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e-news feb07
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e-News Feb07 - CMY - Centre for Multicultural Youth
|  February 2007
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| NEWS AND VIEWS
| SETTLING IN: HOW DO REFUGEE YOUNG PEOPLE FAIR WITHIN AUSTRALIA’S SETTLEMENT SYSTEM?
| By Louise Olliff, Policy Officer, CMYI - This article has been submitted for publication in Migration Action
| Australia is a country with a long history of effectively resettling refugees. However shifts in the make-up of our humanitarian intake, as well as changing political, international and socio-economic landscapes, all impact on the settlement experiences and outcomes of newly arrived communities. In supporting young people to ‘settle well’, it is important that the Australian Government is clear about the goals of our settlement program, how it measures and is accountable for good settlement outcomes, and how we, as a community, can create a socially inclusive and cohesive society where refugee young people are able to thrive.
In 2005-06, CMYI explored the question of ‘What is good youth settlement?’ through a policy forum and series of consultations with workers and young people. The resulting paper, Settling In: Exploring Good Settlement for Refugee Young People in Australia, explored definitions of ‘good settlement’, investigated our current settlement service system and made a series of recommendations. The following provides an overview of findings from this paper.
| Why focus on refugee young people?
| In the past decade, 65% of those who arrived in Australia under the government’s humanitarian program were under the age of 30 at the time of their arrival (DIAC Settlement Database). There has been a significant shift over this time in the proportion of young people represented within the humanitarian program. For example, young people under the age of 30 comprised 59% of the humanitarian intake in 1997 compared with 75% in 2006.
The changing regional focus of Australia’s humanitarian program over the past decade has also shifted the demographic profile of refugee young people arriving in Australia and subsequently their settlement needs. A significant shift in the program has been away from the settlement of young people from the Former Yugoslavia and Horn of Africa (Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia), towards those from ongoing conflicts in Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan, and a smaller but growing number from countries in West and Central Africa (including Liberia, Sierra Leone, DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi).
Increasingly, Australia is welcoming refugee young people who have had fewer years of previous schooling compared with earlier cohorts, have lived for extended periods of time in refugee camps and have moved from one unstable situation to another.
| The experiences of refugee young people
| New arrivals from refugee backgrounds are likely, as a result of their pre-migration and migration experiences, to face common difficulties in their efforts to adjust to a new life in Australia. Young refugees also have needs that are distinct from those of older refugees. As well as adjusting to resettlement in a new country, recovering from trauma, navigating education, employment and complex bureaucratic systems, refugee young people must also negotiate family, peer, individual and community expectations within the context of adolescence.
There are risks for those refugee young people who are not able to access appropriate support of exposure to social exclusion and disconnection, requiring assistance in the future to address issues such as homelessness, family breakdown, poor health, crime, drug and alcohol use and other social problems. The Federal Government’s Review of Settlement Services found that:
| "Without early, effective intervention, there is a risk that the initial disadvantages of humanitarian entrants and some of the more ‘at risk’ family arrivals could become entrenched. Over the longer-term, a combination of interrelated problems such as unemployment, continuing reliance on income support, health issues and physical and social isolation can create a cumulative effect of social and economic exclusion from mainstream Australian society." (Commonwealth of Australia 2003: 320-1)
| Despite the immense challenges of resettlement, it is important to recognise that refugee young people often make remarkable progress and bring a wealth of resources and strengths to the Australian community. The refugee experience can bring about qualities such as resilience and resourcefulness, adaptability, a strong commitment to the family and the value of community, and a strong desire to achieve educationally. Newly arrived young people often have broad international knowledge, multilingual skills and awareness of many cultures and communities. If well supported in the transition period, refugee young people have demonstrated their strong capacity to be able to rebuild their lives, achieve their goals and contribute dynamically to the broader Australian community.
| What is ‘good settlement’?
| There are varied understandings of what it means for a refugee to be ‘well settled’ in a new country. This is rarely articulated in government or other literature, although terms such as wellbeing, citizenship, participation, self-sufficiency and social inclusion are commonly referred to. It is important to enter into discussion about what Australia means when it opens its doors to refugees, what the expectations are for refugees settling in Australia, and how we evaluate the success and/or outcomes of our resettlement program. The policy implications of such a discussion would undoubtedly influence the services and systems that are put in place to facilitate these goals.
Currently, the two stated outcomes under The DIMA Plan 2006-07 (which includes all migration streams) are to: “Contribute to Australia’s society and its economic advancement through the lawful and orderly entry and stay of people”; and, “Promote a society which values Australian citizenship, appreciates cultural diversity and enables migrants to participate equitably”.
A recent articulation of the goals of humanitarian settlement services involves a commitment to “helping new arrivals participate in the community as soon as possible after arrival. Settlement services funded by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs provide assistance to help new arrivals become accustomed to life in Australia. These services focus on building self-reliance, developing English language skills, and fostering links with mainstream services” (Commonwealth of Australia 2006a:3). Less clear is how these goals and programs are evaluated in terms of the settlement experiences and actual outcomes for humanitarian entrants.
