Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - John 2: 1-11 -
Liz has over 20 years’ experience in the NFP sector, with extensive senior executive experience internationally and in Australia. She has held roles with a variety of NFP’s including World Vision International as Global Vice President of Strategy, World Vision Australia as Director of Indigenous development, Australian Business Volunteers as CEO, International Red Cross Society in Cambodia as a gender specialist and is a founder and Board Chair of a community run and funded domestic violence Refuge in Sydney, Mary’s House.
Liz is advocating for change within the Australian Catholic Church considering the current domestic violence epidemic. She wrote an article in March 2018 describing the establishment of a community-led domestic violence Refuge[1] and an article in 2019[2] describing the hierarchical dynamics and power issues within the Church that lead it to be an unsafe place for women experiencing domestic violence. For the care, protection and inclusion of women, and in particular women who experience domestic violence, the Church needs to move swiftly to an open dialogue between laity and ordained about equity in gender roles and women’s right to safety.
[1] “Mary’s House: an integrated church and community crisis accommodation service” St. Mark’s Review: A journal of Christian Thought and Opinion March 2018
[2] “Still Listening to the Spirit: Woman and Man Twenty Years Later” “Domestic Violence: Moving from Silence to Inclusion and Dialogue in the Australian Catholic Church” The Office for Social Justice the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference December 2019
