|
 September 2010
|
|
|
|
NEWS AND VIEWS
|
What should a new government do?
|
By Nadine Liddy, National Co-ordinator of the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (Australia)
|
CMY is currently the auspice for the National Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (NMYAN). The NMYAN is a national policy and advocacy body that represents migrant and newly arrived young people, in order to advance their rights and interests. It is comprised of representatives from each of Australia’s states and territories who in turn represent state/territory multicultural youth sector networks.
The NMYAN was established in 2005 in response to an identified need for a national policy and advocacy body on multicultural youth issues. This group of young people are often overlooked as they are a sub-group of both the broader youth and multicultural sectors and underrepresented in the policy and advocacy work of both the government and non-government sectors.
The NMYAN has recently changed its name to become the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (Australia) or MYAN. The MYAN is funded for 2 years by DIAC until 2011. This funding allows the MYAN to consolidate its policy and advocacy work and includes a focus on supporting the development of state/territory multicultural youth sector networks.
At our June meeting in Sydney, the MYAN reviewed identified the following as priorities for its policy and advocacy work over the next 12 months: refugee youth settlement and refugee minors, education, employment and training, racism and discrimination, intergenerational and family issues, justice, mental health and housing and homelessness.
In the lead up to the recent federal election, the MYAN circulated its Election Policy Platform to MPs, calling for a range of measures to address the particular issues for migrant and newly arrived young people. These include:
|
- Increased resources for the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program in each state and territory to ensure that this particularly vulnerable group of young people are adequately supported in the early stages of settlement;
- An adequately funded, coordinated national approach to improved ESL support for new arrivals;
- Increased funding and availability of programs in schools and local communities that combat racism and discrimination;
- Sector development in the mental health sector to ensure that mainstream services have the skills and knowledge to support refugee and migrant young people and incorporate a transcultural approach to mental health service delivery;
- Recognition of the importance of specialist services in supporting refugee and migrant young people, particularly in relation to housing and homelessness and;
- Ongoing funding for the MYAN, as the national voice on multicultural youth issues.
|
|
The next six months will see the MYAN launching a web presence and continuing our policy and advocacy work with the new federal government. We will also continue supporting the development and sustainability of state and territory multicultural youth advocacy networks and work to ensure a sustainable long term future for the MYAN.
|
For further information on the MYAN, or a copy of the MYAN Multicultural Briefing Paper or Election Platform, contact Nadine Liddy, the MYAN National Coordinator, at nliddy@cmy.net.au or on 0437 897 178.
|
back to top
|
|
|
UnitingCare Anti-Poverty Awards
|
Established in 2004, the Connections UnitingCare Anti-Poverty Awards aim to recognise young Australians between the ages of 16 and 30 who are making a contribution to the eradication of poverty, locally, nationally or internationally.
One Award recipient will receive a $4000 grant to continue their work. Encouragement Awards up to $1000 are also offered. These awards are a great way for young people to receive recognition for the work they are doing in the community.
Last year’s recipients were two young women Sarah Elston and Caitlin Grigsby who founded the Blue Stockings Association. The Blue Stockings Association provides women in Gippsland, who are pursuing further education the opportunity to gain scholarships to help them in their endeavours.
“I would like to highlight what an injection of faith the award has had been for us.....it’s very easy to forget what you are trying to achieve but its little things like these awards that make such a huge difference.” - Caitlin Grigsby.
This year the awards are delighted to have the support of SHARE and UCA Funds Management. For more information or two download an application form visit the Awards page at the Connections website, or call the Connections Communications and Fundraising Department on 03 9271 0800.
|
back to top
|
|
|
WHAT'S NEW AT CMY?
|
Call for young multicultural voices to help research project
|
A new multi-University research project is looking for young voices.
Young people of Vietnamese/Italian/Tongan/Macedonian backgrounds are invited to participate in a survey CMY are sponsoring to gather background information on the community in Australia and the nature of the communities’ ties with their ethnic homelands.
