The 7th ACMRO National Conference will address the issues of seasonal and migrant workers in Australia, emphasising their contributions to Australian society beyond their labour. Seasonal workers come from overseas, specifically from 9 Pacific islands and Timor-Leste, and travel and work temporarily in Australia. They do not only come to Australia to support their families, but they also bring rich cultural experiences, traditions, language, and faith. The conference will explore how faith communities in Australia and Australian society can welcome and learn from these gifts, fostering positive change.
The Conference, which runs from the morning of Thursday, 18 July to the afternoon of Friday, 19 July 2024, will provide delegates with an opportunity to receive formation through the lens of the Gospel values and the Catholic
Church’s Social Justice teaching, specifically emphasising the moral responsibility to ensure that seasonal workers are treated justly and with respect while working in Australia. It will encourage people across the country to actively support seasonal and migrant workers, particularly those from the Pacific islands and Timor-Leste. Moreover, the Conference will serve as a platform for raising awareness and promoting just outcomes for seasonal and migrant workers through informed discussions, advocacy, and policy development in support of these vulnerable workers, emphasising the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of this critical issue.
The Conference has been designed to also encourage various collaborators, including Australian Catholic agencies, relevant Bishops Commissions, and other leadership roles in Australian Catholicism, as well as broader ecumenical and global collaborators, to recognise the rights of the low-paid migrant and seasonal workforce as an emerging social justice issue, particularly in the context of global warming. There will be generous time given for delegates to provide feedback in formal and informal ways on how to contribute to these topics concerning not only Australia but the Oceania region as a whole.
The event is an ACMRO collaboration with two essential partner organisations: the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference's Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace (OJEP) and the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH).
When: Thursday, 18 July to Friday, 19 July 2024
Where: The 7th National Conference will be held at the Australian Catholic
University (ACU) Melbourne Campus (115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy VIC
3065).
Dr Laurie Berg
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney
Co-Executive Director, Migrant Justice Institute Sydney NSW Australia
Rev James Bhagwan
General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches
Suva, Fiji
We respectfully acknowledge that this conference takes place on the traditional land of the Wurundjeri people.
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