![]() | This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic.(December 2023) |
The Salvation Army, Australia Territory (nicknamed "Salvos" in Australian English) is an evangelical Protestant Christian church known for its charity work. It began operating in Australia in the late 19th century. There are currently[ when? ] 335 thrift stores and donation bins across Australia. [1]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2015) |
The first Salvation Army meeting in Australia was held in 1880. Edward Saunders and John Gore led the meeting from the back of a greengrocer's cart in Adelaide Botanic Park with an offer of food for those who had not eaten. [2] In 1883, Major James Barker led the way to establish the first Salvation Army social institution anywhere in the world on a permanent basis, known as the "Prison Gate" program. Barker saw that prisoners being released from the Melbourne Gaol had nowhere to go and no work, so they inevitably re-offended and returned to gaol. Barker leased a small house in Lygon Street, Carlton, to provide accommodation for prisoners discharged from Melbourne's gaols. This led to the formation of the Prison-Gate Brigade, the members of which met discharged prisoners upon their release and offered them a home and the prospect of a job. [3] The Salvos also involved themselves in finding work for the unemployed and in re-uniting families.
In Melbourne from 1897 to 1910, the Army's Limelight Department originally established in 1891, was Australia's first film production company. [4] The Army set up 'Biorama' companies with electric generators and projection equipment to travel around Australia, showing films produced by the Limelight Department along with other entertainments. [5]
The Salvation Army grew quickly within Australia, but it was a growth fraught with difficulty. In its early days The Salvation Army often met with suspicion, derision and violence. Salvationists simply walking down the streets would often suffer abuse and sustain injury from thrown objects. Several local councils even passed by-laws forbidding Salvation Army street processions, and the police were liable to arrest them. From 1881 to 1907, across the country, more than 100 Salvationists were fined or jailed for holding street-meetings and marches.
Almost every night some of our soldiers are getting hurt. One night during the week, as we were all having our usual open-air meeting, a crowd of 200 roughs gathered around, and threw lumps of road metal. One piece struck the Captain on the mouth and split one of his teeth, and loosened two others; yet, with all, we were able to sing, 'Hallelujah!' "Another night a sister got struck on the head, almost forcing her to the ground. In the face of all, there are certain officials of the law who stand by and enjoy the brutal sport.
— War Cry magazine Brisbane, c. 1900
Despite persecution and prosecution the number of Salvation Army Corps grew at an amazing rate, so much so that by 1900 there were over 1,300 Corps and outposts across Australia and New Zealand, and The Salvation Army in Australasia could boast the following statistics: [2] [3]
In February 1917 it was announced eight Australians and four New Zealanders constituting the Pioneer Missionary Contingent would leave for China. [6] The first Salvation Army corps was established in then-Pekin. [7] Contingent members found a bleak winter, high walls, crowds, and many challenges. [8] Members wore clothing collars that bore the Chinese characters '救 世 軍' for 'Save World Army'. The contingent continued into the 1930s. [9]
Salvation Army captain Zara Dare (1886–1965) became one of the first two female police officers in Queensland in 1931.
