A new report estimates that the state of Tasmania benefited from over $70 million in social impact value from faith groups in the past 12 months. 209,057 Tasmanians were served by the work of paid and volunteer workers for churches and faith based organisations.
NAYBA a Christian non-profit surveyed Tasmania to produce the first state audit – other states are expected to follow. The audit report quantifies the tangible ways churches and faith groups are having a positive impact at a state, regional, and local level.
“This report presents so much good news that is worth celebrating,” said NAYBA Australia National Director, Nic Mackay. ““As Christians, we are called to love our neighbour and it’s encouraging to see that while there are many challenges every day Australians are facing, churches and faith groups are helping vulnerable members of the community and it’s making a difference to the everyday lives of Tasmanians.”
NAYBA’s first statewide audit contacted “denominational leaders from the top-down and local unity networks from the bottom-up to form a database of 367 contacts that included all known places of worship, faith-based community care organisations, agencies and ministries across the state,” according to the report. The survey respondents were 97 per cent Christian. The results of the survey are conservative as not every organisation responded.
Food and material assistance, followed by community connection were by far the largest activities. This reflects the three main social issues identified by the survey.
- Social isolation & loneliness
- Mental health
- Financial & food insecurity
The results are based on hours worked whether by volunteers or staff.
“We have sought to quantify all of the hours, both paid and voluntary, but we have multiplied those hours by the minimum wage as opposed to a higher rate because all the rate at which some of those staff, for example, are actually valued because we’re wanting to be intentionally conservative in terms of the estimation of the social impact value,” Mackay told the Other Cheek.
The Other Cheek asked how the Nayba audit related to Jesus command “not to let our left hand know what our right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3-4).
“Whenever we’re talking about any of the work that we do, It needs to come from a posture that is from a place of humility, that is from a place of service and a genuine desire to love and serve our community,” Mackay said. “It can’t be coming from a place of taking a victory lap. However, there is also a need, I think, to be able to tell better the good news stories of the good works of the church in ways that are authentic, in ways that open new conversation, in ways that open people’s eyes to the potential of being able to partner with and work with the church.
“And I, in saying that, I’m also encouraged by scriptures called to not hide our light under a bushel.”
Nayba has drawn together the leaders of churches and faith based organisations in Tasmania in an impressive manner to be able to conduct this audit. They plan to take on the mainland states next.
“This is the ninth audit that we’ve done now. So we’ve begun with a number of local and regional audits along the east coast of the country, but this one is significant because of the first statewide audit that we’ve done so far in Australia,” Mackay told The Other Cheek
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