Fearless advocate, compassionate leader, and rule-breaker for justice
Soon he was pioneering and running a national project for Community Service Volunteers (CSV) that he named Social Action Broadcasting. He formed partnerships with mainstream commercial radio and TV companies and with the BBC. Ric knew that partnership with media was central to the project's success – providing expertise in areas foreign to media companies, who in turn provided production and prime airtime. His Help! series on Thames Television did the first program on AIDS in the UK, for example.
'There was a lot of pressure (on mass media) at that time to do community stuff,' Ric said. 'I jumped on the bandwagon. And media managers knew that by being involved in the community they would lift their audience numbers.'
He honed his entrepreneurial skills, raising funds in the UK and Europe. Later he raised funds from governments at every level in Australia for his many social justice projects.
It was Ric's communications expertise that led to his recruitment by the Uniting Church in Victoria in 1989. He and his young family migrated to Melbourne where he became a Uniting Church minister and headed its communications board for four years.
He is perhaps best known in Melbourne for his work at Lort Smith Animal Hospital and then at Melbourne City Mission.
Ric's speciality had always been in meeting needs and bringing people together – people of all ages, all cultures, all religions or none, all sexual orientations, all types of relationships.
He expanded his canvas to include animals at Lort Smith when he became its CEO. Despite its many thousands of animal consultations, treatments and surgeries carried out each year, its projects would now expand into the strong bond people have with animals.
Ric set up programs such as emergency pet boarding for people who were in crisis or homeless, who could not take their pets into refuges, safe houses or hospitals. This 'people perspective' on the hospital's role led him to employ a chaplain, a world first for an animal hospital. She supported many people experiencing stress and shock due to the illness or bereavement of their beloved pets. He also secured DGR (deductible gift recipient) status for animal charities throughout Australia, which revolutionised their access to funding.
Ric's time as Melbourne City Mission CEO was another social justice ministry. It had been set up in 1854 to help people in need. He said: 'We've got to be innovative. We can't keep doing the same old stuff.'
His 'new stuff' included starting a school for homeless and disadvantaged young people with classrooms (each with a teacher and a social worker) in Melbourne's inner city and in areas of disadvantage in the suburbs of Melbourne. Kids had been school refusers, disengaged and homeless with no social support up to now. Wrap-around support services – from accommodation and living skills to doctors and dentists gave them a new life. Not just an education, but hope, for students who had been disengaged, unsupported and often invisible to the wider community.
Ric moved on to become the minister of St Michael's Uniting Church Collins Street where, like in all his church positions, congregations flourished under his leadership. He was a proud and active supporter of the 'Yes' campaign for marriage equality and officiated the first same-sex marriage in a church.
His last appointment, at Hampton Park Uniting Church, began at an age where others were retiring.
Many in the Hampton Park community are newly arrived refugees with little language or support. They are now offered a women's crisis support program, counselling, education, free meals, playgroups, early parenting support, financial advice, assistance to engage with the local community, help with language, a lunch for carers.
Ric Holland won the hearts of the congregation and the wider community. On his retirement in 2024, local MP Gary Maas told state parliament: 'His social justice work is inspired and has made a real difference to many, here and abroad. He is a giant in the social justice world.'
Through every act of kindness, every campaign, every challenge to the status quo, Ric remained driven by an unshakable faith in humanity and an unyielding belief in justice. He was often a troublemaker to the church, in the holiest sense – never content to sit quietly when action was required.
His wife Joni Tooth, a film producer, said: 'Ric had a massive commitment to social justice, a risk-taker able to take personal responsibility to see it through. He had the enthusiasm and ability to inspire, enthuse and enable others.
'He had a management style of building up common vision. He was a rule breaker, a lateral thinker. Everyone loved him, from politicians and premiers to street kids and prisoners. Ric treated everyone the same.'