Although it comes with some baggage, integration is one concept that has been used in research to define the goal of a well-settled person or community and may provide a useful starting point in defining the goals and evaluating the outcomes of Australia’s humanitarian settlement program. Integration, as defined in Valtonen (2004:74), is “the ability to participate fully in economic, social, cultural and political activities, without having to relinquish one’s own distinct ethnocultural identity and culture. It is at the same time a process by which settling persons become part of the social, institutional and cultural fabric of a society”. Integration, in contrast to the idea of assimilation, infers the full participation of new arrivals in the country of settlement without necessitating a loss of identity or a one-way process whereby migrants or refugees are simply absorbed into their new surroundings. Integration assumes that there are multiple parts, identities, communities and so on, that make up the whole society, and that new arrivals are able to contribute and become active citizens of a cohesive and diverse community.
The UNHCR Integration Handbook: Refugee Resettlement (2002) also provides a definition of settlement that is based on the concept of integration. According to UNHCR, the nine internationally accepted goals for integration of resettled refugees are:
| - To restore refugees' security, control, and social and economic independence;
| - To promote the capacity for refugees to rebuild a positive future in a receiving society;
| - To promote family reunification;
| - To promote connections with volunteers and professionals able to provide support;
| - To restore confidence in political systems and institutions, human rights, and the rule of law;
| - To promote cultural and religious integrity and restore attachments to community and culture;
| - To counter racism, discrimination, and xenophobia and build welcoming communities;
| - To support the development of strong, cohesive refugee communities;
| - To foster conditions which support refugees of different ages, family statuses, gender, and past experience.
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| Whether or not these goals of ‘integration’ are seen as the best means of measuring and planning for good settlement outcomes is certainly an area for discussion. Regardless, it is important that there is some framework within which the humanitarian program can be evaluated for effectiveness and which feeds back into planning and funding processes.
| How are young refugees currently fairing?
| Australia’s program of settlement support for humanitarian entrants is among the best in the world. While a similar level of assistance has not been accorded to those who have been recognised as refugees under the on-shore humanitarian program, those who have been assisted to migrate under Australia’s off-shore humanitarian program have access to a range of services to support their resettlement.
Refugee young people have been identified as a priority group by the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council (RRAC) since 2000 and by the Victorian Settlement Planning Committee (VSPC) since 1995. As such, there are a number of initiatives that have been introduced which represent good practice in the international arena, including: the development of the RRAC Refugee Youth Strategy in 2000; the allocation of youth-specific funding by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship within the Settlement Grants Program (SGP); and the funding of the Newly Arrived Youth Support Service (NAYSS) by the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
While recognising that there are many supportive services available to refugee young people, substantial gaps have also been identified, particularly if we perceive ‘good settlement’ outcomes as those outlined above. According to Aristotle (unpublished, 2000), Australia receives a steady flow of young people who have endured a wide range of atrocities, “yet we lack a cohesive and well-coordinated national approach which embraces a whole-of-life concept of recovery”.
In 2005-06, young people and workers consulted by CMYI identified a range of other gaps within the existing service system. These included:
| Humanitarian Settlement Services
| - Lack of youth focus in the IHSS program – the family-focused assessment without specific focus on young people means that their needs are often not recognised at an early stage;
| - Lack of co-ordination and collaboration between IHSS programs, SGP and other specialist and generalist youth services;
| - Variation in support for young people, families and proposers being sponsored through the Special Humanitarian Program;
| - Insufficient co-ordination between federal, state and local governments to ensure equitable resource allocation in areas of high refugee youth intake;
| - Lack of bi-cultural youth and settlement workers and insufficient incentives and support to encourage newly arrived community members to enter the field.
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| Education and employment
| - Lack of refugee loading in the funding of the ESL New Arrivals program, and therefore insufficient time for young people with disrupted schooling in English Language Centres/Schools;
| - Paucity of out-of-school-hours learning support programs (such as homework clubs);
| - Failure of job network services to effectively provide for the needs of those from refugee backgrounds;
| - Reduced focus on refugee young people as a risk group within the DEWR-funded Jobs Placement Employment and Training (JPET) program.
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| Family/Community engagement
| - Lack of consistently-funded programs to assist newly arrived families with the task of raising teenagers (cross cultural parenting programs);
| - Poor level of understanding in generalist services around the need to engage with families of newly arrived young people;
| - Little understanding of the Australian youth service system amongst newly arrived communities and reluctance for many families to allow their children to be involved in activities due to fears around appropriateness and safety.
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| Social connectedness
| - Lack of adequate social supports and funding for group programs (including peer support models) that build connections between newly arrived and Australian-born young people;
| - Inaccessibility of sport and recreation opportunities due to poor access to grounds, prohibitive cost, transport difficulties and lack of long-term community-based sports programs;
| - Insufficient emphasis on the need to promote cross-cultural understanding and reduce racism and discrimination through program funding.
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| Research and evaluation
| - Lack of research into refugee young people’s needs and experiences;
| - Little systemic analysis/evaluation of settlement outcomes for refugee young people;
| - Poor level of data collection in relation to young refugees, including demographic trends and access to services, and therefore little way of ascertaining the degree to which young people are seeking support and having their needs met.