CMY CEO Carmel Guerra said “This survey will be the first study of this kind in Australia and will provide important information about the nature, needs and interests of young people in Australia and ties with their family’s countries of origin. It will help better understand the needs of young people within these communities and to shape programs accordingly”.
The survey is being supported through a Federal Government Australian Research Council Grant and is being undertaken by a multi-University team drawn from the of Victoria, La Trobe, Adelaide and West Australia universities.
Project head Associate Professor Danny Ben-Moshe explained “we used to live in a world where people left the country of their birth and then settled in a new country and had little contact with their old homeland. However, that is not longer the case as people travel regularly, go online and receive news from the homeland every day and through charitable, religious and other frameworks are directly engaged in a wide range of activities in their ethnic homelands”.
CMY CEO Carmel Guerra added, “one of the things we are keen to see is how different generations connect to the homeland, as we know what is true for someone who is 70 is not the case for someone who is 20”.
Young people of the community are encouraged to go to the links below to complete the survey which should take from 10 to 20 minutes to complete depending on what you want to say.
|
- If you are Tongan or are of Tongan background, please click here to go to the survey.
|
- If you are Vietnamese or of Vietnamese background, please click here to go to the survey.
|
- If you are Italian or of Italian background, please click here to go to the survey.
|
- If you are Macedonian or of Macedonian background, please click here to go to the survey.
|
Please circulate this request to your clients and communities. If you would like to know more about this study, contact Joanne Pyke at joanne.pyke@vu.edu.au.
|
back to top
|
|
|
The Impact of Violence on Young Australians
|
Much media coverage has been dedicated in the past year to the increase of violent assaults in the city, often creating an impression that young people are to blame. Little, however, has been written about the impact of violence on young people’s lives and sense of safety. Young people of refugee and migrant backgrounds are particularly impacted, owing to their exposure to race-based attacks, their dependency on public transport and mistrust in the police (which can come from experiences in their country of origin, as well as experiences in Victoria).
CMY recruited seven young people from different cultural and faith backgrounds to organise and facilitate a youth forum to address the issue the impact of violence on young people. Although the group identified violence to be influenced by a range of factors, they decided to focus on media, education and justice. They also elected to invite speakers working in these areas to come and answer their questions.
Panellists at this forum were: The Department of Justice; Youthlaw; the Department of Education and Early Childhood Education; Dandenong High School; Swinburne University; the Leader Newspapers and New Australia Media.
Over the past few months, CMY has also assisted four young people to participate in a Federal Senate Inquiry into the Impact of Violence on Young Australians, as well as conducting a focus group with six young people from Stonington Youth Services and partaking in discussions with young people through other CMY networks. This consultation process forms the foundation of the policy paper ‘Violence through the eyes of young people’, which will be available for download from the CMY website shortly.
In order to reduce the risk of violence and to minimise the impact on their lives, young people requested:
|
- Greater safety on public transport;
- Greater role for educational institutions to teach non-violence, multiculturalism and multi-faith;
- Stronger condemnation of racially motivated crimes by police;
- Greater access to public space for youth activities;
- More alcohol-free spaces to remain open late;
- Greater engagement of young people with the media;
- Culturally and religiously diverse reporters and journalists.
|
|
- Heba Ibrahim, CMY Project Officer
|
back to top
|
|
|
Statewide Network update
|
CMY’s second Statewide Multicultural Youth Hissues Network Forum for 2010 focused on the issue of young people from refugee or migrant backgrounds who have responsibility for providing care for a family member with an illness or disability.
Despite the fact that young people from refugee or migrant backgrounds are more likely to have caring responsibilities, services often struggle to identify these young people as carers and provide appropriate support.
This forum provided an opportunity to bring together the caring and multicultural sectors, to discuss and build a clearer picture of what growing up with caring responsibilities looks like for this cohort of young people within the current service system.