John Wesley would doubtless approve.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
3 days ago
- The Age
‘You're too young to be on the streets': How Annie juggled school and homelessness
'I went through so many refuges until I found a stable refuge that would actually keep me for six months,' she said. 'I didn't really have that parent role to guide me to which steps I'll be taking.' There is no national data set that records how many unaccounted-for school-aged children are detached from education. In a 2019 study, Those Who Disappear, University of Melbourne researcher Jim Watterson made a conservative estimate that there may be more than 50,000, based on two state education departments' internal data. Homelessness, family violence and transience were listed as among the reasons. Watterson said more study was required. Youth Projects chair Melanie Raymond said she believed more young people are homeless and trying to finish school than official data shows. Loading 'It is a hidden and misunderstood problem,' she said. 'We see young people who never had a fair chance within a competitive education system. It is not a case of being absent from school for no reason: there's always a reason, and it's almost always related to poverty. 'We need to identify who is at risk and fund a host of interventions at all ages.' Melbourne City Mission head of social innovation Sam Barrett has been working with young homeless people for 25 years and said education was crucial when they were coming out of crisis. 'If you miss that window … and they're just wandering into doing nothing, things can go sideways,' Barrett said. Melbourne City Mission runs five youth refuges (there are 22 across Victoria and 13 youth foyers) and Hester Hornbrook Academy – a flexible school aimed at supporting students who can't attend mainstream education. They have five campuses, about 600 students and a waitlist. The school offers showers, food and laundry services. At any given time across those schools, there would be more than 50 students who didn't have somewhere to go at night, Hester Hornbrook principal Sally Lasslett said. Some would be sleeping rough, others were couch surfing, in a refuge or emergency accommodation. 'It's safer for them to sleep on a train than to go home. Or it's safer to walk the streets in Sunshine until school opens the next morning and they could come back into a community that will look after them.' Loading She said while there aren't figures on detached school students, conversations with local government areas made it clear this was an issue and that growing outer metro areas were in need. 'If we were somehow able to act as a collaborative education system to track those young people, imagine what we could do,' she said. 'Education is the key to getting out of poverty. It's the key to understanding your legal rights. It's the key to employment. We have young people who go on to get a job, and they're the first in three generations to have a full-time or part-time job. That's life-changing.' A Victorian government spokesperson said they invested $80 million to tackle youth homelessness to deliver more youth entry points and refuges across metro and regional Victoria, which included State Schools Relief for meals, uniforms and glasses and $113 million over two years for TAFE students with wrap-around services. For international students, finding support can be even more challenging. Elvis Martin was 17 when he experienced family violence, which led to him sleeping rough for almost three months. He was studying at Federation University and was unable to access support for crisis accommodation because he was an international student. He finally got support at a youth residential rehab run by CoHealth Community Health, after a six-month involuntary stay in hospital following a major depressive episode. Now 29, Martin said many university students fell through the gaps, especially international students who had precarious living situations, even though their education was a condition of their visa. Loading 'They don't even want to go and talk to a GP about it because they are really worried about immigration coming to know about some of their experience and what impact it will have on their visa,' he said. Martin said universities needed to implement early intervention, identification and wrap-around support, especially around family violence and mental health. 'Those who say, why don't they go and get a job – I want to ask: 'Will you give a job to someone who just came off the street?'' he said. Clara, 21, who asked to remain anonymous, became homeless at 19. She was attending a private all-girls school during her first experience of sleeping rough, when she was kicked out of home and spent a night on the street. 'I was still maintaining study whilst homeless. I would use public libraries for Wi-Fi and sometimes would have to seek extensions for submission dates,' she said. Thanks to support from Melbourne City Mission, which provided her with housing and work as a lived experience advisor, she's studying psychology with honours full-time at Victoria University. Loading 'The hardest thing you can do is start – once you have done that, who cares how long it takes, you're already halfway there.' After starting at Hester Hornbrook in 2021, Leutenmayr agrees. It linked her with the Salvation Army, which helped her with emergency accommodation and then a refuge. Through their support, she completed her Victorian Pathways Certificate; in April, she started a Certificate 3 healthcare course at Victoria University.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘You're too young to be on the streets': How Annie juggled school and homelessness
