Minister for Human Services commends CatholicCare Tasmania for its 60 years of service

October 2020

On Friday, 16 October, the CatholicCare Tasmania Leadership Team welcomed supporters and media to its 60 Years of Service campaign launch. Special guests, Archbishop Porteous and Hon. Roger Jaensch, Minister of Human Services, both attended the event alongside approximately 50 others.

Happy Birthday CatholicCare
Hon. Roger Jaensch, Minister of Human Services and Archbishop Julian Porteous cut the 60 Years of Service cake

Guests were met by members of CatholicCare’s Social Impact team and Family Programs team in an expo-style tour of the services offered by our organisation, followed by a series of presentations in the Murphy Room. Importantly, the event commenced with a beautiful Welcome to Country delivered by friend of CatholicCare, Janice. Each guest was gifted a gumleaf as part of the Welcome to Country ceremony.

“Connect with country in this moment,” Janice encouraged.

This moment of grounding and reconciliation was then followed by another important custom, as Michael McKenna led the gathering in prayer. Michael’s prayer included gratitude for the community work made possible by the kindness and resilience of CatholicCare staff.

Coinciding with Anti-Poverty Week, CatholicCare Tasmania’s 60 Years campaign launch was able to highlight social issues surrounding Australians living without adequate food, shelter and financial support.

Our Chief Executive, Andrew Hill, said the organisation had managed to retain its workforce of over 400 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Over the 60 years CatholicCare has been operating in Tasmania, this year has likely been one of the most challenging, adapting to digital alternatives when required during COVID-19. Our focus has always been people. Our programs have adapted to respond to varying needs in the community. We did not stop. Retaining our workforce was imperative this year. It means CatholicCare is able to continue to deliver our full breadth of services to people in need across Tasmania,” he said.

General Manager for Family and Community Services, Andy Witt, spoke about her experiences over 20 years at CatholicCare. She commented the commitment to people-centric services was just as important as when she started with the organisation twenty years ago as it is today.

“When CatholicCare Tasmania started in 1960, it was a very humble service catering mostly to family relationships services. Sr Philippa joined in the 1970s and pioneered much needed new programs. When I started in 1997, we operated with a small team. Now, we have over 400 staff and volunteers responding to Tasmanians in need all over the state,” said Witt.

The reality of poverty is not news to social services organisations such as CatholicCare Tasmania. Anti-Poverty Week highlights such disparities in quality of living standards. With the rise of unemployment this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social services agencies have been required to adapt quickly to operate safely and to expand their service model to cater for greater community needs.

Through Rachael Irvine and the Family Programs team, we launched a new method of highlighting Family Programs services in the community with the help of a claymation film shown as part of a short video reflection during the event. This digital, story-telling approach enlightens the community on the work of CatholicCare Tasmania and its Family Programs whilst protecting client identities.

“The claymation film offers an honest, real-life insight to Tasmanians requiring our help to navigate life’s challenges,” Andy added.

Andrew Hill confirmed the 60 Years campaign will include brand awareness advertising on 7News weather (Friday and Saturday evenings over the next month), TV commercials on the 7 Network and radio ads. This will complement a series of Facebook posts and article blogs to educate the wider community about CatholicCare’s breadth of services. The aim of the campaign is to ensure the public understands the service is accessible to people from all walks of life.

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On Friday, 16 October, the CatholicCare Tasmania Leadership Team welcomed supporters and media to its 60 Years of Service campaign launch. Special guests, Archbishop Porteous and Hon. Roger Jaensch, Minister of Human Services, both attended the event alongside approximately 50 others.

Happy Birthday CatholicCare
Hon. Roger Jaensch, Minister of Human Services and Archbishop Julian Porteous cut the 60 Years of Service cake

Guests were met by members of CatholicCare’s Social Impact team and Family Programs team in an expo-style tour of the services offered by our organisation, followed by a series of presentations in the Murphy Room. Importantly, the event commenced with a beautiful Welcome to Country delivered by friend of CatholicCare, Janice. Each guest was gifted a gumleaf as part of the Welcome to Country ceremony.

“Connect with country in this moment,” Janice encouraged.

This moment of grounding and reconciliation was then followed by another important custom, as Michael McKenna led the gathering in prayer. Michael’s prayer included gratitude for the community work made possible by the kindness and resilience of CatholicCare staff.

Coinciding with Anti-Poverty Week, CatholicCare Tasmania’s 60 Years campaign launch was able to highlight social issues surrounding Australians living without adequate food, shelter and financial support.

Our Chief Executive, Andrew Hill, said the organisation had managed to retain its workforce of over 400 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Over the 60 years CatholicCare has been operating in Tasmania, this year has likely been one of the most challenging, adapting to digital alternatives when required during COVID-19. Our focus has always been people. Our programs have adapted to respond to varying needs in the community. We did not stop. Retaining our workforce was imperative this year. It means CatholicCare is able to continue to deliver our full breadth of services to people in need across Tasmania,” he said.

General Manager for Family and Community Services, Andy Witt, spoke about her experiences over 20 years at CatholicCare. She commented the commitment to people-centric services was just as important as when she started with the organisation twenty years ago as it is today.

“When CatholicCare Tasmania started in 1960, it was a very humble service catering mostly to family relationships services. Sr Philippa joined in the 1970s and pioneered much needed new programs. When I started in 1997, we operated with a small team. Now, we have over 400 staff and volunteers responding to Tasmanians in need all over the state,” said Witt.

The reality of poverty is not news to social services organisations such as CatholicCare Tasmania. Anti-Poverty Week highlights such disparities in quality of living standards. With the rise of unemployment this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social services agencies have been required to adapt quickly to operate safely and to expand their service model to cater for greater community needs.

Through Rachael Irvine and the Family Programs team, we launched a new method of highlighting Family Programs services in the community with the help of a claymation film shown as part of a short video reflection during the event. This digital, story-telling approach enlightens the community on the work of CatholicCare Tasmania and its Family Programs whilst protecting client identities.

“The claymation film offers an honest, real-life insight to Tasmanians requiring our help to navigate life’s challenges,” Andy added.

Andrew Hill confirmed the 60 Years campaign will include brand awareness advertising on 7News weather (Friday and Saturday evenings over the next month), TV commercials on the 7 Network and radio ads. This will complement a series of Facebook posts and article blogs to educate the wider community about CatholicCare’s breadth of services. The aim of the campaign is to ensure the public understands the service is accessible to people from all walks of life.

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