CLIMATE CHANGE, SCHOLARSHIPS AND VAD – MISSION UPDATE

Climate change impact

Caring for our common home: stay tuned for our forum on a zero net emissions target

Our mission – the healing ministry of Jesus – should extend to healing the harms of human behaviour on our common home. There is a clear moral imperative for Catholic organisations to set an example of environmental responsibility and stewardship. This is particularly the case for Catholic health and aged care organisations who deliver the healing mission of Jesus. The Holy Father’s second encyclical, Laudato Si, highlights the importance of caring for the Earth: including reducing the impact of our practices on climate change. Christians are called to an “…ecological conversion, whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them.”
Climate action is also a core social justice concern. The environmental and health impacts of climate change disproportionately affect the poor, First Nations Australians, people with chronic disease, and disability. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) has recognised this, launching their Cry for the Earth, Cry for the Poor which makes the case for action on climate change.
With these imperatives in mind, CHA will host a webinar in early November on a zero net emissions target for our sector. The webinar will involve expert speakers, a facilitated discussion between three member executives, and examples of carbon reduction schemes by CHA members.

Please contact me if you would like CHA to showcase your organisation’s carbon reduction initiatives.

Sustainable property development in Canberra

Queensland Bioethics Centre calling for expressions of interest for two PhD scholarships

The Australian Catholic University is calling for expressions of interest from high-performing candidates for two PHD Stipend Scholarships in Bioethics at the Queensland Bioethics Centre in Brisbane. The scholarship recipients will be supervised by the inaugural Mater Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Ethics, Dr Bridget Pratt.
The scholarships are an exceptional opportunity to contribute to research on justice in human research ethics and/or ethical issues related to sustainable urban development.
The timeline for expressions of interest has been extended until the end of October.

If you or someone in your network is interested in applying, please click this link for more information:

Queensland passes VAD Bill

I am saddened to inform you the Queensland Parliament has passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021 (Qld).
The Bill was supported, unamended, by a majority of Parliamentarians.
CHA run an advocacy strategy targeted at both Government and Opposition MPs. We provided amendments seeking to protect institutional conscientious objection to Government via the Premier and Deputy premier. These were considered by Cabinet and were unfortunately rejected. Cabinet did, however, endorse a series of broad guidelines for entities which the Deputy Premier then read into his second reading speech. This should give facilities some level of protection from arbitrary changes.
CHA also supported the Opposition, which sought to introduce a series of amendments which were sadly voted down.
While Parliamentarians voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Bill, many acknowledged our ethical objection to VAD, CHA’s advocacy and our genuine concerns with the drafting of the legislation.
We will be writing to thank those who acknowledged CHA in their speeches.
You can read our statement to the media released after the bill passed here.