Over 60 people from a range of services participated in the forum, many of whom had never previously been involved in a CMY event. Guest speakers and discussion groups explored a number of issues including:
|
- The definition of ‘caring’;
- The experience and impacts of caring for young people;
- The needs of young carers;
- The community and cultural expectations of caring for refugee and migrant young people;
- The challenges for the service system in responding to the needs of these young people;
- Recommendations for the future.
|
|
A report summarizing the proceedings of the forum including guest speakers’ presentations and the small group discussion, as well as follow-up actions to be explored and developed by CMY, ECCV and Carers Victoria will be released soon.
|
Nick Butera, CMY Project Officer - Sector Development
|
back to top
|
|
|
Save the date: take pART
|
What: pARTicipation Forum
| When: Tuesday 16 November 2010
| Where: Arts Play, Behind Federation Square, Birrarung Marr (Melway Reference 1B R2)
| The pARTicipation Forum is a dynamic exploration of the production of art projects with and for young people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
The pARTicipation Forum will foster a partnership approach and an acknowledgement of young people as experts of their own experience. Through an exciting combination of critical discussion and show-casing of arts projects you will explore what’s important in community arts projects. You will hear from young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds about their arts experience, devise innovative strategies and visualise future directions for multicultural arts production. All delivered with energy, verve and a sense of possibility…
| What will you learn?
| - Greater understanding of experience of young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds and how this impacts on the production of arts projects.
- How to improve migrant and refugee young people’s participation in, and access to, cultural venues, programs and events.
- Ideas and recommendations for next-step strategies to foster partnerships and best practice.
|
|
| | |
|
|
Who is it for?
|
- take pART – young people from culturally diverse backgrounds
- take pART - community organisations
- take pART - cultural organisations
- take pART – arts practitioners
- take pART – arts decision-makers
- take pART – local government
- take pART – academics
- take pART – funding organisations
|
|
Please forward this save the date notice to your networks.
Need more information? Contact Paola Bilbrough, pARTicipation Forum Project Officer, on (03) 9340 3702 or pbilbrough@cmy.net.au.
|
back to top
|
|
|
YOUNG VOICES
|
Cloaks of Many Cultures – It’s a wrap!
|
CMY and the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) collaborated on an exciting visual arts project from May to July this year. Fourteen young women from culturally diverse backgrounds visited the NGV every Saturday to view art exhibitions and take part in arts workshops. The project culminated in the young women producing life sized cloaks which explored their cultural heritages.
Vessal Safaei, CMY's project officer for the Cloaks of Many Cultures project, has put together this video which speaks to some of the young women who participated in the program. you can watch it below, via Vimeo:
|
|
 download a copy of the project report, 'Multicultural Young Women accessing and participating in the Arts' (2.5MB)
|
back to top
|
|
|
Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability
|
The recently completed Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability program provided young migrants and refugees with the leadership skills they need to help their communities live more sustainably.
Participants undertook a four month training program in leadership and sustainability. They then ran their own sustainability projects, taking the message straight to migrant and refugee communities. Successful graduates are awarded the Certificate I in Active Volunteering, which helps them on their path towards further study or employment.
Watch this video to hear participants talk about the project, via YouTube:
|
|
back to top
|
|
|
Living Between Cultures – young refugee and migrant stories published
|
A youth-led project that was part of CMY’s Multifaith Multicultural Youth Mentoring program came full circle in August with the release of a book featuring stories by project participants.
Living Between Cultures is a unique book of short stories by high school students who are from migrant and refugee backgrounds. With the help of local authors and a group of committed mentors, the students were able to craft both fictional and non-fictional accounts of the refugee and migrant experiences.
The book was launched at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne on 5 August in front of 80 participants and supporters. Commenting on the release of the book and current media coverage of the issues, editor Cassy Polimeni said “It’s really a David and Goliath tale of what’s important. Significant political and media hype focus on what parties propose to do externally about asylum seekers. In contrast, a publication like this shows us something of the people and stories behind the statistics. In many ways it’s the flip side of the coin.”
