Common Grace is an Australian non-denominational movement of Christians concerned about issues of justice. The organisation started in 2014. As of May 2020, the network has over 45,000 members. [1] The CEO since June 2022 is Gershon Nimbalker.
Common Grace focuses on justice for asylum seekers and Indigenous Australians, for ending domestic violence, and for climate justice [1] [2] [3] and has run successful campaigns on these four issues. [4] It has been called the "largest left-leaning and faith-based political movement in Australia." [4]
Common Grace was founded in November 2014. Jarrod McKenna was seconded from World Vision Australia as National Director until the end of 2015. [5] [6] Scott Sanders, also formerly with World Vision, was appointed CEO in 2016. [7]
Wakka Wakka woman Brooke Prentis was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Spokesperson for Common Grace in a volunteer capacity from 2015, before being appointed CEO in February 2020. [1] [2] [8] She was the first indigenous CEO of a Christian organisation in Australia. [9] Prentis resigned for personal reasons in February 2022. [10] In June 2022, former advocacy coordinator for Baptist World Aid Gershon Nimbalker was appointed as the new CEO. [11] [12]
In late 2014, Common Grace launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised money for solar panels to be given for the Prime Minister's Sydney residence, Kirribilli House. The Australian Solar Council offered to install the panels at no cost, however the Abbott government rejected the gift, citing the property's heritage listing and security concerns. [13] [14] [15]
In 2016, Common Grace launched a campaign to persuade then Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce to stop the proposed Shenhua Watermark on the Liverpool Plains, arguing the mine risked Australia's food bowl. [16] In 2019, the organisation supported the School strike for climate, with climate campaigner Jason John arguing students were acting on what they were learning in school. [17]
Common Grace has been active in various campaigns to have refugees released from offshore detention. [18] In 2015, the organisation's then national director, Jarrod McKenna, was one of eight people found guilty of trespassing in the office of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop after staging a peaceful sit-in protest against the detention of children on Nauru. [19] In November 2017, Common Grace organised a day of support for the men held in detention on Manus Island. [20] Alongside World Vision Australia, Common Grace was a driving force behind the #KidsOffNauru campaign which saw the last four children on Nauru resettled in the United States in February 2019. [4]
Common Grace advocates for justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. [21] In partnership with senior Aboriginal Christian leader Aunty Jean Phillips, the organisation has revived the idea of church services to mark Australia Day. [22] "#Change The Heart" prayer services, seeking to promote acknowledgement and understanding of Australia's First Nations Peoples, are held each year in every state and territory. [22] [23]
In 2017, Common Grace launched a resource responding to domestic violence called "Safer". [24] [25] [26]
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union of Australia united under the Basis of Union. According to the church, it had 243,000 members in 2018. In the 2016 census, 870,183 Australians identified with the church, but that figure fell to 673,260 in the 2021 census. In the 2011 census, that figure was 1,065,796.
Frederick John Nile is an Australian former politician and ordained Christian minister. Nile was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1981-2023, except for a period in 2004. Nile was re-elected at the 1991, 1999, 2007, and 2015 state elections and served as the Assistant President of the Legislative Council between 2007 and 2019. Nile lost his seat at the 2023 New South Wales state election, after four decades of being in parliament.
The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility in use from 2001 to 2008, from 2012 to 2019, and from September 2021. It is located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru and run by the Government of Nauru. The use of immigration detention facilities is part of a policy of mandatory detention in Australia.
Save the Children Australia is an aid and development agency dedicated to helping children in Australia and overseas. It is an independent, not-for-profit and secular organisation.
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is a conservative right-wing Christian advocacy organisation based in Canberra.
George Newhouse is an Australian human rights lawyer and a former local councillor. He is the principal solicitor of the National Justice Project, a human rights and social justice legal service, and currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at Macquarie University. and at the University of Technology Sydney.
Bible Society Australia is an Australian non-profit, non-denominational, Christian organisation. It is part of a worldwide network of Bible Societies. Bible Society Australia maintains that the Bible is a significant historic text which has deeply influenced society and culture and is still relevant today. The organisation is involved in translating, publishing, and distributing the Christian Bible, from print, to audio, to digital versions. Bible Society Australia is also involved in Bible advocacy, the publication of Bible reading materials, and the provision of literacy support, both in Australia and overseas.
Muhammad Faisal is an Iraqi refugee who was detained on the island of Nauru between 2001 and 2006 under the Australian Government's "pacific solution". Faisal became the second last Iraqi refugee to leave Nauru after he was initially refused a protection visa on the basis of an adverse security assessment issued by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
The age of criminal responsibility in Australia is the age below which a child is deemed incapable of having committed a criminal offence. In legal terms, it is referred to as a defence of infancy. All states and self-governing territories of Australia have adopted 10 years of age as a uniform age of criminal responsibility, except for the NT and the ACT. Since October 2022, jurisdictions have made moves towards raising the age to 12 or 14, with some implementing legislative change.
Eternity is an Australian Christian media service that produces a bi-annual magazine and a daily online publication. Published by Bible Society Australia, Eternity is interdenominational, and is not affiliated with any particular church.
John Mathew was an Australian Presbyterian minister and anthropologist, author of "Eaglehawk and Crow" and "Two Representative Tribes of Queensland".
Wakka Wakka, or Waka Waka, people are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland.
The Migration Act 1958(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that governs immigration to Australia. It set up Australia’s universal visa system (or entry permits). Its long title is "An Act relating to the entry into, and presence in, Australia of aliens, and the departure or deportation from Australia of aliens and certain other persons."
The National Justice Project (NJP) is a not for profit legal service established to promote human rights, social justice and to fight against disadvantage and discrimination in Australia through strategic legal action, effective advocacy and communication.
Crime in Queensland is an on-going political issue. Queensland Police is responsible for providing policing services to Queensland, Australia. Crime statistics for the state are provided on their website. Official records show that reported offences against property and people has declined over the past 20 years to 2020. The state has criminal codes for hooning, graffiti, sharing intimate images without consent and fare evasion. Wage theft became a crime in 2020. The minimum age of criminal responsibility in Queensland is 10 years old.
Rodney Scott Bower is an Australian Anglican priest and social activist. He was formerly the Rector of Gosford, on the New South Wales Central Coast, and Archdeacon for Justice Ministries and Chaplaincy in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, and is now their Director of Mission. He is most known for his church signs that advocate progressive causes.
Close the Gap (CTG) is a social justice campaign focused on Indigenous Australians' health, in which peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations work together to achieve health equality in Australia. The Campaign was launched in April 2007. National Close the Gap Day (NCTGD) has been held annually since 2009.
Brooke Prentis is an Australian Aboriginal Christian leader, who is descended from the Wakka Wakka people. She is the current CEO of Common Grace and coordinator of the Grasstree Gathering.
Denise Mary Champion is an Aboriginal Australian deacon in the Uniting Church in Australia who serves as an outreach worker. She was the first Aboriginal woman from South Australia to be ordained in any Christian denomination.
Aunty Jean Phillips is an Indigenous Australian elder and has been a senior Aboriginal Christian leader for over 60 years. She was born on the Aboriginal mission of Cherbourg, Queensland and later she served as an Aboriginal missionary herself with the Aborigines Inland Mission (AIM).