An aid agency is an organisation dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government (e.g. AusAID, USAID, DFID, EuropeAid, ECHO), between governments as multilateral donors (e.g. UNDP) and as private voluntary organizations (or non-governmental organisations, (e.g. ActionAid, Oxfam, World Vision). The International Committee of the Red Cross is unique in being mandated by international treaty to uphold the Geneva Conventions.

Aid can be subdivided into two categories: humanitarian aid (emergency relief efforts, e.g. in response to natural disasters), and development aid (or foreign aid), aimed at helping countries to achieve long-term sustainable economic growth, with the aim of achieving poverty reduction. Some aid agencies carry out both kinds of aid (e.g. EcoCARE Pacific Trust and ADRA), whilst others specialise (e.g. Red Cross, humanitarian aid; War on Want, development aid).

See also[link]

• List of development aid agencies

External links[link]

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Tim Costello
Tim Costello, CEO World Vision Australia
Born	4 March 1955 Melbourne
Nationality	Australia
Alma mater	Monash University, International Baptist Seminary Rueschlikon, Melbourne College of Divinity, Australian Catholic University
Religion	Baptist
Spouse	Merridie Costello
Church(es)	St Kilda Baptist, Collins Street Baptist
Offices held	President of the Baptist Union of Australia

Timothy Ewen Costello AO (born 4 March 1955 in Melbourne)^[1] is a Baptist minister and current CEO of World Vision Australia.^[2] Costello is the brother of former treasurer of Australia and Federal Member for Higgins, Peter Costello.^[3]

Early life[link]

Costello grew up in Blackburn, Victoria,^[3] and was educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School.^[4] He studied at Monash University, graduating with a law degree in 1978 and a Diploma of Education in 1979.^[5] He practised as a solicitor in family and criminal law,^[6] and in 1981, travelled to Switzerland with his wife, Merridie, where they both studied theology at International Baptist Seminary Rueschlikon, near Zurich, before returning to Australia to become the minister of St Kilda Baptist.^[1] He also received a Master of Divinity from the Melbourne College of Divinity.^[7] In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate from the Australian Catholic University in recognition of "his contributions to religious life and social justice."^[8]

Career history[link]

Ordained a Baptist Minister in 1987, Tim Costello, along with his wife, Merridie, and a team of others, rebuilt the congregation at the St Kilda Baptist Church and opened a drop-in centre.^[1] As part of the church's outreach program, he started a legal office at the church where he practised as a part time solicitor.^[9] He also taught urban ministry at Whitley College, a college of the University of Melbourne.^[9]

As elected Mayor of St Kilda Council in 1993, he became well known for championing the cause of local democracy and his clashes with Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett.^[1] Kennett attacked Costello as being un-Victorian for speaking out against the gaming-led recovery of the state and often referred to him as "that leftist cleric".^[1] Costello's political career ended when his mayoral position was abolished with the whole St Kilda Council in Kennett's reforms and consolidation of local government.

From 1995 to 2003 he was a Minister of the Collins Street Baptist Church and the Executive Director of Urban Seed, a Christian not-for-profit organisation created in response to concern about homelessness, drug abuse and the marginalisation of the city’s street people.^[1]

Costello was an elected delegate at the Australian Constitutional Convention in Canberra in February 1998.^[4]

He served as President of the Baptist Union of Australia from 1999 to 2002.^[2] He has been Patron of Baptist World Aid, a member of the Australian Earth Charter Committee, a council member of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, a spokesperson for the Interchurch Gambling Taskforce, a member of the National Advisory Body on Gambling and a member of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation.

Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s he was frequently seen in the Australian national media commenting on gambling and other social problems.

Costello has spoken out in favour of stronger gun control in Australia, acting at times as the co-chairman or spokesman of the National Coalition for Gun Control.^[10]

In 2004, Costello was appointed CEO of World Vision Australia.^[2] He was awarded Victorian of the Year 2004 in July 2004, in recognition of his public and community service. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 2005,^[2] and Australian of the Year in 2006.^[11] He is the 2008 winner of the Australian Peace Prize awarded by the Peace Organisation of Australia.^[12] He is also listed by the National Trust as a "National Living Treasure".^[3]

Bibliography[link]

• Costello, Tim; Riddell, Michael; Gill, Athol; Nichols, Alan; U'ren, John; Duncan, Michael; Corney, Peter; Ministry in an Urban World: Responding to the City, Acorn Press, ACT, 1991, ISBN 0-908284-10-1
• Costello, Tim, Streets of Hope: Finding God in St Kilda Allen & Unwin, 1997, ISBN 978-1-86448-890-6
• Costello, Tim, Tips from a Travelling Soul Searcher Allen & Unwin, 1999, ISBN 978-1-86508-225-7
• Costello, Tim and Millar, Royce, Wanna Bet? Winners and Losers in Gambling's Luck Myth, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2000. ISBN 1-86508-371-2

References[link]

External links[link]

• Monash University Alumni
• World Vision CEO Profile