National Briefs

Prof Sandra Jones

AUSTRALIAN Catholic University has launched a program to support autistic students and ease their transition into higher education. The university collaborated with autistic staff, students and alumni from ACU and other higher education institutions to develop the Autism at Uni program. ACU Pro Vice Chancellor of Engagement Professor Sandra Jones said as an autistic person she is excited to lead the project. It began to take shape when she realised that almost all similar programs at universities in Australia and overseas had been developed without the input of autistic people.
The Catholic Weekly

CATHOLICS in Australia are being encouraged to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them, with Australian bishops saying it is morally permissible to accept any vaccine. The Bishops Commission for Life, Family and Public Engagement acknowledges there are ethical concerns about the way some vaccines have been developed or tested. However, it follows Vatican guidance in urging people to be vaccinated for their own health, and for the health of the wider community.
The Catholic Leader

VINNIES is joining a coalition of organisations in calling on the Federal Government to fix the broken housing system, as a chronic shortage of affordable housing contributes to record levels of youth homelessness. St Vincent de Paul National Vice President Jacob Miller said skyrocketing house prices, rising rents and the lack of social housing are pushing more young people into homelessness. More than 25,000 young people under the age of 18 face homelessness each night.
St Vincent de Paul Society

Bishop Charles Gauci

CATHOLIC leaders are backing a nationwide campaign to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years, saying that allowing children as young as 10 to be incarcerated is immoral and opposed to human dignity. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, more than 900 children aged 10 to 13 were placed in youth detention in Australia in 2018-19, more than 65 per cent Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Darwin Bishop Charles Gauci said he supports the ongoing campaign to raise the age of criminality and called for a bipartisan approach to the issue.
The Catholic Weekly