'I went through so many refuges until I found a stable refuge that would actually keep me for six months,' she said. 'I didn't really have that parent role to guide me to which steps I'll be taking.' There is no national data set that records how many unaccounted-for school-aged children are detached from education. In a 2019 study, Those Who Disappear, University of Melbourne researcher Jim Watterson made a conservative estimate that there may be more than 50,000, based on two state education departments' internal data. Homelessness, family violence and transience were listed as among the reasons. Watterson said more study was required. Youth Projects chair Melanie Raymond said she believed more young people are homeless and trying to finish school than official data shows. Loading 'It is a hidden and misunderstood problem,' she said. 'We see young people who never had a fair chance within a competitive education system. It is not a case of being absent from school for no reason: there's always a reason, and it's almost always related to poverty. 'We need to identify who is at risk and fund a host of interventions at all ages.' Melbourne City Mission head of social innovation Sam Barrett has been working with young homeless people for 25 years and said education was crucial when they were coming out of crisis. 'If you miss that window … and they're just wandering into doing nothing, things can go sideways,' Barrett said. Melbourne City Mission runs five youth refuges (there are 22 across Victoria and 13 youth foyers) and Hester Hornbrook Academy – a flexible school aimed at supporting students who can't attend mainstream education. They have five campuses, about 600 students and a waitlist. The school offers showers, food and laundry services. At any given time across those schools, there would be more than 50 students who didn't have somewhere to go at night, Hester Hornbrook principal Sally Lasslett said. Some would be sleeping rough, others were couch surfing, in a refuge or emergency accommodation. 'It's safer for them to sleep on a train than to go home. Or it's safer to walk the streets in Sunshine until school opens the next morning and they could come back into a community that will look after them.' Loading She said while there aren't figures on detached school students, conversations with local government areas made it clear this was an issue and that growing outer metro areas were in need. 'If we were somehow able to act as a collaborative education system to track those young people, imagine what we could do,' she said. 'Education is the key to getting out of poverty. It's the key to understanding your legal rights. It's the key to employment. We have young people who go on to get a job, and they're the first in three generations to have a full-time or part-time job. That's life-changing.' A Victorian government spokesperson said they invested $80 million to tackle youth homelessness to deliver more youth entry points and refuges across metro and regional Victoria, which included State Schools Relief for meals, uniforms and glasses and $113 million over two years for TAFE students with wrap-around services. For international students, finding support can be even more challenging. Elvis Martin was 17 when he experienced family violence, which led to him sleeping rough for almost three months. He was studying at Federation University and was unable to access support for crisis accommodation because he was an international student. He finally got support at a youth residential rehab run by CoHealth Community Health, after a six-month involuntary stay in hospital following a major depressive episode. Now 29, Martin said many university students fell through the gaps, especially international students who had precarious living situations, even though their education was a condition of their visa. Loading 'They don't even want to go and talk to a GP about it because they are really worried about immigration coming to know about some of their experience and what impact it will have on their visa,' he said. Martin said universities needed to implement early intervention, identification and wrap-around support, especially around family violence and mental health. 'Those who say, why don't they go and get a job – I want to ask: 'Will you give a job to someone who just came off the street?'' he said. Clara, 21, who asked to remain anonymous, became homeless at 19. She was attending a private all-girls school during her first experience of sleeping rough, when she was kicked out of home and spent a night on the street. 'I was still maintaining study whilst homeless. I would use public libraries for Wi-Fi and sometimes would have to seek extensions for submission dates,' she said. Thanks to support from Melbourne City Mission, which provided her with housing and work as a lived experience advisor, she's studying psychology with honours full-time at Victoria University. Loading 'The hardest thing you can do is start – once you have done that, who cares how long it takes, you're already halfway there.' After starting at Hester Hornbrook in 2021, Leutenmayr agrees. It linked her with the Salvation Army, which helped her with emergency accommodation and then a refuge. Through their support, she completed her Victorian Pathways Certificate; in April, she started a Certificate 3 healthcare course at Victoria University.
