Life & Faith

In 1894, South Australia was the fourth place in the world to grant universal female suffrage. Christian housewives were key to the cause.History was made on Dec 18, 1894, when a bill passed in the South Australian parliament granting women the right to vote and the right to stand for public office.This made the South Australian Parliament the first in Australia, and the fourth place in the world, to extend voting rights to women.In August of that year, a petition of 11,600 signatures had been presented to parliament, supporting women’s right to a voice in the political process. It was the result of long campaigning and legwork by women’s groups: the Women’s Suffrage League, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Working Women’s Trades Union, which gathered signatures from all over the state.In this episode of Life & Faith, Dr Nicole Starling, historian of 19th century Australian religious and political history, explains the role of the WCTU in gaining women the vote, and also how temperance activists, often denounced as stuffy wowsers looking to curb alcohol consumption, were the first to spot connections between alcohol abuse and what we now call family and domestic violence.Explore:Nicole Starling on XMore info on Nicole Starling’s book Evangelical Belief and Enlightenment Morality in the Australian Temperance Movement, 1832-1930

Journalist Michael Visontay uncovers intriguing stories from the fragments of a 1450s Gutenberg Bible, including an amazing link to his own family.In 1921 when rare book collector Gabriel Wells broke up his Gutenberg Bible and began to sell off individual pages, it caused a scandal, and a rush for collectors to get the chance to own and be a part of the Gutenberg mystique.Was Wells’ action an act of vandalism, or just a smart move from an enterprising rare book dealer? Either way, these fragments became much sought-after, and Wells became a rich man. Decades on, Michael Visontay traces these “noble fragments” as they pass through various collectors' hands and carry with them fascinating stories.Michael’s own family – holocaust survivors from Hungary who immigrated to Australia in the 1950s – have their own connection to Gabriel Wells and the Gutenberg Bible. Michael Visontay tells this “detective story”/intriguing family history with panache.Here he tells Life & Faith about that history and how it captured him so completely.Explore:Noble Fragments: The Maverick Who Broke Up the World’s Greatest Book

International Justice Mission wants tech companies to step up efforts to protect vulnerable children.Warning: distressing content. The Philippines is the global epicentre of the online sexual exploitation of children, where children are abused by parents and other relatives in their own homes, in front of a video camera, for a fee.It’s awful and sickening trade in vulnerable human lives, one that’s particularly insidious since it distorts a child’s relationship with their primary caregivers and that transforms a child’s home – the exact place they should be safe – into a predatory environment of abuse. And Australians are the third-highest consumers of this content worldwide, paying for these crimes to be live-streamed, and often through commonly used social media platforms and video conferencing tools.International Justice Mission (IJM) works to end modern slavery, partnering with NGOs, social workers, child advocates, faith communities, and law enforcement to bring about justice for survivors of trafficking, and to strengthen justice systems to hold offenders accountable. The organisation is now advocating for greater online safety, including pressuring tech companies to be more intentional about child safety from the point of product design.Life & Faith spoke to Gigi Tupas, head of National Activation and Partnerships at IJM Philippines, and Grace Wong, Chief Advocacy Officer, IJM Australia, to hear about what’s happening on the ground.Explore: Support the work of International Justice Mission by becoming a Freedom Partner. Read the Sydney Morning Herald article: “The children for sale – and the Australians who exploit them”Read the 2023 UNSW report featuring research cited by Grace in the episode: “Identifying and understanding child sexual offending behaviours and attitudes among Australian men” Read more about IJM’s 2023 report that found roughly one in 100 Filipino children were trafficked to produce live-streamed child sexual exploitation material.Tell us what you think of Life & Faith in this 5-minute survey

Erinch Sahan believes that the key to building safer, healthier and stronger communities can be found in a doughnut.Doughnut Economics is a visual framework and growing movement that seeks to tackle humanity’s biggest problems through a fresh new understanding of our world.Erinch shares how his experience as a senior executive at Procter & Gamble, Oxfam and head of the World Fair Trade Organisation, led him to his current role as head of the Dougnut Economics Action Lab, where he and his team works with businesses, governments and communities, to re-imagine how economics can be used to build a better future.Erinch also teaches at the University of Cambridge and is a respected global voice on global trade, business practice and bringing ethics to economics.We examine how this innovative new movement brings a fresh perspective to some of our biggest local and global challenges. And we take a closer look at how it’s possible to include ideals like stewardship in our continued pursuit of profits, pleasure and happiness.Explore: Doughnut Economics Action Lab website Kate Raworth’s ‘Doughnut Economics’ Ted Talk Tell us what you think of Life & Faith in this 5-minute survey