‘Lower than Russia’: Tearfund Australia calls for foreign aid action

This article was first published in The Melbourne Anglican on 5 March 2025.

Christians are being encouraged to call on the Australian government to support people in conflict-torn countries in the Middle East, such as Gaza, sub-Saharan Africa and others by raising its foreign aid funding.

Foreign aid has dropped consistently in the last decade, affecting the capacity of aid agencies to assist foreign neighbours such as Pacific islands suffering increased tsunamis, cyclones and floods due to the climate crisis.

Tearfund Australia’s new chief executive plans to focus on the recent dismantling of USAID, global conflicts and climate change.

Bec Oates said the USAID decision had already caused significant chaos with the ambiguity of the orders.

The cuts to USAID have affected the delivery of programs for vaccinations, women’s health (including maternal death), AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Mrs Oates said the Australian Council for International Development was working to understand the on-going implications for Australian aid agencies.

“If one person is affected, it does affect others,” she said.

She said aid had dropped to 0.68% of the federal budget. The Micah Project Safer World for All campaign was asking for it to be raised back to 1%.

“In the list of countries we’ve moved to be near the bottom. We’re lower than Russia,” she said.

She asked people to pray for the vulnerable affected by the pause and wisdom and clarity for agencies trying to navigate the uncertainty.

“To be fearful and protective of our own just doesn’t strike me as the way Jesus operated,” she said. “He was poor, he didn’t have a home, he didn’t cling to what he had in fear. He let it go and trusted God.”

She recognised that Australia was also suffering from housing and cost of living crises, which complicated people’s willingness and capacity to give.

“I’m not saying people aren’t having significant concerns about their own security in Australia,” she said. “But I think it’s an ‘and’, not an ‘or’.”

Mrs Oates took on Tearfund deeply aware of the daunting state of the world but knowing she was a steward of God’s work.

“I have a sense of expectation that God will have creative solutions,” she said.

As a young person, Mrs Oates said she didn’t have the patience for years of study, but being a creative people person made hairdressing an ideal option.

Even in the early years of starting her business she wrestled with what her part was in addressing poverty.

“If you’re following Jesus and reading the Bible, it doesn’t take long before you stumble across God’s heart for the poor,” she said.

Mrs Oates’s vision to help the poor began early. She helped set up a vocational hairdressing school in Bangladesh.

“I really like the quote…that ‘God writes straight with crooked lines’,” she said. “You never could have planned this, my trajectory in terms of my work life, but I’m grateful for it.”

Her work life was reinvented 20 years later when she moved to Sydney because of her husband’s work.

“I knew I wanted to work in a Christian not-for-profit that cares about the injustice of poverty,” she said.

Mrs Oates worked her way up to Director of Engagement at Baptist World Aid and went on to serve in leadership roles and partnerships with several other organisations like the Carey Group, Integral Alliance International and EmpowerAid International.

She said her experiences gave her a diverse skill set focused on global and people suffering the injustice of poverty.

“It’s been a thread through all of the positions I’ve held,” she said.

Image: Tearfund CEO Bec Oates calls for action on aid funding. Picture: Lesa Scholl

For communications strategy and services contact Key Change Communications. Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.