Claire Victory, the first woman ever elected as SSVP National President of Australia

She has been a member of the Society since age ten and brings 25 years of experience serving and supporting the Society in various capacities, including extensive involvement in Vinnies Youth programs and eight years on National Council.

Claire has the honour of several firsts for this role. She is the first woman ever elected to the role in Australia; she is the first South Australian to fill this role; and she is the youngest President of the Society in the 165 years it has existed in this country.

In her new role, Claire stated she was looking forward to continuing and strengthening the Society’s work towards building a more just and compassionate society. “In a context of persistent poverty and new forms of inequality, I look forward to supporting the Society in its role as a leading voice for social justice and change.”

“A key challenge for the future of our organisation is ensuring the dynamism of our membership so that we can continue to respond with hope and love to those bearing the brunt of poverty and inequality”. “We need to ensure that we are operating in the most effective way possible while retaining our mission at the heart of all we do”, said the new National President.

Claire Victory succeeds Graham West as President: “On behalf of all of our members, I would like to personally thank Graham West for the dedication and commitment he has demonstrated in his role over the past four years”. Claire will be leading the SSVP in Australia for the next four years.