy Library within the Policy Central Website in SharePoint will now be the official source of all organisational policies and procedures, including school templates.
Supporting Documents and Templates
All supporting documents and templates that are used in the implementation of policies and procedures are stored in separate libraries to make these documents easier to find and use.
Feedback
Your feedback is invaluable to us. We strongly encourage staff to share their thoughts on how we can improve Policy Central or if there are any policy gaps or missing supporting documents. Your input is crucial in our continuous efforts to enhance our policy management system.
Tutorials
Video Tutorials on how to navigate and use Policy Central are also available to assist you:
Policy-Central-Tutorials.aspx
Knowledge Banks – Policies and Procedures
As of Monday 17 June 2024, policies and procedures will no longer be accessible through Knowledge Bank. There will still be a link within this folder to Policy Central for the next few months to allow time for staff to familiarise themselves with accessing Policy Central.
Please contact Andrea Warr – Manager, Assurance & Risk for more information or assistance.
The Delegations Instrument - Now Available
The Delegations Instrument – Catholic Education Ballarat [DOBCEL] has now been finalised and ratified.
This Delegation Instrument details delegations for Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL) and Catholic Education Ballarat (CEB) office operations. This document clearly states who has the delegated authority to bind DOBCEL and CEB to specified approving decisions and under what circumstances.
This Delegation Instrument applies to:
- DOBCEL office operations
- DOBCEL staff and Board executing delegations for DOBCEL office operations
- Budget holders with an allocation of the office budget.
This Delegation Instrument does not apply to DOBCEL schools or DOBCEL staff executing delegations in relation to DOBCEL schools. DOBCEL school delegations, including those executed by DOBCEL staff on behalf of the schools, are detailed in the DOBCEL Delegation Instrument - DOBCEL Schools.
The Delegations Instrument – Catholic Education Ballarat [DOBCEL] is now available in Policy Central for all CEB staff to access.
People and Development Update
Federation University students need your feedback!
The DOBCEL People and Development team is working with students at Federation University who are currently undertaking an industry-based project as part of the Work Integrated Learning Unit.
The work-integrated learning unit, allows students to work with organisations on real-life work scenarios, where the students are required to research and deliver suggested outcomes. Fed Uni is working with DOBCEL to help us better understand why people choose to come and work in DOBCEL schools or the office and how we can best ‘attract and compete’ in a competitive job market. By better understanding the reasons people choose to work and stay with DOBCEL, we can focus our efforts on delivering more of the things that are important to our people.
Together with the P&D team, Fed Uni students have devised a short survey to gather your feedback and we encourage as many people as possible to share their thoughts and experiences. Your feedback will help the students devise suggestions and present findings designed to enhance our unique offerings and create an employee experience tailored to what our people want.
The survey has 14 questions and will take around 5 minutes to complete; and can be accessed here. Survey responses are anonymous.
The survey is open now and will remain open until Friday 28 June 2024.
If you have any questions regarding the project please contact Sarah Hanely, Talent Acquisition Partner.
Crucial Conversations – Swan Hill 3 & 4 September 2024
- Time - 9:00-4:00 (both days)
- Location – Swan Hill - Murray Downs Resort, Swan Hill
- Cost $500 (inclusive of learning materials (3 x books), morning tea and lunch)
- Trybooking registration
Crucial Conversations teaches a model for effective communication, that can be applied to any situation, but particularly difficult or high-stakes situations. It focuses on fostering dialogue, managing emotions, and achieving mutual understanding. The model helps to navigate high-stakes discussions with openness, respect, and skill, enhancing relationships and driving positive outcomes.
This program is designed for anyone who would like to develop skills in providing effective feedback and fostering open dialogue. The skills can be transferred across a range of situations including providing feedback and fostering open dialogue with colleagues, parents/carers and the community. It is relevant for people working in schools as well as the CEB office.
Future workshop dates -
Crucial Conversations will also be run on the following dates -
- 12 & 13 Nov - Ballarat
- Trybooking links will be supplied for bookings soon.
If you have any queries about the program please contact Fiona Murphy.
6-Month Self-Reflection/Annual Review Process - Now Open
The 6-month self-reflection process for the CEB office is now open.
The self-reflection process aims to ensure an opportunity for conversation to affirm and reflect on your achievements to date in 2024 and provide space to discuss and capture any support or growth and development opportunities for delivering on the goals you set for 2024.
Each person has received an email from Culture Amp (notifications@cultureamp.com) containing a link to complete the self-reflection. You can access your self-reflection via the email or by logging into your Culture Amp account. The link to the self-reflection is located on the home page.
Before completing your self-reflection, you should update the status of your goals. Once you’ve completed the self-reflection, submit it to your team leader; and expect to have a meeting to discuss your reflections.
6-month self-reflections and meetings should be completed by Friday, 14 July 2024.
Instructions for updating the status of goals and completing the self-reflection can be found here.
If you have any questions about Culture Amp please speak with Fiona Murphy.
Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community
Catholic Education Ballarat
- Manager: Employee Relations (closes 23 June)