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Keywords: Public Services

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Silent Night, from hymn to hype

    • Simon Smart
    • 19 December 2024

    Modern advertisements blend artistry and manipulation, tugging our heartstrings while selling us things we didn’t think we needed. Take the Austrian financial giant Erste’s annual Christmas ad, which this year chronicles the history of 'Silent Night.' It's breathtaking — until its message makes a baffling twist.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Reflecting on the year that was

    • David Halliday, Michael McVeigh, Laura Kings, Michele Frankeni, Andrew Hamilton, Julian Butler
    • 18 December 2024

    To close the year for Eureka Street, the editorial team are taking a step back to reflect on the character of 2024. What did it demand of us? What did it teach us about ourselves, and the world we inhabit?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Celebrating Christmas, holy and hectic

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 16 December 2024

    At Christmas, the sacred and the secular seem locked together. Amid the tinsel and toasts, there’s a deeper narrative: one of radical generosity, shared humanity, and solidarity with the marginalised. This season invites not just celebration but reflection on who we are—and who we might become.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Friendship in freefall: Unpacking a crisis of civic disconnection

    • David Halliday
    • 13 December 2024

    In 2024, a fifth of Americans reported having no close friends, and the number is growing, especially among those without college degrees. So what are the societal structures behind this crisis in loneliness, and how we can rebuild meaningful connections?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Climate finance still feels like charity, not justice

    • Damian Spruce
    • 10 December 2024

    At COP29, the world’s wealthiest nations promised to confront climate change—but delivered only a fraction of the required funds, leaving developing countries with a trillion-dollar shortfall. As Pope Francis warns of a sick planet, the question remains: Who pays for the climate crisis, and who bears the consequences?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    New immigration laws treat humans as parcels

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 04 December 2024

    Australia’s recent immigration detention laws reveal a stark shift in governance, prioritising power over human dignity. As families face indefinite separation and bureaucrats enforce policies with brutal efficiency, the High Court's rebuke offers a glimmer of ethical resistance. But can such laws truly claim legitimacy in a democratic society?

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  • RELIGION

    All religion is local

    • John Warhurst
    • 03 December 2024
    2 Comments

    The Synod of Bishops may mark a turning point for the Catholic Church, but the real work now begins — locally. From diocesan councils to parish communities, the challenge lies in translating synodality into action. In Australia, divergent episcopal views and a patchy history of reform raise critical questions about the Church’s future.

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  • RELIGION

    How the Synod quietly redefined disability in the Church

    • Justin Glyn
    • 30 November 2024
    2 Comments

    The Synod on Synodality has quietly rewritten the Church’s relationship with disability, shifting from a legacy of marginalisation to a vision of equality and dignity. This historic move acknowledges past failings while championing the rights of disabled people as full participants in faith and society. But does the rhetoric match reality?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Housing is a human right. It's time it became law

    • Kevin Bell
    • 29 November 2024
    2 Comments

    With unaffordable housing pushing families into impossible choices,  homelessness affecting 120,000 people, and systemic inequities deepening, we must ask: What kind of society do we want to build — and for whom?

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    How Laudato Si’ inspired a global movement for sufficiency

    • David Ness
    • 28 November 2024
    2 Comments

    As the climate crisis deepens, there's an urgent need for a global shift toward fairness, equity, and living well within our planet’s limits. Drawing from Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’,  sufficiency thinking offers a critical, overlooked pathway to global equity and sustainability.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Could re-thinking charities solve the cost-of-living crisis?

    • Joe Zabar
    • 28 November 2024

    As cost-of-living pressures weigh heavily on Australians, could mission-driven organisations like charities and not-for-profits disrupt markets by prioritising people over profit? Empowering these organisations to compete in key markets may result in more equitable systems that address community needs. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Inviting in and locking out

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 25 November 2024
    4 Comments

      Social Inclusion Week invites reflection on our shared humanity amidst deep divides. From childhood cliques to culture wars, the tension between inclusion and exclusion is a paradox rooted in belonging. Can we overcome fear and forge connections across difference, or will anxiety keep us apart? The answer shapes our society’s future.

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