All people regardless of race, gender or social status have intrinsic value and inherent dignity.
ACC International Relief Inc.
ABN: 26 077 365 434
5/2 Sarton Road
Clayton VIC 3168 Australia
ACCI Relief is the aid and development arm of the Australian Christian Churches movement.
Our vision is for a world where Christian principles of justice and equality are actualised. A world where individuals, families and communities are empowered to influence decisions affecting their own lives and advocate for their own rights, with equal voice and equal value, under the premise that all life has intrinsic value before God who created life.
Our mission is to transform communities and nations, by developing holistic and sustainable solutions to injustice and poverty, and reinstating the value of life. We do this by implementing development projects through our strategic partners and promoting the cause of justice and equality through advocacy campaigns.
In 2019, your support helped more children realise their right to an education; provided life-saving healthcare to families, including pregnant women; and empowered whole communities to change their futures through sustainable community-led development initiatives. Your support also continued to…
ACCI Relief total revenue for 2019 was $3.8 million. We were able to grow our overseas grant income to $508,117, up from $224,979 the previous year. Grant income is continuing to play an important part in the growth of our Kinnected program.
In Siem Reap, Cambodia, Bruce and Raija are supporting communities to practice good hygiene and stay healthy. Here Bruce and Raija explain how training and equipping volunteer health promotors to share messages about water, sanitation and basic health, is empowering families to improve their lives.
“For many years, one facet of our work in Siem Reap, Cambodia, has intentionally focused on fostering healthy families and communities. Family hygiene is critical to the health and development of communities and many diseases can be prevented by paying close attention to basic health practices at home…
34 communities took part in health training
4,785 individuals heard these life-saving health messages
80 people in each community received a mosquito net or latrine to improve their family’s health
In 2010, Katrina Gliddon and her Cambodian colleagues started Mother’s Heart with a vision that no woman would face a crisis pregnancy alone. Ten years later, Mother’s Heart remains the only crisis pregnancy support organisation in Cambodia; assisting over 100 women each year who are from vulnerable backgrounds, or whose pregnancies are a result of traumatic circumstances.
Last year, Mother’s Heart helped 110 women through its pregnancy support programs, with 90% of clients coming from vulnerable or exploitative situations. Sadly, 40% of these pregnancies were the result of rape, trafficking or sexual exploitation. Many of these women had also faced rejection from their families and communities as a result of their pregnancies – placing both them and their unborn babies at risk. Until Mother’s Heart stepped in…
Mother’s Heart provides a diverse range of care to women at all stages of their pregnancy and early motherhood. Depending on the situation, this can include counselling, family mediation, crisis intervention…
For women who have experienced traumatic circumstances, or are facing pregnancy alone, the road into motherhood can be daunting. Mother’s Heart comes alongside these women and provides the practical assistance and encouragement to allow them to be the mothers they want to be – just like Tina.
In mid-2018, the founder of the Kivuli Children’s Home in Kenya asked ACCI for assistance to deinstitutionalise its residential care program and transition children into families – thus becoming ACCI’s newest Kinnected partner. Working hand-in-hand with the Kivuli leadership team, we began by meeting with all relevant stakeholders and ensuring their understanding, and support of, the change.
ACCI then engaged Australian social worker, Therese Osland, to provide technical support to Anne Kinuthia, the manager of Kivuli, to build a reintegration team and develop the systems and capacity to implement Kivuli’s transition to family-based care. Anne and Therese worked side by side, sharing knowledge and skills and ensuring that the transition project was linked with the Kenyan Government Child Protection Service and founded on the core principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and case management best practice…
Until Kivuli knocked on ACCI’s door, the pathway for David, aged 13, seemed to have been set.
Placed in a children’s home after his mother died and his father abandoned the family, David expected that this is where he’d be until he turned 18. Then, like so many other children who grow up in orphanages, he’d be out in the world on his own – with no family connections and no understanding of where he belonged…
When the Kivuli team began tracing David’s family history, they found he had a younger brother, aged six, living at a large orphanage nearby. Extraordinarily, the boys attended the same school but didn’t know they were brothers! The team then located an older sister and in time, made further links with David’s grandmother as well as an aunt and cousins. Even though David thought he was all alone, he had a whole family waiting for him!
