Social Services Sunday is an opportunity to recognise and thank the staff, volunteers and organisations who support people experiencing disadvantage and marginalisation.
Catholic social service organisations in Victoria support more than 300,000 Victorians across over 388 sites, drawing on the expertise and commitment of over 7,510 staff and more than 15,000 volunteers.
Catholic social service organisations accompany people through many different circumstances, including homelessness and housing insecurity, family and domestic violence, disability, poverty, displacement, and challenges experienced by young people and families.
This work reflects the Church’s commitment to human dignity, solidarity, compassion and the common good. It is the Church’s social mission in action.
This Social Services Sunday 2026, we affirm that Catholic hope is active. It is expressed through encounter, connection and relationships that help us rediscover the joy of belonging to one community and one family. This kinship invites us to recognise every person as a brother or sister, look beyond ourselves, accompany those experiencing hardship, uphold each person’s dignity, and listen to and care for those who are marginalised.
The most recent social justice statement, “Living the Gospel in Times of Social Division” by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, calls for us to encounter one another as neighbours rather than strangers, and to build social cohesion by rejecting rising divisions such as racism.
Connect with Catholic social service organisations in your community. Check this list of CSSV member organisations and learn more about their work and how you can support them.