Leader reflections
Report from Chair of the Board
Today is BSL’s time — now, more than ever
Chair of the Board
Entering its tenth decade, BSL’s enduring vision remains a formidable one – an Australia free of poverty. Becoming Board Chair in April 2021, I joined BSL in aspiring to make a real difference and support people experiencing disadvantage – so many more now in this COVID-19 environment. Together and with confidence, we strive to continue the work of our Founder, Father Gerard Tucker.
BSL has so much to be proud of in our first 90 years. The impact of BSL’s work since its inception in 1930, has been profound, touching the lives of so many and shaping the social fabric of the Australia we have today. I warmly recognise and honour those who have contributed to this distinguished history.
Just as BSL worked to address the challenges brought about by the Great Depression, we work to address the difficulties presented by the ongoing pandemic. Now is our time. Together, our staff, donors and supporters will further BSL’s mission into the next decade.
During the early months with BSL, I have been able to experience first-hand the great work BSL is doing. I have visited our Education First Youth Foyers and social enterprise stores , attended the launch of our Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan during National Reconciliation Week, engaged with the Chaplaincy team , taken part in a service to commemorate Father Tucker’s legacy and met with various working groups of staff across a range of different areas.
These experiences have left me deeply impressed by the commitment and determination of BSL volunteers, staff, Board Members and Charter and Life Members in delivering real solutions to help people out of poverty and address the systemic issues that keep people trapped in poverty. As this annual report shows, from research to programs to policy and advocacy, BSL continues to strive for change. Using an evidence-based approach and working with others, our work can make a real difference to increase participation and inclusion for all people living with disadvantage and poverty in Australia.
I thank Conny Lenneberg, our outgoing Executive Director, for the wealth of experience she brought to the organisation. Conny would often say that the Brotherhood of St. Laurence is Australia’s best-kept secret. Under her leadership, BSL engaged deeper and wider and we raised our voice in driving lasting change together. Her inspiration and passion to shape this world are remarkable.
I record too, the sincere thanks of us all to Dr Lucia Boxelaar, our Acting Executive Director, for the strong, considered and strategic way in which she is leading BSL at this time. Our organisation continues to be in very good hands.
Finally, I join with so many others in warmly thanking the Archbishop, the Most Reverend Dr Philip Freier, for all that he has brought to BSL during his tenure as Board Chair. I first came to know him when I was the Principal of a large Anglican school. We came to work more closely together through Anglicare Victoria, where I also served as Chair and where he serves as President of the Council. Through his regular meetings with the Chairs and CEOs of the Anglican Welfare Agencies, he deepened my appreciation of BSL, where I now find myself as his successor.
The Archbishop leaves BSL in a strong and respected position, both in our governance and in the extent of our reach. I am grateful that he will continue his involvement with BSL into the future through the keen interest he takes in our work and through several formal responsibilities as Archbishop of Melbourne, including chairing the Annual General Meeting and other connections with the BSL Board.
As this annual report came together, common themes of people overcoming adversity and demonstrating resilience emerged in the face of the challenges COVID-19 presents. As we move towards COVID-normal, BSL will continue to find innovative ways in striving for change as it seeks an Australia free of poverty.
Thank you for your support and encouragement.
More than anything I believe reading this annual report will offer you hope and remind you how caring, resilient and inspiring humans can be.
Stephen Newton AO
Chair of the Board
Report from Acting Executive Director
Throughout the pandemic, BSL has stepped up to face the ongoing challenges of COVID-19
Acting Executive Director
We look back on a year where, at every turn, we have pursued opportunities to strengthen our support for people most disadvantaged by COVID-19, including young people transitioning into adulthood; asylum seekers and other temporary visa holders who found themselves excluded from federal government support; people experiencing homelessness and socially isolated Victorians.
Through this time of disruption, we have been inspired by people and communities that have come together to support one another and create change. We have an opportunity to act and to reimagine what kind of country Australia can be.
