Centacare • 1st August 2023

Fond farewell for heart our heart and soul

After three decades at Centacare, inspiring courage and belief in others, Executive Deputy Director Pauline Connelly will retire on Friday and farewell the profession that has shaped her life.

It was in the family chook shed, in the late 1960s, that Pauline Connelly found her purpose.

Australia was waging a war on hunger and Pauline, then in primary school, felt compelled to help.

So, she started a club named after Robinson Crusoe, a fictional Englishman marooned alone on a tropical island fo

Centacare • 30th May 2023

National Reconciliation Week: Finding strength in stories

Trent Wingard grew up learning from his grandmother Barbara Wingard, through stories that empowered communities and made Aboriginal people stronger.

It was through this bond that Trent learned to embrace his identity as a fair skin Ngarrindjeri, Boandik and Kaurna man.

‘’I am very light skinned compared to Dad and my brother and there were times when it really got to me,’’ he said.

‘’I would have long conversations with Grandma about it and she would say, ‘It doesn’t matter how much milk you

Centacare • 19th April 2023

Faces of hope: How Bec and Atak are inspiring change

Case manager Atak sees his younger self in the people he meets through Centacare’s Outer North Youth Homelessness Service.

Their stories take him back to the year 2000 when, aged 15, he began couch-surfing with friends.

After fleeing civil war in South Sudan, Atak, who has nine siblings, had recently migrated to Adelaide with his family when he left home in search of freedom and space.

He was instead confronted with the harsh reality of youth homelessness and its associated risks.

‘’Every da

Centacare • 23rd March 2023

Men's workers step up for change

For decades, men have been comparatively absent on the frontline of social services, but a band of brothers at Centacare is changing that.

When Stuart Andary entered the workforce, he did as he was expected and forged a career in the male-dominated world of commerce.

‘’I come from a generally privileged upbringing and almost the default from that was go out and be a professional that makes a lot of money,’’ he said.

‘’I found myself uncomfortable and disenfranchised by that world but didn’t r

Centacare • 6th November 2022

Power Up Online to help students navigate digital life safely

Centacare has partnered with Port Adelaide Football Club and CatholicCare NT to produce much-needed online safety packages for schools across South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Funded by the Australian Government’s $9 million Online Safety Grants Program, `Power Up: Online’ will use sport as a hook to connect with secondary school students in metropolitan, regional and remote communities.

Working with AFL and AFLW players, the co-designed eLearning modules will empower students and yo

Centacare • 5th July 2022

No limits: Houghton's message to school leaders

Gemma Houghton was just six when Cathy Freeman triumphantly wrapped herself in the Aboriginal flag moments after her golden run at the Sydney Olympics.

Twenty-two years later, Freeman’s famous 400 metres victory continues to inspire the Port Adelaide Football club star forward, who is among a new generation of athletes elevating women in sport.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 30th May 2022

He's my hero: Quinn family legacy continues at Alberton

MITCHELL QUINN has been coming to Alberton Oval since he can remember, it has been his family's home away from home for generations, but only recently has he visited to cut the hallowed grass.

Every lap on the mower around the iconic ground is a reminder of his grandfather Bob, Port Adelaide’s greatest Anzac.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 30th May 2022

Port unveils Bob Quinn inspired Anzac Round guernsey

AT home, on the football field, in business, and on the battlefields of war, Bob Quinn lived by one mantra: Always give more than anyone else.

On Saturday, Port Adelaide will use Quinn’s words – concealed inside the team jumper – as a benchmark for on-field virtue against West Coast.

In salute to the Rat of Tobruk’s courage, leadership and devotion in battle, the phrase appears on the inside back collar of the club’s ANZAC Round guernsey.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 30th May 2022

It’s really special: The Precinct at Alberton reveals meaningful feature

Most people flick through family photo albums, but Erin Phillips stood before a vast wall of childhood memories to turn back the clock.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 29th April 2022

Wings for Life World Run: Run for those who can't

PORT ADELAIDE midfielder Travis Boak is urging South Australians to step up and run for those who can’t in the race with no finish line.

The global Wings for Life World Run is returning to Adelaide next Sunday 8 May to raise money for spinal cord research.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 22nd April 2022

Major Badcoe's family to present Peter Badcoe VC Medal

Dubbed 'the galloping major' in the Vietnam war, Major Peter Badcoe was always on the go, repeatedly performing extraordinary feats.

"He lived and died a soldier," said Gillian Smith of her uncle whose acts of courage under fire earned him the Victoria Cross, the military’s highest honour for bravery.

"We are very proud of him, and when it comes to Anzac Day, it’s always very poignant because it falls not that long after he died."

portadelaidefc.com.au • 20th April 2022

Fierce competitiveness and mutual respect: Anzac Cup Challenge returns

THE spirit and emotion of Anzac Round will power the return of one of football’s much-loved traditions this weekend.

For the first time in three years, the Anzac Cup Challenge is back, with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) All-Stars and the Australian Combined Emergency Services (ACES) to do battle at Adelaide Oval in the curtain raiser to Port Adelaide versus West Coast on Saturday afternoon.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 17th April 2022

Famous wharf pylons standing tall at The Precinct at Alberton

A round trip more than 160 years in the making has returned a 400-tonne chunk of maritime history home to Port Adelaide.