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|  | A YOUTH PERSPECTIVE
| By Faten Mohamed, Youth Facilitator, CMYI
| Young refugees have greater challenges settling in Australia due to their pre-migration experiences. Many of the young people coming from my homeland, Sudan, have lived in refugees camps in Kenya, Ethiopia and Egypt. Although these camps are coordinated by organisations such as the UN and have support from different organisations, the conditions do not differ much. Most are unsafe, unhygienic and have limited resources and services. Young people are often there for long periods of time, some with family and many on their own.
In a camp there is never a sense of settlement, considering that many of the young people are there for more than a decade. These camps are meant to be temporary settlements, but unfortunately they frequently become ‘home’ for years. When young people and families apply for visas to different countries (one of which is Australia) they can spend years waiting for a reply. For many all they want is to leave the camps and to find a new home in a country that can provide them with better support and opportunities.
When young people receive their visas and tickets to come to Australia, they have little knowledge and understanding of the legal, social, economic or political structures in Australia. They often are unprepared for what is to come. When they arrive in Australia they are expected to learn a new language, new laws and new social structures within a very short timeframe.
Young people are often perceived to have the same problems as their parents when they first arrive in Australia. So for many agencies providing the family with accommodation and ensuring they have an income is considered sufficient support. Young people have different needs; and are under more pressure to learn English so they can support their families.
There can be strong expectations for young people to assimilate into mainstream society. These expectations often clash with the pressure from the family and community for the young people to maintain their culture, customs and religious practices.
During the settlement process many young people take on a lot of responsibility due to having higher English proficiency than older family members and parents, so they are often required to attend visits to agencies such as Centrelink or the doctor to interpret for their family members. In the process, young people may neglect their own immediate needs, including the everyday challenges of being an adolescent, such as peer pressure, identity issues and sexuality. Refugee young people often have limited education when they arrive and need assistance outside of school to catch up with school work.
Young people from refugee backgrounds are suspicious of authorities, through many dealings with corrupt officials and organisations. For many, a visit to an organisation in a refugee camp would have been a very unpleasant experience. Dealing with law enforcement agencies or agents is unfortunately a horrifying encounter for many. As a result of these experiences, the settlement process in Australia for young refugees is challenging, for having to deal with so many organisations and services is overwhelming. This feeling comes through the anxiety of not knowing what is expected from them when they visit an agency and how they will be treated.
This can be prevented by employing other young people who have been in Australia for longer and have a good understanding of the political, legal, social and economic structures in Australia. The young people should get training and an incentive to share their experiences with newly arrived young refugees/migrants. Although this kind of assistance exists within communities, the scope is limited. Due to the reality that many have jobs, families, responsibilities, and get limited support from settlement services, very little can be done on a volunteer capacity.
Getting assistance for young refugees when they first arrive from people who are from the same age group, speak the same language and have similar life experiences, can make the process of settlement less challenging, with a decreased feeling of isolation and estrangement from the country, services and opportunities it has to offer.
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| Ways to achieve ‘good settlement’ outcomes
| How we achieve the best settlement outcomes for refugee young people and their communities obviously requires a multi-layered response. In terms of a settlement service system, a number of recommendations emerged from CMYIs policy forum and consultation. These include:
| - Develop a national refugee youth settlement strategy – CMYI recommends the development of an inter-departmental refugee youth strategy at the federal level that outlines a process of ongoing needs identification, provides analysis and incorporates findings into wider settlement planning frameworks and guidelines.
| - Develop an on-arrival case co-ordination model for young people – CMYI recommends the development of an on-arrival case co-ordination model that would provide a holistic needs analysis and tailored support for all newly arrived young people and their families.
| - Provide enhanced youth orientation and information – CMYI recommends the development of a comprehensive youth orientation and information provision strategy.
| - Develop programs that build social capital – CMYI recommends the development of programs that build social capital based on existing peer support and sport and recreation strategies.
| - Co-ordinate the rollout of cross cultural parenting programs – CMYI recommends that existing good practice models of parenting programs tailored to the needs of newly arrived communities be co-ordinated and supported through ongoing funding.
| - Support greater family-school engagement – CMYI recommends that support be provided to enable schools to employ culturally sensitive strategies to increase the engagement of parents and carers.
| - Further support refugee community development initiatives – CMYI recommends support for refugee youth leadership and youth-led initiatives in the provision of holistic support for young people.
| - Develop community education programs and intercultural dialogue – CMYI recommends increased support for community education programs that build understanding of refugees and humanitarian entrants.
| - Enhance research and data collection – CMYI recommends funding for a co-ordinated approach to national data collection.
| - Invest in sector support – CMYI recommends professional development and training for generalist and government services be enhanced to support culturally and linguistically responsive practice.
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| An inclusive society
| It should be acknowledged that even if there were an ideal service system, positive settlement outcomes for refugee young people are also highly dependent on wider environmental factors. These include economic factors (such as employment trends, the cost and availability of housing and the state of the economy), social factors (such as racism and discrimination, community attitudes and social capital), and political factors (such as the government’s stance on multiculturalism and citizenship or foreign policy in response to international events).