Many of the issues we were facing before COVID-19 loom larger now: transitioning to a net-zero-carbon future without leaving those most disadvantaged further behind; growing inequalities and economic insecurity due to the changing nature of work, rising costs of living and an inadequate social security safety net and a human services system that is not sufficiently aspirational and transformational, particularly when it comes to supporting those who experience significant disadvantage.
Our experience during the pandemic has shown us that, as a community and as a country, we can make different policy choices. We can choose to end poverty. In collaboration with Social Ventures Australia (SVA), BSL commissioned B Phillips and V Narayanan, from the Australian National University (ANU), to undertake analysis of income support, poverty and financial stress on children and families . This research showed us that despite increased unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty rates for children of single parents fell from 39% to just 17% because of the $550 per fortnight Coronavirus Supplement. Also, modelling showed that a 10% increase in social security expenditure could more than halve the poverty rate among JobSeeker recipients – reducing it from 88 per cent to 34 per cent.
No one was more passionate to address these issues than our previous Executive Director, Conny Lenneberg. Conny resigned from her role as Executive Director in February 2021. On behalf of BSL, I thank Conny for her dedication and passion for our work. Conny worked with a sense of urgency and a bias for action. She led a process of transformation that ensured BSL is equipped to address the challenges that are ahead of us; she ensured BSL has a strong presence in public debate and she recognised the importance of partnership. Most importantly, Conny encouraged us to step up and this is what BSL has done throughout the pandemic. As a result, we extended our program portfolio to provide support for the many people disproportionally impacted by COVID-19.
We embraced the state government’s Working for Victoria (WfV) program, which allowed us to establish a surge capacity of 102 staff for a period of six months to address the growing demand for our services. We established a Community Strengthening Initiative as part of this program, employing 36 people, most of whom had lived experience of disadvantage, including people who had been long-term unemployed and refugees and asylum seekers.
Over fifty BSL staff were involved in the Wellbeing Checks program funded by the (then) Department of Health and Human Services, offering community door knock visits to socially isolated Victorians.
The Extreme Hardship Program saw BSL partnering with the Red Cross to respond to the housing, healthcare and mental health care needs of asylum seekers who had lost work due to COVID-19.
In our Aged Care Division, our focus has been on ensuring that our clients were safe but also retained important social and community connections.
Similarly, in NDIS, positive outcomes were achieved despite the COVID-19 challenges, as our services maintained face-to-face and virtual services to ensure people with disability had the support they needed to stay safe and had the opportunity to learn new skills, access virtual services and increase their independence.
Restrictions shook our Social Enterprises, but the doors to all but four of our 23 Community Stores re-opened in December and we had record sales for Brotherhood Books.
In our advocacy, we leveraged the COVID-19 Insights series produced by our Research and Policy Centre. These reports demonstrate that single policy or program solutions to address the economic insecurity of vulnerable groups are not effective. Concerted attention to aligning policies on access to skills, careers and employment support, as well as adequate social security, is needed to build the capability of these groups to live a good life.
Funding from The Paul Ramsay Foundation, which enables us to develop a systemic change response to COVID-19 impacts on young people, has been important in progressing this policy work. With this funding, we will extend our community-led response to youth employment (through the National Youth Employment Body) to seven communities in Australia.
BSL also published the report, Voices from the Frontline , which canvassed the experiences of over 300 BSL frontline staff across Community Programs, NDIS and Aged Care in responding to the pandemic. The report shows how both the pandemic and its accompanying isolation restrictions had an unequal social, health and economic impact on people facing disadvantage.
In this annual report, we share how we have continued to respond to the challenges of COVID-19, as well as some of our other key work and achievements over the last financial year.
On an important final note, I would like to acknowledge the very significant contribution of our outgoing Board Chair, the Most Reverend Dr Philip Freier and welcome Mr Stephen Newton as he joins BSL as our new Board Chair. I appreciate the significant contribution he has already made in the short time since joining BSL. I would also like to offer a big note of thanks to our donors and the staff and volunteers at BSL. Throughout this year, our staff and volunteers have maintained their focus and commitment to our work to end poverty. I feel privileged to be part of this team and extend a heartfelt ‘thank you' to all.
Dr Lucia Boxelaar
Acting Executive Director