CatholicCare

CatholicCare offers free trauma counselling to people impacted by bushfire

January 9, 2020

CatholicCare, Bushfire crisis

CatholicCare Wollongong have announced free trauma counselling and Community Connect meetings to support people in bushfire affected areas.

Director of CatholicCare, Mr Michael Austin, said: “The Christmas and New Year period has been defined by significant trauma and devastation from bushfires burning in many areas of the country. Fires have significantly impacted large tracts of our diocese, which includes the Macarthur, Southern Highlands, Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions, going as far south as Ulladulla.

“CatholicCare Wollongong have boosted phone support staff and specialised trauma counselling staff to meet the needs of the community throughout the diocese. We are providing free counselling over the phone as well as face-to-face support people affected by the bushfires. We have trained trauma counsellors locally, who are ready to support those in need, giving them an opportunity to debrief and receive qualified support.

“We will also be hosting Community Connect morning teas in our Nowra and Campbelltown offices. This will provide people with a place to debrief in a supportive environment with trained staff who can help navigate a way forward. An announcement will be made shortly to list the days and times for Community Connect meetings.

“CatholicCare Wollongong is working in collaboration with the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s nationwide response and strategy to this crisis. We are also part of the Diocese of Wollongong’s interagency alliance with Bishop Brian Mascord’s office and Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong to assist bushfire-affected communities in our diocese through our parishes and schools.”

To talk to a CatholicCare trauma counsellor over the phone or book a face-to-face meeting, phone (02) 42 549 395 (lines are open Monday to Friday 9am–5pm) or email [email protected].

Service Agreement

Definitions

Account means the account held at your financial institution from which we are authorised to arrange for funds to be debited.

Agreement means this Direct Debit Request Service Agreement between you and us, including the direct debit request.

Business day means a day other than a Saturday or a Sunday or a listed public holiday.

Debit day means the day that payment is due.

Debit payment means a particular transaction where a debit is made, according to your direct debit request.

Direct debit request means the Direct Debit Request between us and you.

Us and we and our means the Catholic Development Fund.

You means the customer(s) who signed the direct debit request. Your financial institution is the financial institution where you hold the account that you have authorised us to arrange to debit.

Debiting your account

By submitting a direct debit request, you have authorised us to arrange for funds to be debited from your account according to the agreement we have with you.

We will only arrange for funds to be debited from your account:

As authorised in the direct debit request; if the debit day falls on a day that is not a business day, we may direct your financial institution to debit your account on the following or previous business day. If you are unsure about which day your account has or will be debited, please check with your financial

Changes by you

If you wish to stop or defer a debit payment you must write to us at least 5 business days before the next debit day.

This notice should be given to us in the first instance.

Your obligations

It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient clear funds available in your account to allow a debit payment to be made.

If there are insufficient clear funds available in your account to meet a debit payment:

you or your account may be charged a fee and/or interest by your financial institution;
you or your account may be charged a fee to reimburse us for charges we have incurred for the failed transaction;
you must arrange for the payment to be made by another method

Please check your account statement to verify that the amounts debited from your account are correct.

Dispute

If you believe that there has been an error in debiting your account you should call us on 1800 047 703 and confirm the details in writing with us as soon as possible so that we can resolve your query quickly.

Accounts

You should check:

with your financial institution whether direct debiting is available from your accounts offered by financial
your account details which you have provided to us are correct by checking them against a recent account statement; and
with your financial institution before completing the direct debit request if you have any queries about how to complete the direct debit

Warning: if the account number you have quoted is incorrect, you may be charged a fee to reimburse our costs in correcting any deductions from:

an account you do not have authority to operate; or
an account you do not

Confidentiality

We will keep any information (including your account details) in your direct debit request confidential.

We will make reasonable efforts to keep any such information that we have about you secure and to ensure that any of our employees or agents who have access to information about you, do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information.

However, we may use your contact details to provide information about the fund. Should you wish this not to be the case, please advise the fund in writing.

Our diocesan logo is theologically rich and very succinct. As a hand, it depicts our mission as a diocese and as individuals within the diocese, of bearing (bringing, carrying) Christ’s love to one another and to the world around us. In this, we are the hand of Jesus Christ, and we are offering ourselves to him so that he might work through us.

We can be the bearers of his love only as a response to his call and in the strength of his grace. We are reminded of this in two ways—through the symbol of the dove (the Holy Spirit) also present in the logo, and by the incorporation of the cross that segments the logo. The presence of the cross is a reminder that bearing the love of Christ will inevitably cost us if we live it authentically. However, in the way that the Cross is the portent of redemption and life—an echo of the tree of life in the book of Genesis—so becoming bearers of the love of Christ will also bring us to life.

The four fingers of the hand also represent the four regions of our diocese. The first is blue representing the beautiful water of the Shoalhaven. The second is a blue and green combination representing the waters and escarpment of the Illawarra. The third is green depicting the hills and plains of the Macarthur. The fourth is dark green illustrating the forests of the Southern Highlands.