“Storytelling is important on a number of levels and should be part of any meaningful community debate. Not to judge or lecture but simply to provoke thought. Stories can help tellers feel they are more valued and better deal with difficult emotions. They can also better educate readers and help take the ‘fear of the unknown’ out of an issue.”
|
‘Leaving India’ by Rahul Dugar
| Living between cultures can be a hard thing or an easy thing. It really depends on how you adjust and face the changes that confront. The change may be tremendous or really small and simple. For me, migrating to Australia was a huge change. I was nine years old and had lived in India for most of my life. Just the idea of moving was very exciting yet very saddening. Part of me wanted to stay; part of me hated the idea.
When I moved to Australia in 2003 from India my lifestyle changed a lot. From living a luxurious life back in India, my family really had to start from scratch. As daunting as this task was it was also a lot of hard work but benefits were always greater. The main reason why we moved was just for better opportunities in life. We knew that things were going to be tough but thinking about one thing is completely different to actually experiencing it.
There were times when I wished that we would just go back. Just leave this place and go back to the people and most importantly the culture we had been brought up in. The culture in Australia was so much different. The people were different, the atmosphere was different and my whole life had changed. In India I lived with my extended family of twenty-five people.
In Australia it was only my family: five people. I felt lonely at times because I always had someone to talk to back in India. I missed my family, friends and most significantly my culture. Thinking about it now, moving to Australia was not such a bad idea. I changed quite a lot but only for the better. My thinking changed, how I confront issues, people, and challenges, they all changed.
I’ve been back three or four times and sometimes I feel like an outsider in my own culture back in India, The fact is, I am somewhat of an outsider. I am stuck between the two cultures and no matter how hard I try I will never be able to let go of one or fully become another. But it is how well we confront the challenges we face which allow us to successfully live between cultures.
| - Rahul Dugar is a Year 10 student at Keysborough Secondary College. Rahul’s family migrated to Australia in 2003. They are originally from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. English is a second language to Rahul. In India he spoke Hindi at home and usually both English and Hindi at school. India and Australia have very different cultures, he says.
|
|
|
|
back to top
|
|
|
WHAT'S NEW IN THE SECTOR
|
Details of upcoming events, conferences and new resources in the multicultural youth sector. If you have an event or resource you want promoted through CMY Digest, please send details to info@cmy.net.au
|
1GOAL – Education for All
|
Today, 72 million children around the world are denied the opportunity to go to school.
These children could be the next generation's leaders, sport stars, doctors and teachers. But without an education they are confined to a life of poverty. They’re ready to do their homework - but school fees, conflict, working in factories and farms, losing their parents to sickness, the cost of a school uniform or sometimes simply being a girl keeps them from being able to attend school. Whatever their background - orphans, refugees, poor, disabled, child soldiers, child labourers, from disadvantaged backgrounds – the result is the same – denied the chance to learn they will never be able to fulfil their potential.
Education beats Poverty – and enables people to help themselves. Education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty for families, communities and whole countries. 1GOAL Australia, a spin-off of the 1GOAL program that was associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is working to ensure that every child worldwide has the opportunity to go to school and learn. 1GOAL is collecting names and support from the public, footballers and celebrities to make a united plea to all governments to meet their target on UNESCO’s 'Education for All' initiative. Now that the World Cup is over, the real work begins. Find out more at the 1GOAL website.
|
back to top
|
|
|
 |
|
A regularly-updated list of new resources and upcoming events in the multicultural youth sector
|
back to top
|
|
|
IN THE MEDIA
|
Multicultural youth issues in the media – what are some of the issues that are making it into the news? If you come across media articles you think should be highlighted in this newsletter, please forward to info@cmy.net.au
|
Please note that the views expressed in any articles featured do not necessarily reflect the views of CMY.
|
We need to stand up for multiculturalism (The Age, 19 August 2010)
|
The portrayal of diversity as a threat to the comfortable lives of Australians urgently needs some political will to defend multiculturalism, says Pino Migliorino, chairman of the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia.
|
> read the article at the Age website
|
back to top
|
