TUESDAY 20 AUGUST 2024 at 6:00 pm for 6:30 pm
Hellenic Club
1 Matilda Street Phillip ACT (Google Map location)
Social Welfare and the Church
Lin Hatfield Dodds will reflect on the role of the churches in the alleviation of poverty from the first years of colonisation through the development of the welfare state, the outsourcing of human service delivery to non-government organisations and the entry of profit driven enterprises into the system to today’s increasingly consumer directed care environment.
What is the role of faith-based service provision now and into the future?
What should the church’s role be in shaping the systems that either trap people in poverty or enable them to thrive?
If we are serious about communities in which everyone can connect, contribute, belong and be valued, what’s the role of the church in that, and what’s our role as people of faith ourselves?
Lin Hatfield Dodds
Lin is the CEO of The Benevolent Society, a charitable organisation that has been providing support services to Australians and advocating for positive social change for more than 200 years.
She has extensive experience in social policy, systems leadership, and cross sector social innovation, as well as a wealth of operational expertise.
Lin’s previous roles have included Associate Dean at The Australia and New Zealand School of Government, Deputy Secretary, Social Policy, in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2016 to 2019, and National Director of UnitingCare Australia.
She has also worked as a counselling psychologist with families and young people at risk. Recognition of Lin’s contributions include, ACT Australian of the Year, a Churchill Fellowship to study anti-poverty strategies, and an ACT Chief Minister’s International Women’s Day Award.