The Age
23-04-2025
- The Age
Fearless advocate, compassionate leader, and rule-breaker for justice
Soon he was pioneering and running a national project for Community Service Volunteers (CSV) that he named Social Action Broadcasting. He formed partnerships with mainstream commercial radio and TV companies and with the BBC. Ric knew that partnership with media was central to the project's success – providing expertise in areas foreign to media companies, who in turn provided production and prime airtime. His Help! series on Thames Television did the first program on AIDS in the UK, for example. 'There was a lot of pressure (on mass media) at that time to do community stuff,' Ric said. 'I jumped on the bandwagon. And media managers knew that by being involved in the community they would lift their audience numbers.' He honed his entrepreneurial skills, raising funds in the UK and Europe. Later he raised funds from governments at every level in Australia for his many social justice projects. It was Ric's communications expertise that led to his recruitment by the Uniting Church in Victoria in 1989. He and his young family migrated to Melbourne where he became a Uniting Church minister and headed its communications board for four years. He is perhaps best known in Melbourne for his work at Lort Smith Animal Hospital and then at Melbourne City Mission. Ric's speciality had always been in meeting needs and bringing people together – people of all ages, all cultures, all religions or none, all sexual orientations, all types of relationships. He expanded his canvas to include animals at Lort Smith when he became its CEO. Despite its many thousands of animal consultations, treatments and surgeries carried out each year, its projects would now expand into the strong bond people have with animals. Ric set up programs such as emergency pet boarding for people who were in crisis or homeless, who could not take their pets into refuges, safe houses or hospitals. This 'people perspective' on the hospital's role led him to employ a chaplain, a world first for an animal hospital. She supported many people experiencing stress and shock due to the illness or bereavement of their beloved pets. He also secured DGR (deductible gift recipient) status for animal charities throughout Australia, which revolutionised their access to funding. Ric's time as Melbourne City Mission CEO was another social justice ministry. It had been set up in 1854 to help people in need. He said: 'We've got to be innovative. We can't keep doing the same old stuff.' His 'new stuff' included starting a school for homeless and disadvantaged young people with classrooms (each with a teacher and a social worker) in Melbourne's inner city and in areas of disadvantage in the suburbs of Melbourne. Kids had been school refusers, disengaged and homeless with no social support up to now. Wrap-around support services – from accommodation and living skills to doctors and dentists gave them a new life. Not just an education, but hope, for students who had been disengaged, unsupported and often invisible to the wider community. Ric moved on to become the minister of St Michael's Uniting Church Collins Street where, like in all his church positions, congregations flourished under his leadership. He was a proud and active supporter of the 'Yes' campaign for marriage equality and officiated the first same-sex marriage in a church. His last appointment, at Hampton Park Uniting Church, began at an age where others were retiring. Many in the Hampton Park community are newly arrived refugees with little language or support. They are now offered a women's crisis support program, counselling, education, free meals, playgroups, early parenting support, financial advice, assistance to engage with the local community, help with language, a lunch for carers. Ric Holland won the hearts of the congregation and the wider community. On his retirement in 2024, local MP Gary Maas told state parliament: 'His social justice work is inspired and has made a real difference to many, here and abroad. He is a giant in the social justice world.' Through every act of kindness, every campaign, every challenge to the status quo, Ric remained driven by an unshakable faith in humanity and an unyielding belief in justice. He was often a troublemaker to the church, in the holiest sense – never content to sit quietly when action was required. His wife Joni Tooth, a film producer, said: 'Ric had a massive commitment to social justice, a risk-taker able to take personal responsibility to see it through. He had the enthusiasm and ability to inspire, enthuse and enable others. 'He had a management style of building up common vision. He was a rule breaker, a lateral thinker. Everyone loved him, from politicians and premiers to street kids and prisoners. Ric treated everyone the same.' John Wesley would doubtless approve.