Jarrah pylons salvaged from the Port River wharves – which inspired the club’s iconic guernsey - are now standing tall in The Precinct at Alberton.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 13th April 2022

DBJ encourages supporters to THINK! Road Safety this Easter long weekend

PORT ADELAIDE defender Darcy Byrne-Jones is pleading with motorists to help keep South Australia fatality free at Easter for the first time in five years.

Byrne-Jones joined the RAA this week to urge the community to think safety first before hitting the road this weekend.

He cautioned the thousands of members heading to Melbourne for Sunday’s Round 5 clash against Carlton to be extra careful on the regional road network where 70 per cent of all fatal crashes occur.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 12th April 2022

Lauren Arnell's journey to AFLW head coach

GROWING up on a cattle farm northwest of Melbourne, Port Adelaide AFLW senior coach Lauren Arnell dreamed of donning green and gold on the international basketball scene.

"All I wanted to do was play for the Opals until I realised I was very slow and couldn’t shoot overly well,’’ Arnell said.

"Basketball was my sport and I didn’t know that women’s footy existed until I moved out of home when I was 17.’’

Eighteen years later, Arnell will guide the development of the club’s inaugural AFLW list

portadelaidefc.com.au • 24th March 2022

Ebert family to lead game day honours

RUSSELL and Di Ebert would have toasted their 48th wedding anniversary this week.

Instead, the Ebert family will on Saturday celebrate his life and legacy with the adoring Port Adelaide football faithful by their side.

The club’s first home game of the season at Adelaide Oval is a tribute to Ebert, who never liked a fuss, Di said, but would be chuffed to see the prison bars and duffel coat-clad crowds roll up in his honour.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 23rd March 2022

Alfie and Russ: The bond of two club legends

BARELY a week goes by when Alfie Trebilcock, a club icon in his own right, doesn’t stop to reflect on the all-time great, who he met at Alberton in 1968.

As Port Adelaide prepares to honour Ebert this weekend in its Round 2 clash versus Hawthorn, Trebilcock instinctively knows what the four-time Magarey Medallist would want from the team.

"The best thing we could do is win and all play well,’’ he said, adding that for all Ebert’s individual accolades, his greatest desire was team success.

portadelaidefc.com.au • 22nd March 2022

Harmony Week provides Frederick time to reflect and empower others

WATCHING his compatriot Aliir Aliir crack the AFL lit a spark of self-belief in defender Marty Frederick.

Years later, the Port Adelaide Next Generation Academy graduate is playing a key role of his own among a throng of players driving increased cultural diversity in footy.

Centacare • 27th January 2022

Support boost for young people exiting out-of-home care

Centacare has partnered with community housing provider Housing Choices Australia and Aboriginal Sobriety Group on an innovative new project to prevent young people falling into homelessness after exiting out-of-home care.

Centacare • 2nd December 2021

AFL great urges students to follow his lead

Four-time AFL premiership player Shaun Burgoyne has lent his voice to the Power to End Violence Against Women program to challenge gender-based abuse.

Speaking at a Role Model Event at AFL Max last week, Burgoyne urged school students and their adult role models to join him in condoning disrespectful relationships.

The event was a follow-up to the PTEVAW program, which starts conversations with male Year 10 students around rights and responsibilities in relationships, and how to recognise abus

Centacare • 23rd November 2021

New primary prevention focus for regional communities

Regional communities will be mobilised to empower at-risk women and children under a new project to tackle domestic and family violence in response to COVID-19.

Strengthening pathways to safety that have been compromised by the health pandemic is a key aim of the initiative, launched this month by Centacare Catholic Family Services in partnership with Flinders University and the Office for Women.

The focus is on bringing people together, through activities and other platforms, to challenge gen

Centacare • 8th November 2021

Vale Russell Ebert

It was Russell Ebert who welcomed Centacare to Alberton in 2015 as Port Adelaide prepared to take a stand against domestic violence.

In partnership with Centacare and the Department for Education, the club was about to break new ground in the AFL by launching a respectful relationships program for teenage boys, and Russell wanted in.

By his own admission, he had much to learn about gendered drivers of abuse, but he recognised there was primary prevention work that needed to be done in classroo

Centacare • 9th September 2021

NCPW21: Let's be more assertive in the push for change

09-09-21 Centacare mental health workers Alex Barr and Caitlyn Woodcock are pushing for a greater emphasis on assertive communication in the national conversation around respectful relationships.

In National Child Protection Week, the voices behind EMPOWERED are urging the wider community to speak up and effect change by standing up for themselves and their rights, while respecting the rights and opinions of others.

“Teaching young people to recognise red flag behaviours is also pivotal becaus

Centacare • 9th September 2021

NCPW21: Pay later platforms emerge as child protection risk factor

When financial counsellor Travis Petrovic meets a new family, one question is front of mind: Are they using a pay later service?

Invariably, the answer is yes – and their accumulated debt may be nudging tens of thousands.

As the lure of buy now, pay later products continues to explode, so too does the toll on families engaged with Centacare due to child safety and wellbeing concerns.

Travis joined the multidisciplinary RESTORE Intensive Family Services North team four months ago and works wit