Bulletin

Issue: August 2005

News

Brotherhood in its true sense

The word 'brotherhood', because of its modern connotations of secrecy and intrigue, has lost its true meaning of fraternity and good will.

But in one context at least the word has maintained to the full its true meaning. That is in the Brotherhood of St Laurence, one of Australia's largest welfare organisations.

Although an independent body, the Brotherhood has been closely linked with the Church of England since its foundation in 1930 in the New South Wales industrial city of Newcastle.

Since then it has a proud record, not only of looking after the physical and spiritual welfare of those in need, but of fearlessly advocating social change for a fairer and more inclusive society.

The full story of the work of the Brotherhood is about to be told with the publication next year of the Brotherhood's history, co-authored by La Trobe University Politics Program research associate, Dr Richard Trembath.

The other co-author of the book, which is as yet untitled, is Melbourne church historian, Dr Colin Holden. Both men are keen to hear from anyone who may have interesting material or memories of the early days of the Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood's aim of preventing the creation of situations in which poverty breeds, is encapsulated in the words of its founder, Father Gerard Kennedy Tucker: 'I don't want the Brotherhood to drive an ambulance to the bottom of the cliff. I want it to build a fence around the top of the cliff to stop people falling over'.

The organisation's motto: 'Working for an Australia free of poverty' also reflects the founder's aims.

Providing often unpalatable advice to all levels of government on how poverty could be prevented or eliminated has occasionally led to its leaders being strongly rebuked by politicians.

But to date its leaders have been spared the fate of its patron saint, St Laurence, who, when ordered in the third century AD by the Emperor Valerian to hand over the Church's valuables, was slowly roasted alive when he assembled the poor of Rome before the imperial palace, declaring them the Church's real treasure.

The Great Depression was at its height when Father Tucker, strong willed and compassionate but possessing a stutter that almost made him inarticulate, looked for a way to help the poor in his parish of St Stephen in Adamstown, a working class area of Newcastle.

He formed the Brotherhood as a religious order but concentrated on the more practical aspects of charity – directly providing food and shelter for the growing numbers of new poor who had lost their jobs.

Three years later it spread to Melbourne when it established St Mary's Mission in Fitzroy to help the poor ands homeless victims of the Depression who congregated in that inner city area.

With 30 per cent of the workforce unemployed when the Depression reached its peak, the Brotherhood set up hostels for homeless unemployed men and boys and even a housing settlement at Carrum for poor families.

Father Tucker was always to the fore, often annoying those in high office with his words and actions – like organising 'sit-ins' to try to stop families being evicted during the 1940s.

Although founded as a religious order, the Brotherhood became a secular organisation after World War 11, but continued to expand its work until it became one of Australia's largest charitable organisation in terms of the number of people it employed. Currently it has 600 full time and part time employees.

Father Tucker led the Brotherhood until 1970. Other leaders have included Archbishop Peter Hollingworth, later to become Governor General, and Mr David Scott, long associated with Community Aid Abroad which was also founded by Father Tucker.

The Brotherhood differed from other religious-based social welfare organisations like the Salvation Army and the St Vincent de Paul Society in that it developed an influential research and advocacy role.

Dr Trembath and Father Holden received an ARC grant over two years to produce the history. The Brotherhood contributed as did La Trobe University by offering office facilities and administration assistance. The overall management of the project is in the hands of Professor Judith Brett and Dr Trevor Hogan, both from La Trobe's School of Social Sciences.