These broader environmental factors are not immutable and can be shaped through public policy. The question is how the Australian Government, which “recognises the valuable contribution migrants and humanitarian entrants have made to our society and is committed to helping new arrivals participate in the community as soon as possible after arrival” (Commonwealth of Australia 2006a:3), plans for, evaluates and supports good settlement outcomes. Ensuring refugee young people are able to integrate and thrive in Australia not only fulfils our international humanitarian obligations, but ultimately strengthens our whole society.
|  Download this article as a PDF (148Kb)
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| WHAT'S NEW AT CMYI?
| Short Burst Training Series and Launch
| | On 22nd February, CMYI launched its Short Burst Training Series at the City Library. The launch was organised and emceed by Mohammed El-Leissy, CMYI Youth Facilitator, and over 50 young people attended the event.
Nadia Mohamed, founder of Muslim youth events website noorevents.com.au, and Dan Adams, organiser of the 2006 Make Poverty History concert, both spoke at the launch about the trials and tribulations of youth-led initiatives.
The Short Burst Training Series is designed to assist young people involved in youth groups and/or youth-led initiatives. The training modules (2-3 hours each in length) cover topics including leadership, fundraising, project management, media and team building. Delivered with young people as peer facilitators, the training will be free for all young people to attend. Training can be accessed through individual/organisational requests or by attending scheduled training in the CBD.
| Dates:
| Sat 24th March - Team Building
Sat 28th April - Leadership
Sat 26th May - Project Management
Sat 30th June - Fundraising
Sat 28th July - Media
| Time: 1.00 - 4.00pm (refreshments provided)
| Location: Ground Floor Room 1, Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
| Download registration form as PDF
|  Download registration form as Word doc
| To register for the series, contact Joseph at CMYI by calling (03) 9340 3700 or email info@cmyi.net.au
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| Local Government Roundtable and Resource Kit
| Through CMYIs work with local councils over the past five years, a need was identified for a resource that could be used by local councils to facilitate greater engagement of young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds in local services. Consultations and a local government roundtable were held to identify issues and provide input into this planned resource kit. 30 workers representing 12 local government areas attended the roundtable on 8th February.
| Read full Report from the Roundtable
| Youth Participation Workers’ Network Forum
| The Youth Participation Workers’ Network was established in March 2006 in response to an identified need for workers in different organisations to discuss best practice issues for youth participation. This forum will be an opportunity to hear from workers and young people from a number of organisations about their own experiences of youth reference groups, particularly focusing on some of the successes and challenges of youth reference groups as a model of youth participation.
| Date: Friday 30th March 2007
| Time: 9.30am - 1.30pm
| Location: Department for Victorian Communities, Level 15, 1 Spring St Melbourne, 3000
| For full event details download the invitation here
| Discrimination and the Law Youth Forum
| Are you aged between 15-25 and passionate about issues around discrimination at school, university, in the workplace or with police and want to do something about it? A FREE Multicultural Youth Forum is being held on 22 March 2007 to encourage discussion between young people from a range of refugee and migrant backgrounds and to strengthen youth participation in the community.
This is your opportunity to get involved and not only discuss the issues concerning discrimination, but to develop real strategies to address these issues in the community. Funding may be approved to implement solutions formulated at the forum.
| Date: Thursday 22nd March 2007
| Time: 10.00am - 5.00pm (includes morning tea and a delicious lunch)
| Location: Trades Hall, Ground Floor - Old Building, Trades Hall, Cnr. Victoria & Lygon Streets, Carlton South
Transport assistance can be provided.
Limited Places available. Registration closes 5pm on Thursday 15th March 2007.
| View the event flyer here
| Download the registration form here
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| NEW STAFF
| CMYI would like to announce the following new staff and changes to our team:
| | Claudia Abakah - Multicultural Youth Liaison Officer
| Claudia Abakah joined CMYI late last year as the Multicultural Youth Liaison Officer. She is based in Carlton Tuesdays and Wednesdays and in the Southeast on Thursdays and Fridays at Springers Leisure Centre. Claudia’s role is to support young people from CLD backgrounds to take part in and access sport and recreational activities at Springers. Claudia will plan and co-ordinate sports days and tournaments as well as assist young people to establish and link into sport and rec opportunities. In addition, Claudia will join other members from the CMYI sport and rec team, to conduct inclusion training/workshops for staff at leisure centres. The aim is to provide centre staff with resources and increase their knowledge on best practices for working with and increasing access to leisure centres by CLD young people.
Previous to this role, Claudia was a fulltime student at Victoria University completing a degree in youth work as well as working with The Horn of Africa Islamic young women’s basketball team as a coach. Claudia enjoys taking part in sporting activities and dancing.
| Claudia can be contacted on: cabakah@cmyi.net.au
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| | Bronwyn Davison - Youth Participation Officer (Mentoring)
| Bronwyn joined CMYI in January as our new Youth Participation Officer working on the Multicultural Youth Mentoring Project. Bronwyn is based in the Carlton office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Her role is to provide support, supervision and training to 15 community mentors who have been matched with young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Bronwyn co-facilitates a peer support group for the mentees that meets monthly to gain new skills, have fun, develop friendships and discuss issues of concern and take action.
Bronwyn’s previous work experience ranges from mentoring program for disengaged young people, a Community Strengthening Initiative project in Wallan, Life Skills Training for Homeless Youth, and a Youth Housing Program. In her spare time, she enjoys catching up with friends, yoga, movies, live world music, and booking in to catch up with her two adult children.
| Bronwyn can be contacted on: bdavison@cmyi.net.au
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| | Mohammed El-Leissy - Youth Facilitator
| Mohammed has been active with CMYI since the beginning of 2006. He started off as a member of CMYI’s Youth Reference Group and on the Youth Participation Registry, and spoke on behalf of CMYI at the Darebin Council’s Youth Forum last year. Mohammed was also featured in an article in The Age earlier this year speaking about his experience as a 2nd generation migrant.
