Welfare and Services in Australia

This article discusses the welfare system and services in Australia provided by Red Cross and Salvation Army. It compares and contrasts their services in areas such as helping the homeless, aged care services, youth care services, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs, disaster recovery and emergency services, services for children and families, and mental health help. The article concludes by highlighting the similarities and differences in the services provided by the two organizations.

Running head: WELFARE SYSYTEM AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
Welfare system and services in Australia
Name
Institution
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WELFARE AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
Introduction
Red Cross is an international humanistic organization that works towards providing
emergency assistance, disaster relief, as well as providing disaster preparedness education among
civilians ("Australian Red Cross," 2019). It is a non-governmental organization founded to
protect human life and health as well as mitigating human hazards by creating preparedness
awareness.
Comparison of Red Cross and The Other NGOs
While Red Cross works towards achieving an affordable life for everyone, it does so in
companion with several parties which include political leaders, policymakers as well as the
public at large. Salvation Army on the other side helps in improving living standards for the
people. It helps the most vulnerable in society to strive for a better tomorrow; this ranges to
provision of accommodation, jobs and also training to equip people with skills powerful enough
to change their lives to better persons. Despite the differences, there are similarities in some of
the services provided by the Red Cross and Salvation Army, as illustrated below:
Helping the Homeless
Homelessness refers to the displacement of people due to catastrophes or political
instability/wars. The Red Cross helps the displaced by supporting them to find a suitable and
secure shelter through caseworkers. This aid is mainly helpful to the most vulnerable groups of
people; a perfect example being the older and young people as well as mentally challenged
people (Mau, 2017) Salvation Army, on the other hand, helps the homeless by providing for
them housing at relatively affordable fee; this enables secure accommodation for that group of
people who earn very little income. The Salvation Army has achieved this through the Salvation
Army Housing and the Salvos Housing (McCormack, 2014). Red Cross also works towards
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WELFARE AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
supporting people who are at risk of losing their rental properties by helping people get their
tenancy rights or even finding more suitable accommodation if the current residence is threatful.
Aged Care Services
Red cross supports aged people by improving their wellbeing and social connection and
facilitates them to remain living in their local communities. It does so by providing services like
driving the aged people to appointments, providing them with a personal alarm, and even
ensuring that they get healthy meals. They also support them to have access to appropriate
housing. The Salvation Army, on the other hand also provides aged care services which include
ensuring that the elderly live healthy lives, are comfortable and feel loved. However, the
Salvation Army specializes mainly in spiritual, secure dementia and mental health care to
maximize the quality of life lived by the aged.
Youth Care Services
Red Cross provides support services for the young generation. It does so by educating
them on matters on their well-being as well as helping them live healthy lives. They assist the
young people in attaining awareness about the current as well as the emerging issues related to
their health, for instance, conducting campaigns on implications of substance abuse on mental
health and well being. It also enables young people to access the necessary skills that can help
them increase their ability to stay safe and be of help. On the other hand, another non-
governmental organization like the Salvation Army provides the youth care services by
equipping the youth with training enough to help them realize a bright future. It does so by
establishing or funding training institutions for impacting the youths with excellent skills for
survival.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs
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WELFARE AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
The Red Cross is usually committed to operating respectfully and in partnership with
Australian’s First Nation people. It has the recognition of the need for maintaining connections
to culture, country, and affinity to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander civilian’s
health and wellbeing. They design programs with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
always aiming to empower them to pursue their goals and to be culturally appropriate and
accessible. Salvation army also deals with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs
where it has focused on cultural competency and capacity building, youth and children,
community engagement, and leadership.
Disaster Recovery and Emergency Services
Red Cross provides disaster recovery and emergency services by attending to those
inflicted. It does so by providing health services in case of natural calamities like earthquakes
and disease outbreaks. It also provides relief food to those befallen by hunger or those with
difficulties to attaining necessities as a result of disaster implications. It provides care to the
victims and comforts them. The Salvation Army also provides disaster recovery services. They
believe that “no one has to do it alone” ("Review: The Way of the Cross and other Verses,"
2013) and therefore when disaster strikes, they meet the people at their point of need. Their
emergency team provides immediate assistance to the affected in terms of cash and goods.
However, when the emergency is over, they don’t pull out. Instead, they extend their services to
reflect the need of the community.
Services for Children and Families
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WELFARE AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
Red cross works towards helping people to attain family stability. It enables people
support their children during critical situations of their lives. Red Cross believes that every kid
needs to have the best start of his/her life. It provides family services which build parent’s
confidence, improving their health and nutrition as well as linking them with their friends and
community. Salvation Army, on the other hand, works towards ensuring that parents live happily
with their children; this is achievable through its guidance provision facility for families in
critical situations (Hans-Peter, 2016). They offer training for the children, which equips them
with skills necessary to better their childhood, youthfulness and even their adulthood life.
Mental Health Help
Red Cross provides mental health support services as well as programs that promote the
participation of people with mental illness in the community. Red cross supports such people and
ensures that they become more independent and improves their wellbeing and social connection;
this also establishes their confidence and skill for better living. The Salvation Army also offers
several services for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants and those yet
to change over to the NDIS (Forsythe, 2019)
Conclusion
In conclusion, the welfare organizations are made to provide charity services to humanity and
ensure that each person lives a life towards realizing his or her dreams. They all help those
befallen by tragedy and comfort them as well as empower them. A good example is the Red
Cross and the Salvation Army both helping the homeless by providing housing to them as well as
meals. It is also worth noting that they both work towards empowering the youth and helping
them to frame their future.
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WELFARE AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
References
Australian Red Cross. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.redcross.org.au/about
Forsythe, D. (2019). International Committee of the Red Cross. International Law.
doi:10.1093/obo/9780199796953-0183
Hans-Peter, G. (2016). International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Max Planck
Encyclopedia of Public International Law. doi:10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/e310
Mau, V. (2017). Mobilising the Movement: Australian Red Cross, migration, and the role of the
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement around humanitarian response. International Review
of the Red Cross, 99(904), 31-42. doi:10.1017/s1816383118000115
McCormack, T. (2014). Australian Red Cross leadership in the promotion of international
humanitarian law. International Review of the Red Cross, 96(895-896), 969-986.
doi:10.1017/s1816383115000405
Layton, T. (2013). Review: The Way of the Cross and other Verses. The Downside Review,
32(1), 108-108. doi:10.1177/001258061303200119
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