Australia's George Carpenter was General of the Salvation Army (worldwide leader) from 1939 to 1946 and Eva Burrows during the 1980s and 1990s. [10] [11]
It is thought that the name of the popular biscuit by Arnotts, SAO, stands for ‘Salvation Army Officer’. [12]
On 30 November 2018, General Brian Peddle announced that the two territories of Australia (The Salvation Army, Australian Eastern Territory and The Salvation Army, Australia Southern Territory) were again one territory, to be known as the Australia Territory. This project was known as Australia One. [13]
The Salvation Army Year Book 2015 outlines the official statistics for the two Australian territories as of 1 January 2014. [14] In The Salvation Army, Australian Eastern Territory:
In The Salvation Army, Australia Southern Territory:
Ninety-four cents in every dollar donated to The Salvation Army goes directly to those in need.[ citation needed ]
The Salvation Army helps more than one million Australians every year. In an average week, the Salvation Army provides an estimated: [15]
From these diverse activities, The Salvos have grown to be one of Australia's most respected charitable organisations, with a 2009 survey by Sweeney Research and the advertising group Grey Global finding the Salvation Army and the nation's Ambulance Service to be Australia's most trusted entities. [16]
From the 1940s to the 1980s the Salvation Army in Australia sheltered approximately 30,000 children. In 2006 the Australian Salvation Army acknowledged that sexual abuse may have occurred during this time and issued an apology. In it, the Army explicitly rejected a claim, made by a party unnamed in the apology, that there were as many as 500 potential claimants. [17]
In 2013 it was reported that private settlements totalling A$15.5 million had been made in Victoria relating to 474 abuse cases; a Salvation Army spokesman said that "This should not have happened and this was a breach of the trust placed in us" and that they were "deeply sorry" whilst claiming that the abuse was "the result of individuals and not a culture within the organisation." [18] [19] [20]
On 28 January 2014, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, a royal commission of inquiry initiated in 2013 by the Australian Government and supported by all of its state governments, [21] began an investigation into abuse cases at the Alkira Salvation Army Home for Boys at Indooroopilly; the Riverview Training Farm (also known as Endeavour Training Farm) at Riverview –both in Queensland; the Bexley Boys’ Home at Bexley; and the Gill Memorial Home at Goulburn –both in New South Wales. The investigation also examined The Salvation Army's processes in investigating, disciplining, and transferring or removing anyone accused of, or found to have engaged in, child sexual abuse in these homes. [22] [23] [24] [25] On 27 March 2014, the Royal Commission began an investigation into the handling by The Salvation Army (Eastern Territory) of claims of child sexual abuse between 1993 and 2014. [26] [27] [28]
Many questions were raised during the course of the investigation as to whether high-ranking members of the organisation knew about these cases of child sexual abuse and failed to investigate, discipline, sack and prosecute sex offenders while boys and girls were beaten, bashed and raped. [29]
The Royal Commission published a case study report on the findings and recommendations for one of the abovementioned case studies. [30]
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organization headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organization reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7 million, consisting of soldiers, officers, and adherents who are collectively known as Salvationists. Its founders sought to bring salvation to the poor, destitute, and hungry by meeting both their "physical and spiritual needs". It is present in 133 countries, running charity shops, operating shelters for the homeless, and disaster relief and humanitarian aid to developing countries.
New Norcia is a town in Western Australia, 132 km (82 mi) north of Perth, near the Great Northern Highway. It is situated next to the banks of the Moore River, in the Shire of Victoria Plains. New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia, with its Benedictine abbey founded in 1848. The monks later founded a mission and schools for Aboriginal children. A series of Catholic colleges were created, with the school that became St Benedict's College in 1965 later gaining notoriety for being the site of sexual abuse that took place in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Knox Grammar School is an independent Uniting Church day and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, New South Wales, an Upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1924 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia as an all-boys school, and named after John Knox. The school has since grown, branching out into a large Senior School and a Preparatory School, enrolling approximately 2900 students. The school also caters for approximately 160 boarding students from Years 7 to 12.
George Pell was an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the inaugural prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy between 2014 and 2019, and was a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers between 2013 and 2018. Ordained a priest in 1966 and bishop in 1987, he was made a cardinal in 2003. Pell served as the eighth Archbishop of Sydney (2001–2014), the seventh Archbishop of Melbourne (1996–2001) and an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne (1987–1996). He was also an author, columnist and public speaker. From 1996, Pell maintained a high public profile on a wide range of issues, while retaining an adherence to Catholic orthodoxy.
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Rice.
William Francis "Frank" Houston was a Pentecostal Christian pastor in the Assemblies of God in New Zealand and Australia. Frank Houston founded Sydney Christian Life Centre, which would eventually come under the leadership of his son Pastor Brian Houston before merging into Hillsong Church.
