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 January 2010
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NEWS AND VIEWS
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THE REALITY OF YOUTH CONSULTATION?
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Are young people getting enough of a say in the Federal Government’s ‘national conversation’ around the new direction in youth policy? Victor Nguyen is a participant in CMY’s Multicultural Multifaith Youth Mentoring program. Victor was part of a group of young peole who took part in the ‘National Stategy for Youth’ roundtable in Canberra at the end of October.
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The meeting in Canberra for the National strategy was part of a series of six consultations with youth in different demographic groups (ours being migrant youth and disabled youth) in shaping the national strategy that the government will be taking on in the future. Held at Parliament House, it was quite an experience to walk through the halls of such grandeur and practically rubbing shoulders with members of parliament.
The meeting itself was short, premeditated in its facilitation, and didn’t do justice to the work put in to get the 20-odd participants there. Facilitators did mention to us that “This is only the beginning…” and that we may not get a chance to express all our concerns, and to not look at it as “tokenistic,” which let me tell you was difficult. But all that aside, it was a really worthwhile experience especially for those of us who haven’t been to our nation’s capital before.
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Did you get to meet with Kate Ellis (the Minister for Youth) while in Canberra?
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The Minister came in for a short time during the meeting to greet us representatives. There wasn't an opportunity to speak in person with the Minister about the issues of concern, as she was in and out, and there was very little time to flag our ideas with the people from the Office for Youth.
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Victor then attended the youTHINK: live & online forum in Sydney on 12 November.
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The forum in Sydney was held at the Telstra Experience Centre in the CBD, hosted by TV presenter Myf Warhurst and Nic Mackay of the Oaktree Foundation, and was webcasted to over 3,000 young people throughout Australia with the opportunity for those watching online to send in questions. The forum was split into three areas of interest: friends and family, education and career, and youth online.
Once again the resources that went into getting us there and holding the forum felt as though they could have been better allocated to funding grass roots programs that are struggling in their outreach purely due to funding limitations, but hey the government needs to put on a show every now and then, right?
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It’s interesting that the Sydney forum had three areas of interest pre-set. Do you feel that input from these events will have much of an effect on the youth strategy that the Government is putting together? Or do you feel that the areas of interest have already been mapped-out without much input?
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It was planned to a tee. This being so, it left limited room for contribution from the participating audience aside from the odd comment and a buzzer to answer multiple choice questions. The Minister was however present for the entirety of the forum. There are some recurring issues which I believe will garner more attention from the Government as a result of the meetings, although on the whole I understand that the Government have done extensive consulting with numerous groups and the report and findings of such can be expected within the month.
I believe that the true purpose of this strategy is to encourage engagement within the younger community, be it in high school, university or work. Rather than taking in ideas and acting on them on the broader level, common themes and concerns raised throughout the consultation period would more likely be addressed as opposed to specific ideas.
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Commercial media called to task for goideline breaches
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Regular readers of CMY e-News may remember the Multicultural Youth Pledge, which was launched by CMY late in 2007 in response to inaccurate reports in the mainstream media concerning Dandenong’s Sudanese community. The ABC’s ‘Media Watch’ program detailed some of the concerns with the coverage in this 2007 segment.
The Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has found that Melbourne’s three nightly commercial news programs broke the Commercial Television Code of Practice 2004 requirement that factual material must be presented accurately in news programming. Channels Nine and Ten were also found to have broken the requirement that news be presented fairly and impartially. All three stations contended that they had not breached any guidelines, but will be using the ACMA reports in future staff training sessions. Detailed findings on the breaches committed by each program can be found at the ACMA website.
Commenting on the report, Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Dr Helen Szoke said: "The Commission recognises the importance of a free and independent media – but the community also expects fairness. The risk of exacerbating young people’s experiences of racism and discrimination and the consequences for them and for our community as a whole need to be considered.”
Dr Szoke cited the VEOHRC’s 'Rights of Passage' report from 2008, which found concern amongst Australian-Sudanese young people over their portrayal in the media. Read 'Rights of Passage' and a project update at the VEOHRC website; the VEOHRC will be working on a follow-up report in the new year.
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(source: ACMA media release, 30 November 2009)
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New resource for police working with young people from diverse communities
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Stories of friction between police and young people from migrant and refugee communities recur in the media on a regular basis. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has moved to provide a resource for police who are keen to remedy this state of affairs through the new 'Taking the Initiative' website.
Taking the Initiative spotlights a series of successful initiatives involving police around the nation that have led to improved relations between police and various communities, including Sudanese, Afghan and Burmese. Key individuals involved in some of these programs have also been profiled, while an extensive resurces section includes useful information on funding opportunities, service providers, links to DIAC Community Profiles, and research papers. Website users can also submit their own case studies for publication.
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WHAT'S NEW AT CMY?
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CMY takes part in the Parliament of the World's Religions
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CMY’s Project Officer Demetrio Zema writes…
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On Sunday 6 December, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in collaboration with CMY held the ‘Reinforcing Youth Contribution to Interfaith Dialogue’ workshop at the Mission to Seafarers in Melbourne. This event provided an opportunity for youth delegates from the Parliament of the World’s Religions to participate in an all-day workshop to discuss issues around interreligious dialogue and young people.
