Recent meetings at Parliament House, collaborative campaigns and policy submissions show how the Society is translating frontline experience into practical national advocacy.

Over the past two months, the St Vincent de Paul Society National Council has taken its advocacy directly to decision-makers at Parliament House, working with other community organisations to press for practical reforms and ensure the experience of people facing disadvantage is heard in national policy debates.

One of the clearest examples was the campaign for stronger gambling reform. The Society joined The Salvation Army, UnitingCare Australia, Wesley Mission and Anglicare Australia in meeting 18 MPs and Senators. Those conversations were reinforced by the Society’s submission on the Government’s gambling reform Bill, which drew on what Members and staff see firsthand: gambling harm can leave households without enough money for food, rent and essential bills. The submission called for stronger protection of children and young people, a comprehensive phase-out of gambling advertising, a ban on inducements and a national public health response to gambling harm.

The revised Bill did not go as far as the Society and its partners had sought, but the collective advocacy contributed to important improvements. These included bans on inducements and wagering advertising during live sports coverage, together with requirements for online services to prevent restricted users, including people under 18, from receiving gambling advertising. The outcome demonstrates that sustained, coordinated advocacy can improve legislation, even where further reform remains necessary.

The Society’s work at Parliament House extended beyond gambling. As part of the Stronger Charities Alliance, representatives met with four parliamentarians and Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh to continue the long-running campaign for legislation protecting the right of charities to advocate.

The Society also supported the presentation of a 50,000-signature petition calling for a federal Human Rights Act and joined more than 100 civil society organisations in a media statement backing nationally consistent and enforceable human rights protections.

Housing and homelessness also remained firmly on the parliamentary agenda. At the first joint meeting of Parliamentary Friends of Housing and of Mental Health, the Society helped draw attention to the experiences of people facing both homelessness and mental ill-health, and to the need for housing, health and social supports to work together. Brendan Podbury, the Society’s Victorian State President, also met with Member for Deakin Matt Gregg MP to discuss pressures within the electorate and the wider federal priorities set out in Towards a Just and Compassionate Australia.

Direct parliamentary engagement is only one part of the Society’s advocacy. Recent submissions have enabled the National Council to provide detailed recommendations on the systems that shape people’s everyday lives. In responding to proposed employment services reforms, the Society argued for a more humane and accountable system that ends automated payment suspensions, strengthens public oversight and is designed with people who have lived experience. It also reiterated the need to raise JobSeeker to 90 per cent of the Age Pension so that people are not left destitute while looking for work.

That emphasis on dignity and responsive services also informed the Society’s feedback on the Department of Social Services’ proposed relational contracting model. The move towards a more collaborative relationship between government and community organisations was welcomed, but the Society stressed that genuine partnership requires transparent decisions, timely responses, less red tape and sufficient flexibility to respond quickly during disasters and other emergencies.

The Society also contributed to debates about fair taxation and essential services. Its Treasury submission supported reforms requiring discretionary trusts to pay their fair share, while recommending that donations to Deductible Gift Recipients (DGRs) remain protected so the changes do not discourage charitable giving or reduce the amounts that DGRs receive.

In Victoria, the Society supported continued independent regulation of energy and water services while calling for an approach that balances affordability and consumer protection with the investment and innovation required to maintain reliable services over the long term.

Together, these activities demonstrate advocacy in action: translating the experiences of Vincentians and the people they assist into evidence-based policy, working collaboratively with others and bringing the Society’s voice directly to those responsible for shaping Australia’s laws and services.

To read more about the Society’s policy papers, submissions and more, scan the QR code or visit vinnies.link/submissions.