Mohammed took up a more formal role at CMYI in January 2007 working one day a week (Wednesday) as a Youth Facilitator. His first job was to organise the “Short Bursts Training” Launch which was held on the 22nd of February at the City Library. His next task will be to design a newsletter for the Youth Participation Registry, which will provide an ongoing link between CMYI and those on the registry.
When not at CMYI, Mohammed also has a radio program on 3CR and is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts and an Advanced Diploma in Public Relations.
| Mohammed can be contacted on: mel-leissy@cmyi.net.au
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| | Nazeem Hussain - Youth Facilitator (R.A.C.E. Project)
| Nazeem Hussain joined CMYI in January as a Youth Facilitator and is based in Carlton two days a week. Nazeem’s role is to coordinate the R.A.C.E. Project which is aimed at addressing the issues CLD young people face regarding discrimination in the workplace, school/university and with police. Nazeem is organising the ‘Discrimination and the Law Youth Forum’ which will take place at Trades Hall on March 22 and will involve 70 CLD young people. The purpose of the forum is to determine what the major issues around discrimination are as perceived by CLD young people, and to develop possible solutions to these problems with possible funding.
Nazeem is currently a full-time university student studying a double degree in Law and Science. Nazeem is also a cast member for the multi award-winning community TV show Salam Café and enjoys doing stand up comedy on the side. He likes to spend time with family and friends and enjoys a good laugh.
| Nazeem can be contacted on: nhussain@cmyi.net.au
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| POSTCARD FROM HUME
| Each newsletter, we ask one of our program team to write about emerging issues and new initiatives that are taking place in their region. In this edition, Rachel Murray, Project Officer - Building Bridges, writes about some recent events that have taken place with the Building Bridges Project.
| “Ee-Ha-Yeah”
| | “So what do you do?” A question frequently asked in various social settings. Yet the nature of the Building Bridges project leaves no avenue for a one-line response. Those who ask the question find themselves engaged in a topic with no limits.
The Building Bridges Program is based on an approach used overseas which has shown that discrimination can be tackled by bringing affected groups together with members of the wider community to work on activities that are important to them all.
40 community-based projects have been funded by VicHealth throughout Victoria with the common goal of bringing people together to work cooperatively on a shared endeavour. Through this contact, meaningful relationships can form leading to better understanding between groups. This in turn can help to break down the negative attitudes that lead to discrimination and exclusion.
Five of the best funded projects will be selected for expansion and will be followed over a three year period to test whether the approach is an effective way of reducing discrimination.
CMYI’s Building Bridges Project has a heart that lies in understanding. It’s about fostering relationships between young people who come from a variety of cultural backgrounds, (including Anglo-Australian born), and encouraging them to be initiators of social change within their very communities. The two groups are gender specific, running for five months each.
Working in Hume has its challenges and the initial collaboration of the group was filled with moments of stress and bewilderment. How on earth do you make such a project work? Transport issues, cultural differences, parental concerns, prejudice and the young people’s time commitments were all hurdles that had to be overcome.
Part of the project involved a 3-day camp which proved to be interesting given that there were a few young women who had been in Australia for under 6 months and who had never spent a night away from their parents. Others had never held a conversation with someone from a different culture before! Yet in the end 19 beautiful women were brought together from 6 different schools in Hume and 6 different cultural backgrounds (Somali, Ghanaian, Iraqi, Assyrian-Chaldean, East-Timorese/Chinese, Anglo-Australian) for a weekend of pure fun.
We ran a parent information session before the camp to build trust between CMYI and the parents and to ensure they had a good understanding of the essence of the project. It was important the parents knew the important role they had to play in the project.
The camp had a lasting impact on many. It was the foundation for the program; a time where the young women got a chance to really get to know each other. There were fashion shows, dancing, surfing, games, cooking, huge feasts, painting, gum-leaf awards, hoola-hooping, midnight snacks and plenty of time spent relaxing and hanging out.
In groups they wrote how they felt before and after the camp and discussed the future direction of the Building Bridges Project.
Feelings of nervousness, fear and uncertainty filled the first pages of butchers paper. They then spoke of the amazing comfort they had around each other at the end of the camp. “We’re like family now, it feels like we’ve known each other for ages,” was a comment that stood out.
The intensity of the connections between the young women in such a short space of time surprised all the workers. It showed us the importance of creating safe spaces where people can come together and learn from each other. Many misconceptions were eradicated and fears dispelled. “I didn’t know before that someone wearing a scarf could be so funny,” one Anglo-Australian born young woman said.
The impact of the camp on their families was evident when the parents came to pick up their children and saw them all hugging each other goodbye. “Wow, you’ve certainly had a fun time,” one mother said to her daughter.
The father who had previously expressed fears about his daughter being around “ethnics” rang up after the camp to say the group was welcome to come to his house for their reunion. He expressed the positive affect the camp had had on his daughter and offered his services for future activities.
