Chris Riley (priest)

Father Chris Riley, AM is an Australian Roman Catholic priest who founded and is CEO of the charity Youth Off The Streets. He is a member of the Salesian order.

He was born in Echuca, Victoria in 1954 and grew up on a dairy farm in the district. In 1973 he graduated from a school run by the Salesians. He was inspired by the movie “Boys' Town” and went on to train as a teacher. He has worked as a teacher, youth worker, probation officer, residential care worker and Principal of the charity Boy’s Town. In 1982 he was ordained a priest at Oakleigh, Victoria.

Father Riley founded Youth Off The Streets in 1991 with a food van delivering meals to homeless youths in the Kings Cross area in Sydney. In 1997 he opened Key College independent High School in Surry Hills, NSW where he pioneered a "flexible education" model to help youths living on the streets return to school. Father Riley working with the Islamic organisation Muhammadiyah helped build an orphanage in Aceh, Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami.

Today he is the CEO of Youth Off The Streets, which has grown to include crises care, refuges, schools, drug and alcohol programs that employ more than 150 people & has over 800 volunteers. Youth Off The Streets Overseas Relief Fund has projects in Ethiopia, Albania, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, and Tanzania.

He makes frequent media appearances on behalf of YOTS including a weekly radio segment, broadcast on 2UE in Sydney and 2CC in Canberra.

In 2006 Father Riley was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to disadvantaged youth. In 2006, he also received the Human Rights Medal from the then Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (shared with broadcaster Phillip Adams).^[1]

On 20 April 2010 He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Western Sydney in recognition of his work.^[2]

Funding Controversy

A significant amount of charitable donations to Father Riley's Youth Off The Streets (including work undertaken in Indonesia and ethiopia) come from the Australian Gambling Industry, particularly poker machines.^[3][4] Father Riley has lobbied against the taxation of gambling, stating that "the Government won't fund services like mine and are now also attacking the revenues that we previously did have available." With respect to the his position on the effect of gambling on society, he states "I acknowledge that the great problem facing the community is people who are addicted to gambling and I call for the clubs to put in place systems and supports to help people fight this addiction."^[5][6]

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [www.catholicweekly.com.au The Catholic Weekly, Sydney, 9 May 2010]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ [3]
5. ^ [4]
6. ^ http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20060328021

Sources and external links

• Youth Off The Streets
• Youth Off The Streets Overseas Relief Fund
• http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/conversations/stories/s1640812.htm
• An interview with Fr Chris Riley
• An article about Key College - a school for street kids set up and funded by Youth Off The Streets, founded by Fr Chris Riley

Persondata
Name	Riley, Chris
Alternative names
Short description	great person to talk to
Date of birth	1954
Place of birth	Echuca, Victoria
Date of death
Place of death