to the Social Action Office website. We hope that you will stay awhile and use our site to learn about our current campaigns and to join with us in taking action for justice, peace, reconciliation and the integrity of all creation.

The Social Action Office (SAO) was founded in October 1992 by the Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, Queensland (CLRIQ) to undertake and cultivate social action ministry. The SAO is based in Brisbane but it serves a statewide network of Catholic Religious Congregations in Queensland. It also works closely with Religious Congregations across Australia and with a growing number of partners, both individual and organisational.

 

The SAO Vision

We yearn to be fully engaged in
God’s transformative dream for all creation -
a world wherein an ongoing creative process
brings to life
justice, peace and the inter-connectedness of the Earth community.

In this dream
those in greatest need,
are given highest priority.

 

Goal of the Social Action Office

The goal of the Social Action Office is to influence public policy by:

• undertaking research and analysis on the structural causes of injustice, socio-economic inequality and violations of ecological sustainability
• providing educational opportunities on these issues in order to inform effective social action
• collaborating with and lobbying on behalf of those affected by unjust structures which undermine the common good and violate people’s dignity, rights and ecological sustainability
• networking with individuals and groups committed to the SAO’s vision and agenda in order to foster partnerships for social action

 

Social Action Office Agenda

Creating a Culture of Peace

• Creating a culture of peace seeks to establish right relationships at all levels of human encounter.
• Reconciliation seeks the restoration of damaged humanity by creating a space for:
  • truth telling
  • justice and
  • healing

as a basis for a better future. (Adapted from Robert Schreiter, The Ministry of Reconciliation, 1998)

Promoting Sustainable Living

• Eco-justice advocates policies which foster conservation and enhancement of global resources and ecosystems now and in the future in ways that develop a more just, participatory and sustainable Earth community.

Promoting Social Justice

• Social justice has as its core meaning "right relationships". The four basic elements of social justice are:
  • a minimum income for all
  • universal human rights
  • access and equity
  • direct provision of assistance to the most disadvantaged members of the community.

 

Operating Principles

Systemic Change
The SAO engages with the political process to change societal structures which undermine the common good and violate people’s dignity and rights and ecological sustainability.

Mutuality
The SAO seeks a world where relationships between persons and among nations are based on equality, mutual respect and the interconnectedness of human life with all of creation.

Networking
The SAO develops networks which build social trust and facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit consistent with the common good.

Solidarity
The SAO stands in solidarity with those who are economically and socially marginalised and with all threatened creation.

 

SAO Receives Award The Social Action Office (SAO) was the recipient of the Mercy Foundation's Social Justice Award for 2002. This was awarded for SAO's social action ministry over ten years but specifically for the marginal electorates campaign, Fair Go Fair Share - In Income, Health and Housing, undertaken in the lead-up to and during the 2001 Federal Election. The SAO staff thank the Mercy Foundation for this tribute. More...