As a group, the young women decided they would put on an event in Broadmeadows that would assist in bringing the wider community to the same conclusions they had discovered; that true friendships can be made with people from different cultural and religious backgrounds and that, through coming together and learning from each other, your own life is greatly enhanced.
The young women decided to call the event and their group “Ee-Ha-Yeah”. The phrase amalgamates various ways of agreeing to what someone has said – ‘Ee’ in Arabic, ‘Ha’ in Somali, Bengali and Urdu, and ‘Yeah’ in English, Dutch and Indonesian.
To lead up to the event, the girls have been on an excursion to the bush in St Andrews where they wrote a song that they will perform at the event, began to choreograph their dance and worked out the various event management roles they would undertake. They have also undertaken a public speaking training session to assist them with the speeches they will make when presenting to the Hume City Council and hosting their event, Ee-Ha-Yeah.
The Ee-Ha-Yeah event will feature music, dance, food and laughter; things loved and enjoyed by women from all cultures. The event will provide an opportunity for exploring the common threads that bind us all whilst respecting the differences we may not understand.
Ee-Ha-Yeah is a women’s only event open to women of all ages, cultures and religions. The building bridges’ girls look forward to seeing many smiling women there.
| To get involved or to find our more information please contact:
Rachel Murray
CMYI - Project Officer
Mobile: 0402 749 441
Email: rmurray@cmyi.net.au
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| WHAT'S NEW IN THE SECTOR
| Details of upcoming events, conferences and new resources in the CLD youth sector. If you have an event or resource you want promoted through this newsletter, please send details to info@cmyi.net.au
| New Resources
| - HREOC launches new education tool for school students - An educational tool to help combat racism and promote a culture of respect and equality among high school students was recently launched in Sydney by Race Federal Attorney-General, The Hon. Philip Ruddock MP and Race Discrimination Commissioner Tom Calma. The Voices of Australia Education Module produced by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) will be used by high school teachers of Civics and Citizenship-related subjects to help students reap the rewards of living in a rich and culturally diverse society. The Voices of Australia Education Module is available on the Commission’s website: www.humanrights.gov.au/
| - Is Australia fair? - This report details the results of community consultations in all States and Territories and telephone polling on what Australians think are the essentials to make Australia fair.
As Australia experiences a period of economic growth, what impact this change has had on fairness? There is concern around trends that challenge Australia’s ideal as the land of the fair go – for example the divide between rich and poor or 'rich poor gap' and the concentration of joblessness and disadvantage in 'poverty postcodes' in rural and outer metropolitan areas. Ongoing social problems such as homelessness, domestic violence, and the poor standard of living and health of indigenous communities are a human stain on Australia’s economic and cultural prosperity.
In responses to ACOSS’s consultation, these concerns were indicated in both general and specific terms with respondents framing their 10 essentials to make Australia fair as aspirational or as a criticism of contemporary Australian problems such as rising housing prices.
Read the report in the CHIRS library
| - Muslim Australians - There is currently a great deal of interest in, and misunderstanding about, Australia’s Muslim communities. Muslim Australians are not a homogenous group as some media reports might lead us to believe, but make up a small, culturally diverse section of Australian society.
Over a third (36 per cent) of Muslim Australians are Australian-born, while those who have arrived here as immigrants come from all over the world—from Lebanon and Turkey to Bangladesh and Fiji. Some come from countries where women wear a burqa or a veil, most do not. And despite concerns expressed by some, many others argue that the vast majority of Muslim Australians see no conflict of loyalty between Islam and Australian citizenship.
This electronic brief is a guide to some of the recent research, statistics and information on Australian Muslims which highlights those issues and provides a more accurate overview of Australia’s Muslim communities. www.aph.gov.au/library/INTGUIDE/sp/muslim_australians.htm
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| Training, Conferences and Forums
| - Discrimination and the Law Youth Forum - Are you aged between 15-25 and passionate about issues around discrimination at school, university, in the workplace or with police and want to do something about it? A FREE Multicultural Youth Forum is being held on 22 March 2007 to encourage discussion between young people from a range of faith and cultural (and/or refugee and migrant) backgrounds and to strengthen youth participation in the community.
This is your opportunity to get involved and not only discuss the issues concerning discrimination, but to develop real strategies to address these issues in the community. Funding may be approved to implement solutions formulated at the forum. Make a difference, be heard – Loud and Clear!
When: Thursday 22 March 2007
10.00 am – 5 pm (includes Morning tea and delicious lunch)
Where: Trades Hall, Ground Floor - Old Building, Trades Hall, Cnr. Victoria & Lygon Streets, Carlton South
Transport assistance can be provided.
Limited Places available. Registration closes 5pm on Thursday 15th March 2007.
| View the event flyer here
| Download the registration form here
| - African Resettlement in Australia Conference 2007 - This grass-root initiative Conference is to be hosted by Victoria’s African communities and aims to increase awareness and assist African communities and individuals to integrate in the mainstream Australian society. The forum will provide an opportunity for service providers, local, state and federal government agencies and policy makers, professionals and community members/leaders to share past and present success/failures, common concerns, and hopes for the future.
The Conference theme, “Walking together at same speed” A forum to dialogue…a cultural journey reflects the belief that both African refugees and Australian society need to come together in the spirit of learning and mutual understanding. A series of keynote addresses, case studies and presentations will reflect the theme and topic areas of refugee settlement needs, community capacity building, health, refugee employment, youth, and refugee education.