The Diocese of Ballarat, based in Ballarat, Australia, is a diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Melbourne. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and was established in 1874. Its geography covers the west, Wimmera and Mallee regions of Victoria. The cathedral is in St Patrick's Cathedral, Ballarat.
Scouting started in New South Wales, a State of Australia, in 1908. In the early years, local Boy Scout patrols and troops formed independently and several separate associations began operating including the Chums Scout Patrols, League of Boy Scouts, Girl Peace Scouts, Boys Brigade Scouts and Church Lads Brigade Scouts. These were later joined by The Boy Scouts Association, The Girl Guides Association and Life-Saving Scouts and Life Saving Guards of the Salvation Army. Some local Scout groups moved affiliation between the different associations.
The Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, officially the Hospitaller Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God, are a Catholic religious order founded in 1572. In Italian they are also known commonly as the Fatebenefratelli, meaning "Do-Good Brothers", and elsewhere as the "Brothers of Mercy", the "Merciful Brothers" and the "John of God Brothers". The order carries out a wide range of health and social service activities in 389 centres and services in 46 countries.
Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators and volunteers. The body oversees the management and development of the sport from the national team at the elite level, the conduct of national and international events, through to grass roots participation.
Salvation Army bands have a long history in Australia, with the first established in 1881 in Adelaide, South Australia. By the late 1990s, Australia had 200 senior and 130 junior Salvation Army brass bands.
Catholic sexual abuse cases in Australia, like Catholic Church sexual abuse cases elsewhere, have involved convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests, members of religious orders and other personnel which have come to light in recent decades, along with the growing awareness of sexual abuse within other religious and secular institutions.
The Salvation Army, Australia Eastern Territory or (AUE) was one of two administrative territories that The Salvation Army was divided into within Australia and covered 2 states and 1 Australian territory on the east coast of the country. The AUE was geographically sub-divided into 2 divisions, under different Divisional Commanders, each reporting directly to the Territorial Commander. Its headquarters was located at 261-265 Chalmers St, Redfern NSW 2016.
The Salvation Army, Australian Southern Territory or (AUS) was one of two administrative territories. On Friday 30 November 2018, General Brian Peddle announced that the Southern Territory and Eastern Territory were reunited and The Salvation Army in Australia would again be one territory.
Brian Charles Houston is a New Zealand-Australian former pastor and evangelist. He was the founder and senior pastor at Hillsong Church, based in Sydney with locations around the world. He was the national president of Australian Christian Churches, the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, from 1997 to 2009.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and report upon responses by institutions to instances and allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia. The establishment of the commission followed revelations of child abusers being moved from place to place instead of their abuse and crimes being reported. There were also revelations that adults failed to try to stop further acts of child abuse. The commission examined the history of abuse in educational institutions, religious groups, sporting organisations, state institutions and youth organisations. The final report of the commission was made public on 15 December 2017.
Child sexual abuse is a matter of concern in Australia, and is the subject of investigation and prosecution under the law, and of academic study into the prevalence, causes and social implications.
Menachem Leib "Manny" Waks is an Australian activist. He was previously part of the Orthodox Jewish community in Australia and later became known for his activism against child sexual abuse in the Jewish community worldwide. He founded Tzedek, an organisation to fight child sexual abuse in Jewish communities. Waks assisted the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in investigating Melbourne Yeshivah centre of the Orthodox Chabad movement of Judaism on their handling of child sexual abuse cases.
Australian Indigenous Ministries, formerly Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia, is an interdenominational Christian organisation that provides ministries to Aboriginal Australians. Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia was established in 1905, and ran many Aboriginal missions across Australia, including the Retta Dixon Home in Darwin, Northern Territory, St Clair Mission in Singleton, New South Wales.
Earle Maxwell is an Australian minister and Salvation Army officer who served as the 19th Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army from 1993 to 1999, as well as the acting General of the Salvation Army in 1994.