The Voice will make a difference 

The Salvation Army is one of the biggest providers of social services in Australia. We are a  pragmatic movement, not really into empty gestures or performative virtue signalling. I don’t think  in our 140-year history in Australia that we have ever been called “elites”.  

But we do support the Voice.  

We support the Voice, simply, because we believe it will make a difference.  

For 140 years, the Salvos have rolled up their sleeves and helped where we can. We started small  by assisting discharged prisoners at the prison gates in Melbourne and now we provide over 2,000  services across every state and territory in Australia. We support people experiencing  homelessness, family and domestic violence, financial hardship, unemployment, substance use  disorders, social isolation and loneliness, and help them recover from natural disasters. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are over-represented in almost every service we  deliver – and that’s why we support a Voice.  

There is no escaping the fact that what we are doing right now, as a nation, is not working.  

The Salvos will always do what we can on the ground, but the issues we see are deeper; they are  structural and systemic. We believe the only way to practically address the hardship experienced  by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is to change how the government makes and  carries out policy. We believe the best way to do that is to actually listen to the people affected – to  give them a voice.  

Not everyone agrees with us on this and that’s okay. We just ask that people respectfully consider,  before they decide on October 14: “Will the Voice make a difference for people who really need  help?” 

We think the answer is a resounding yes.  

Captain Stuart Glover 

The Salvation Army Australia 

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact The Salvation Army’s Media Relations  Department on 02 9466 3143.