Further information including registration details can be found at the: conference website by contacting Conference Management on telephone: 03 8344 3682 or email heather.wringe@union.unimelb.edu.au
| - Unpacking the Suitcase - Maintaining the Well Being of Newly Arrived Young People - The South Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre – Dandenong is delivering a Statewide 2 day conference which will explore the importance of well being and the impact it has on refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse young people’s settlement. This conference is an interactive, learning experience for youth workers, community development workers, teachers, well being workers etc.
If you would like to be on the contact list or for more information contact Nancy Badr (03) 9706 8933 or email nancyb@sermrc.org.au .Unpacking the Suitcase - Maintaining the Well Being of Newly Arrived Young People will be held on the 12 and 13 July 2007 – Melbourne Victoria.
| - Changin' It, Lovin' It - The first ever "Changin' It, Lovin' It" program is aimed at women aged between 18 and 30. "Changin' It, Lovin' It" hopes to inspire young women in their personal life and their professional career, for far-reaching benefits in their community, and who have a desire to change the world!
There will be opportunities to hear from some inspirational women, including Senator Judith Troeth, author Randa Abdel-Fattah, AFL commissioner Sam Mostyn and basketballer Narelle Henry. The national conference will be held in Melbourne at the Hotel Y over two days. For more information on the program of events and cost, download the official brochure (PDF file, 245 kilobytes).
You can also check out www.ywca.org.au and click on the conference page.
| - Safe and Inclusive Schools workshops - Every student has the right to feel safe at school. And all schools have an obligation to put positive strategies in place to ensure they create supportive environments and real learning outcomes for all students.
To assist schools meet their obligations and to promote safe and inclusive practices, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has developed four practical and low-cost professional development workshops that will be of interest to schools.
These include: Disability Standards for Education (31 May), Closets, Classrooms and Change: Challenging homophobia in schools (25 May), Equal Opportunity and Inclusion: What all schools need to do (27 March), and Play by the Rules: Promoting fair and safe behaviour in sport (4 June).
For more information go to: www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/safe%20schools/Introduction
| - Eliminating Racism: Valuing Diversity - The Institute for Community Engagement and Policy Alternatives (ICEPA) invites you to an event marking the United Nation Day for the Elimination of Racism. The United Nations has declared 21 March as the global day for the elimination of racism. Discrimination and racism defines social relations between people in very negative ways and impacts on life chances. It is critical that academics, community workers, policy makers and affected communities continue dialoguing and strategising on this key issue. This forum will consider anecdotal and research-based evidence about racism and discrimination in Australia and strategies to counter these phenomena.
WHEN: 9:00-1:00 Wednesday 21 March, 2007
WHERE: Function Room 3, Level 12, Victoria University, 300 Flinders St, Melways Ref 1A 9K
COST: $20 (inc GST) - cash payments only
RSVP: Sue Butterworth, Ph: 03 9919 5478, sue.butterworth@vu.edu.au
| For further information and registration please contact Sue Butterworth on the details above. It is important that you RSVP by 14 March 2007 for catering purposes.
Download flyer from: www.vu.edu.au/icepa
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| Events
| - Refugee Week 2007 - Sunday, June 17 to Saturday, June 24 - The Refugee Council of Australia is encouraging organisations around Australia to celebrate Refugee Week 2007 from Sunday, June 17 to Saturday, June 24. This date coincides with the celebration of World Refugee Day on June 20 and offers greater opportunities for creating awareness of local, national and international issues affecting refugees. The recommended theme for Refugee Week in Australia is "The Voices of Young Refugees".
The Refugee Council will be keen to promote any events held this year as part of Refugee Week. Please send details of any local, regional or national events to info@refugeecouncil.org.au for us to include in public information about Refugee Week events.
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| Funding
| - Funding opportunities for 2007 - The first funding opportunities are now open for 2007 at the Foundation of Young Australians. Grants of up to $5,000 are available from the Spark Fund for 12 to 25-year-olds for original ideas that make a positive contribution to the community and enhances young people's skills.
Applications can be made individually or in a group of up to five, and with the support of an organisation if necessary. Ideas should have sustainable outcomes, identify contributions to the community and have a high rate of youth involvement. Applications will be accepted for The Spark Fund all year but the first round closes on 26 February. There are further deadlines in May, August and November.
| - Youth Change Makers - The Foundation for Young Australians has opened a new grant round, Youth Change Makers, that responds to the need of young people who are advocates for change in their communities. It will support individuals and small groups of young people who have identified an issue in their communities and have developed an advocacy response which aims to take action and create a positive impact and/or change in relation to that issue. Youth Change Makers grants will support initiatives up to $10,000 per applicant group.
Application form and guidelines on The Foundation for Young Australians website www.youngaustralians.org or call 03 9670 5436.
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| FROM THE SECTOR: PROJECT, PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
| Information and updates on new projects, programs and services in the sector. If you are involved in a project that you would like others in the sector to know about, send details to louise@cmyi.net.au.
| New Projects and Programs
| - SBS INSIGHT are seeking young people - The INSIGHT program on SBS TV wants to hear from young people to talk about why so many young people are dying on the roads. We'll be talking about new P Plate laws (different in each state) and we want to ask young people whether they think new rules like passenger limits and curfews are fair and effective.