On Easter Sunday 2019, a series of coordinated bomb explosions killed 269 people, including at least 45 children, in several churches and tourist hotels across Sri Lanka. One of the churches targeted was Zion Church in Batticaloa; a church ACCI field workers Narel and Alison Atkinson have partnered with for many years.
ACCIR began their Australian Bushfire Appeal in November 2019. The funds raised enabled us to respond quickly in the initial disaster and continue to impact communities and families through ongoing programs in 2020. Through these efforts, we are continued to be amazed by the incredible stories of families receiving support packages, community hubs provided with ongoing support and struggling businesses and affected families supported through the ACCIR voucher initiative.
Thank you to everyone who has so generously given to this appeal!
To stay updated on ACCIR’s bushfire disaster response, follow us on Facebook and Instagram to be updated on continual efforts. Or, click on the below links to find out more.
Give one day’s salary to change the lives of children, families and communities around the world. In 2019, our supporters – made up of churches, individuals and businesses – gave a total of $111, 932 through 1Day for ACCI relief projects. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously in 2019.
1Day funds were distributed to ACCIR projects across 10 countries. Some of the ways these funds helped include:
In late 2019, two members of our team had the privilege of joining Voices for Justice; Micah’s annual political training and lobbying event in Canberra. Along with 200 Christians from across Australia and 15 leaders from the Pacific, they learnt political lobbying tactics and tips for speaking to politicians about issues of justice. They then met with several of our politicians in Parliament to argue the case for better overseas aid, as ACCI Relief Project Officer Renee Quilty explains…
Dip (Bib), BA, GradDip (Couns),
ACCI Missions & Relief
Director, ACC Vice President,
Ordained Pastor.
BA, BA (Bib, Theo), MA, PhD
Ordained Pastor.
Member of ACC Victorian State Executive,
Ordained Pastor.
GradDip (Social Science), M (Com Dev and
Emerg Mgt), Ordained Pastor.
BA, DipEd, M (International Studies),
Horizon Church Ministry Director,
Ordained Pastor.
PhD and MA (International Relations),
BA (Hons) (International Affairs and Politics).
Appointed in February, 2020.
M (International Affairs),
BA (International Relations and International Business),
Certificate IV in Contemporary Leadership (Church Work).
Concluded in October, 2019.
BA (Psychology, Welfare), Life Unlimited Church Missions Coordinator.
Concluded in April, 2020.
Chartered Accountant (CA), Ordained Pastor.
Concluded in April, 2020.
ACCI Relief is an ACFID member and complies with the ACFID Code of Conduct, which defines minimum standards of governance, management and accountability for non-governmental development organisations…
ACCI Relief is a signatory to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Code of Conduct for Disaster Relief. ACCI Relief aims to meet the standards for Disaster Response as set out by the Sphere Humanitarian Charter.
All ACCI Relief projects are monitored and evaluated through ACCI Relief led and partner led monitoring processes and reporting frameworks. ACCI Relief has three distinct program frameworks that correlate to the three dominant types of social change processes…
ACCI Relief recognises that listening to and responding to feedback, concerns and complaints is integral to our commitment to achieving the high standards and ensures accountability to all stakeholders. Anyone wishing to provide feedback or lodge a complaint regarding the conduct of ACCI Relief, please contact the General Manager at complaints@acci.org.au or the Director at info@accir.org.au
If you have a complaint regarding a breach of the ACFID Code of Conduct, please contact the ACFID Code of Conduct Committee at code@acfid.asn.au or on 02 6285 1816.
All ACCI Relief projects are monitored and evaluated through ACCI Relief led and partner led monitoring processes and reporting frameworks. ACCI Relief has three distinct program frameworks that correlate to the three dominant types of social change processes…
A copy of the full audited General Purpose Financial Statements for ACC International Relief Inc is available for download here.
ACCI Relief endeavours to make information about our activities readily available to donors and stakeholders.