Documentaries

Fair Trade - the power to purchase freedom

For Australians, freedom is something we rarely think about. However, millions in the world are slaves to poverty, slaves to the sex trade, and slaves to unfair work practices. For them, freedom is something they may only ever dream of. Is there an answer to this overwhelming problem?

Yes. Fair trade.

Purple shirts are changing conversations around domestic and family violence for the better.

An innovative campaign called ‘Purple Shirt Friday’ has changed the atmosphere at Revesby Worker’s Club, helping both staff and club patrons to feel safer, and more willing to talk about the problem of domestic and family violence.

Club CEO, Scott Bennetts, says the initiative is impacting not only staff and members, but also the wider community.

ReLove: Furnishing Homes and Rebuilding Lives  

For hundreds of families each year, ReLove is turning empty houses into homes – and giving people escaping domestic and family violence a chance to rebuild their lives with dignity. 

More than Four Walls and a Roof: The Women’s Housing Company

For over forty years, the Women’s Housing Company has been helping women and children on the brink of homelessness, often due to a need to escape domestic violence. As well as providing housing, Women’s Housing Company offer extensive support services to help families rebuild their lives.

Biyani House: Expanding its Capacity to bring Dignity and Safety to Women Escaping Domestic and Family Violence 

Biyani House opened as a women’s shelter in 2022 to help meet the needs of women escaping domestic and family violence in the Canterbury-Bankstown area – a region of Sydney with one of the highest rates of domestic violence calls to police. It opened as the first specialised women and children shelter in the area, and recently expanded its accommodation offering and its capacity to meet their growing needs. 

Escabags: Helping Victims Escape Domestic Violence

The most dangerous time for domestic violence victims is when trying to escape the abuse.

Escabags was founded by Stacy Jane, and provides ‘escape bags’ equipped with essential items so people don’t have to go back home for supplies. Over the past 5 years, 23,000 bags have been distributed, helping women, children, and men to escape abuse more safely.

Dress Her with Dignity: Restoring Choice to Women Escaping Violence 

A woman once arrived at the emergency department with stab wounds from an intimate partner. When she left, she had to wear the same clothes she came in with. Before Dress Her with Dignity existed, this was the reality for domestic violence survivors presenting at hospitals. Now, thanks to Convoy of Hope, victim survivors receive brand new clothing –underwear, shoes, jumpers, everything – helping to restore dignity at their most vulnerable moment. 

Teapot Ministries: Where Women Stitch Together Community, Compassion, and Quilts for Crisis 

Across New South Wales, there are women’s retreats where tired women arrive on Friday nights and leave Sunday with smiles, where 1950s featherweight sewing machines work alongside modern digital models, and where every quilt made carries a label: "Made with love." 

More Than Bargains: How An Op Shop Became the Heart of Its Community 

Where can you buy a Noritake dinner set worth $500 for $1 a plate, send hundreds of dollars of donations to Fiji, and find therapy in sorting second-hand clothes with friends? For decades, a small church op shop in Wentworthville has been transforming lives, both for those who shop there and those who volunteer.

The Bombing of Darwin: Australia's Forgotten Battle  

He ran from the showers wearing only his boots, tin hat, and a towel, grabbed his gun, and took down a Japanese bomber plane. Wilbert "Darky" Thomas Hudson, known as "the naked gunner", became a national hero on February 19, 1942 – the day Darwin suffered more bombs than Pearl Harbour. Yet 84 years later, most Australians don't know this story. 

The BIG Difference of Little Communities

In this episode of Helping Hands, we see the Little BIG House breaking through the barriers of loneliness and isolation, and creating deep and meaningful community connections.

“The Little BIG House is our neighbourhood hub,” says Sarah Mathews, CEO of the Little BIG Foundation. "It’s a place where people come together. We have ninety events a month." Everything is based around creating connection and meeting your neighbours and bringing people together.

Little Wings: Flying Children to Life-Saving Treatment 

Would you prefer a 90-minute flight or a six-hour car journey with a child in pain to see a doctor? 

For families living in regional and rural Australia, this is a real-life scenario, and the difference is life-changing.  

The Forgiveness Cross: A Symbol of Faith in the Heart of Australia 

In the heart of Australia, 230 kilometres west of Alice Springs, stands a 20-metre steel cross that most Australians don't know exists. The Forgiveness Cross, launched on Good Friday 2023, marks a remarkable story of faith, reconciliation, and indigenous achievement that began exactly 100 years earlier. 

Convoy of Hope: Bringing Relief and Rebuilding Lives after the Lismore Floods

When floodwaters reached a catastrophic 14.5 metres in Lismore in 2022, the city faced its worst natural disaster in recorded history. People woke in the night with water in their homes, forcing thousands to crawl onto roofs and wait to be rescued. In the aftermath, Convoy of Hope arrived to coordinate a massive relief effort that continued for 18 months.

Volunteering, Kiosk and Kindness

Students from Marcellin College are making a difference by serving at the kiosk of the Matthew Talbot Hostel before and after school. Chris Shields, the College’s Director of Faith and Mission, says the experience teaches students about service, kindness, and non-judgment. And kiosk customers – that connecting with the student volunteers gives them hope.