INSIGHT is a weekly program involving 50 people in the studio audience who discuss an issue for an hour. We film the program in Sydney, but chosen interstate guests can be flown here for the recording, which will take place in the evening of Monday March 19.
At this stage, we'd love to hear from people aged 16-21 who have some thoughts on this. Maybe they think the rules are fair and reasonable? Or maybe they think young people are being singled out unfairly? It would be great to hear from people in regional centres as well as cities, too.
If you'd like to be involved in this national program, you need to email Christine El-Khoury, Associate Producer on christine.elkhoury@sbs.com.au. You will need to tell me a bit about yourself and your views on the subject.
| - 2007 Interpreter Scholarship Program - The Department for Victorian Communities, through the Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs (VOMA), is offering scholarships to students enrolled in the 2007 RMIT University Diploma of Interpreting in the languages of Amharic, Dinka, Nuer, Somali and Swahili.
Once selected, scholarship recipients will receive $1,200. This amount will cover course fees and associated study costs. Graduates who complete the course with a grade of 70% or higher will receive an additional $300 to cover the costs of NAATI accreditation. The course will run part-time from April 2007 to December 2007.
The deadline to apply to both RMIT University and VOMA is 12 March 2007. VOMA’s scholarship program aims to increase the availability of accredited interpreters in emerging languages.
| - Youth crew wanted for tall ship Young Endeavour - Young Australians aged 16 - 23 can now apply to sail the tall ship Young Endeavour for a youth training program in 2007. Voyages are for 11-days with departures from Townsville, Cairns, Airlie Beach, Bundaberg, Brisbane, Southport, Newcastle, Hobart, Devonport, Adelaide, Port Lincoln and Sydney, available from June – October 2007. Participants do not require any sailing experience.
Over the course of a voyage, 24 youth crew learn from a professional Royal Australian Navy crew all aspects of sailing a 44-metre, square-rigged tall ship on the open sea including climbing the 30m mast, setting sails, navigating, keeping watch and taking the helm. A voyage on the Young Endeavour develops skills in teamwork, communication, leadership and motivation while getting the opportunity to explore wilderness regions and remote coastlines.
Applicants need to be Australian citizens or permanent residents, aged 16 - 23 on the day of departure of the voyage, able to swim 50 metres and be in good health. Youth Crew members are selected via a ballot. TO APPLY: Applicants can apply for voyages online at www.youngendeavour.gov.au or by phoning 1800 020 444. Selection is via a ballot. Applications close 1 April 2007.
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| 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 louise@cmyi.net.au.
| RCOA calls on Government to maintain its commitment to African refugee resettlement
| CMYI supports the call by the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) for the Federal Government to maintain its commitment to giving priority to those in greatest humanitarian need, as it begins to develop plans for the 2007-08 refugee and humanitarian intake.
| Download RCOA media release
| Young people in multicultural Australia: participation and representation
| In thinking about multicultural Australia, it is important to reflect on how Australia articulates, manages and enacts diversity in a changing national and international environment. Indeed, the landscape of multiculturalism—of values, beliefs and communities—is constantly shifting. This article explores how young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLDB) experience multiculturalism. What is the rhetoric and reality of this contested space? How are CLDB young people encouraged to articulate, manage and enact their own identities? And how well are CLDB young people represented, and participating, in the broader Australian community?
| Download the Australian Mosaic article here
| Making the audible visible
| KHALED Abdulwahab is fired up. He has just left a meeting at the Arts Centre where he argued passionately for giving African musicians a chance to stage a concert this year. Music is integral to Abdulwahab's life and he believes it will open doors for him and Melbourne's growing African community.
| > read The Age article here
| Making a life in the suburbs that have shaped the nation
| If the nation's most famous cul-de-sac, Ramsay Street, was a template for diversity, then Melbourne would be a different place. Suburbs such as Preston, Dandenong and Broadmeadows, with their mix of people from British, European, African and Middle Eastern ancestry, would play no role in a predominantly Anglo-Celtic world. In reality, it is the outer suburbs that reflect the changes in the composition of people gathering in Australia's backyards.
| > read The Age article here
| ABC Radio 774 - Conversation Hour
| Claudia Abakah was born in Ghana, and has lived in Melbourne since she was nine years old (when reunited with her mother who she had not seen since she was two). She now works as a Youth Liaison Officer for the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues helping newly arrived migrants including refugees to get involved with sporting activities........
| > read more about the Conversation Hour with Jon Faine here
| Standing on common ground
| WHEN Mohammad Faisal arrived at a Brisbane private hospital last August after spending nearly five years in offshore detention, most of it on Nauru, the reception from some of the other patients was less than welcoming.
| > read The Age article here
| Claudia's Story
| I am a 24-year old African woman who has been living in Australia for nearly 16 years. I grew up in the northern suburbs, live in the eastern suburbs and now work as a youth worker for the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues. My role is to assist migrant and refugee young people to access the Springers Leisure Centre. It shocked and hurt me to read the damning, negative, racist comments made by Peter Brown (Letters 9/1) aimed at all Africans.
| > read The Age article here
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