TMA T h e M e l b o u r n e A n g l i c a n
Anglicans supporting the most vulnerable pages 1, 5 & 12
Artificial Intelligence must ‘reflect something of God’ page 15
August 2020, No 594
Clergy commended for ‘initiative’ in responding to lockdown challenges by Stephen Cauchi
The Diocese of Melbourne is adapting to ministry amid the compulsory wearing of facemasks and bracing for more COVID-19 cases as the effects of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions continue to be felt in Victoria. Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will be on stage three restrictions until at least 19 August and possibly longer as the number
“Stage Four may preclude home pastoral visits and home communion.” Archbishop Philip Freier The Brotherhood of St Laurence team at the Flemington flats during the hard lockdown.
Photo: BSL.
Anglicans join wider support for locked-down residents by Mark Brolly
A
nglicans responded to the lockdown of public housing estates across nine sites in Flemington and North Melbourne last month with ecumenical, interfaith and community action to assist the 3000 residents as Victoria’s coronavirus crisis worsened, leading to a second lockdown of metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, to the city’s north. The Brotherhood of St Laurence reported that it had more than 1000 participants and service users living in the affected towers – and several staff. Staff from across a range of community programs teams and trained volunteers conducted welfare checks by phone from the morning of Monday 6 July, less than 48 hours after the State Government
ordered the immediate lockdown of the estates – forcing residents to stay in their units for five days. The Fitzroy-based agency worke d w it h R e d C ro ss , the Victorian Multicultural C ommission, G over nment
translation support in Arabic, Dinka, Farsi, Urdu, Persian, Dari and Somali at the COVID-19 testing stations set up to test residents. On 5 July, the Government appointed former Brotherhood Executive Director, Mr Tony
“Anglicare Victoria had operated seven days a week during the hard lockdown of the towers.” departments and others to coordinate the response, while it also advocated for people with their employers so that they could keep their jobs. A Brotherhood spokeswoman said that at the request of Victorian Multicultural Commission, it supplied 10 multilingual staff for
Nicholson, to provide advice on additional support for the public housing residents. Anglicare Victoria’s CEO, Mr Paul McDonald, said his agency had responded rapidly to a request from the Victorian Government to provide assistance to two of the public housing towers under hard
lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Mr McDonald said 20 staff worked in rolling shifts, responding to more than 450 calls over the first five days for immediate needs such as food and medication, nappies and sanitary products as well as social support. He added that Anglicare Victoria had operated seven days a week during the hard lockdown of the towers. “Many of the people living in the towers were understandably distressed at being isolated high above the ground, and really appreciated someone checking in with them,” he said. “In some cases families were managing five or more children in a small space. We can learn a lot from these residents about finding resilience in difficult circumstances. Continued on page 4
of new daily cases of COVID-19 continues to sit in the hundreds. Most churches in the diocese, whose boundaries broadly overlap with the stage three restriction area, are affected by the new requirement to wear masks. According to the Diocesan COVID-19 Updates, clergy, church and congregational members in the stage three area must wear masks for all ministry outside the home, with very few exceptions. One exception is livestreaming and video: “Speaking or singing directly to camera without a mask is preferred. When not speaking or singing, a mask must be put back on.” If stage four restrictions were implemented, “we ought to anticipate that church premises will be entirely closed” with no face-to-face meetings, Archbishop Philip Freier wrote in the Diocesan COVID-19 Update on 22 July. “All church staff are likely to have to work from home and not from the church office. Stage Four may preclude home pastoral visits and home communion.” Under stage three restrictions, no gathered events or services in church facilities, homes or other venues can occur. A maximum of
PLUS: Why the Black Lives Matter movement is important in Australia (page 13)
Continued on page 10