Justice as right relationship: An assessment of the Jubilee Centre’s principle of ‘right relationship’ and its potential development in the Australian public policy context

Relational thinking is a potentially vital but underutilised principle for understanding current social challenges facing Australia. The concept was developed by the Jubilee Centre UK (est. 1983), who held that a theologically-derived principle of ‘right relationship’ could be used as an interpretive lens across all spheres of society – such as education, business, criminal justice, health and politics. This principle not only provides a more coherent basis for effective policy and community life, but also demonstrates the continued relevance within modern societies of a biblical social vision.

The aim of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, to assess Jubilee’s numerous organisations, campaigns, policies, research, and tools to determine the credibility of ‘right relationship’ as a basis for Christian social reform. This includes an analysis of Jubilee’s biblical and theological scholarship as to whether it provides sufficient material to demonstrate congruence with its relational vision for society. Secondly, the thesis will aim to establish whether Jubilee’s work and this central principle of right relationship has the potential to contribute further to discussions of theology and justice, as well effectively engage the Australian public policy context.