The St Vincent de Paul Society's 40,000 members and volunteers work hard to assist people in need and combat social injustice across Australia. Internationally, the Society operates in 130 countries and has over 950,000 members. Members of the Society are people who live out their faith in action by visiting people in their homes to provide support, friendship and material assistance. This practice is known as home visitation, and is carried out by local St Vincent de Paul Society conferences. Conferences are typically Parish or school based groups of people who respond to calls for assistance from people in the local community and work closely with the Society's Vinnies Centres. People who are being assisted by conference members are often provided with furniture, clothing and household goods free of charge through the Society's Vinnies Centres. Centres also offer affordable clothing and goods to the wider community. The profit from the sale of stock from the Vinnies Centres is used to provide resources and support to people in need. For over 150 years, home visitation has been the core work of the Society . By visiting people in their homes, the St Vincent de Paul Society aims to help men, women and families to break their cycle of poverty and disadvantage.   The Society in Australia The first Australian conference was founded in Victoria by Fr Gerald Ward at St Francis' Church, Melbourne on 5 March 1854, just 21 years after the founding of the first conference in Paris. Inaugural conferences were established in Australian States as follows: Victoria 5 March 1854 Western Australia 8 December 1865 New South Wales 24 July 1881 South Australia 11 February 1886 Queensland 18 February 1894 Tasmania 12 July 1899 Northern Territory 27 September 1949 For more information on the history of the St Vincent de Paul Society click here.

..

ARPA Awards The Record was highly commended in the Best Feature category for Ethics and Climate Change by Fr Sean McDonagh in St Vincent de Paul Record, Summer 07-08. Sean McDonagh is well-known as a lucid, informed and passionate advocate on theology and environmental issues. In this article he provides a concise analysis of the ethical issues at the heart of climate change, which the world’s major political and economic players are choosing to ignore, and outlines the why and what of a Christian response. The Record’s presentation adds impact and drama to the depth and perspective which McDonagh brings to this complex issue. Click here to access Vinnies Centres