Delegates to the workshop were asked to express their thoughts and recommendations to UNESCO on ways to better deal and work with young people from around the world in promoting interreligious dialogue. Two delegates from UNESCO were present at the workshop, as well as a researcher from Arigatou International (New York) who came to present her findings from a research report on interreligious dialogue and young people. After undertaking some desk research around interreligious dialogue and young people through Arigatou International, UNESCO were eager to consult with youth delegates about the report and to seek feedback and recommendations.
The day featured presentations from UNESCO and Arigatou International, as well as a Welcome to Country, by Senior Elder of the Wurundjeri People, Aunty Joy Murphy, as well as an indigenous performance by Gnarnyarrahe Waitairie. The basis of discussion held throughout the day will form a report of recommendations by CMY to UNESCO. This report will provide all the key themes and issues which the young people discussed and raised, and issues which UNESCO should address in the coming years to improve interreligious dialogue among young people.
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CMY end of year event
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Tuesday 1 December saw an enthusiastic gathering of friends and supporters from the sector at Melbourne’s Immigration Museum, for CMY’s end of year event. The event was ably hosted by Farah Faiq, who has been involved with several of CMY’s projects for young people, and featured illustrator and author Shaun Tan as guest speaker. Thanks to all who attended!
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Annual Report now available
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The CMY end of year event also saw the launch of our Annual Report of Activities for 2008-09. If you want to read a comprehensive round-up of CMY’s many programs for the last financial year, look no further.
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 download (1.8MB)
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Living Between Cultures: A Cross-Cultural Creative Writing Project
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Growing up between cultures can be tricky. Figuring out where you belong and where you fit in, learning new customs and juggling your family’s expectations with those of your peers. But living between cultures can also offer opportunities for humour, insight and a broader world view.
In June 2009, participants in CMY’s Multicultural Multifaith Youth Mentoring program came up with the idea for Living Between Cultures: A Cross-Cultural Creative Writing Project. The project’s main aim was to help students from migrant and refugee backgrounds find a voice to tell their unique stories. The first stage was a recruitment drive to find talented authors with a passion for children and refugee issues. Next, we ran a series of workshops at schools in Melbourne’s east. Our authors used writing exercises to help students develop stories based on their own experiences or imaginings. The fruits of these workshops were collected for publication. Take a look at the Living Between Two Cultures website, where new stories will be published in the coming weeks.
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Get involved with MAP!
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The Multicultural Arts Program (MAP) is a contemporary arts access program for newly arrived young people to Australia.
Refugee and migrant young people aged 15 – 25 who have been living in Australia for five years or less take part in an arts immersion course in dance, visual arts and drama over four consecutive Saturdays at ACCA, Malthouse Theatre, Chunky Move and St Martins Youth Centre.
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Cycle 4 will take place each Saturday in February 2010, and CMY is currently seeking young people (15-25) who are new to Australia in the last five years and are interested in the arts to take part.
Participants will do breakdance classes at Chunky Move, view an art exhibition at the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art, and create your own art work while also taking part in a drama workshop at St Martins Theatre.
This four week arts course takes place on: |
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- Saturday 6 February 2010 - 11am to 4pm
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- Saturday 13 February 2010 - 11am to 4pm
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- Saturday 20 February 2010 - 11am to 4pm
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- Saturday 27 February 2010 - 11am to 4pm
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The workshops are free and lunch and public transport tickets are provided. Please see attached flyer for more information!
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download flyer (536kb)
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download registration form (97kb)
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For more information or to register your place by Monday 26 January, please contact Ilz at CMY on 9340 3726 or email iaslan@cmy.net.au.
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POSTCARD FROM THE SOUTH-EAST
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We ask one of our team to write about emerging issues and new initiatives they’ve been involved with. In this edition, South-East Region Co-ordinator Heather Stewart discusses some of the issues faced by te team working at CMY's Dandenong office.
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CMY's South-Eastern team are based in the City of Dandenong, and its staff service the wider area with individual case work, the Reconnect program, and other projects including Learning Beyond the Bell, YRIPP and youth participation. The South-East team recently hosted CMY staff from other regions at Dandenong for a 'hot topics' discussion session on the challenges that are presented in the region.
The City of Greater Dandenong encompasses an area of 129 square kilometres in Melbourne’s south-east. It is the most culturally diverse locality in Australia with residents from 156 different birthplaces, with 56 per cent of the population is born overseas. Birth places include Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, India, China, Italy, Greece, Bosnia, Afghanistan, New Zealand and Britain.
The area has the largest number of newly-arrived settlers than any Victorian municipality, with more than a fifth of settlers being humanitarian immigrants. A great range of professed faiths reflects the diversity of the area, with 15 per cent of the population identifying as Buddhism (15 per cent of the population), Islam (8 per cent) and Christianity (52 per cent) among the most popular. Over half of the residents speak languages other than English; nearly two-thirds of young people speak languages other than English at home, and one in seven residents has limited fluency in English, four times the metropolitan level.
16 per cent of young people in the area leave school before Year 11. Nearly half of all young people from Sudan, Afghanistan and Macedonia leave school early, compared with 17 per cent of those from Australia. Just 29 per cent of young people aged 19-20 attend university, compared with 41 per cent across the whole of Melbourne. Education levels in the area are closely associated with later employment opportunities, with higher unemployment rates, and with highest unemployment amongst young people from Sudan and Afghanistan. Dandenong also has the twice the metropolitan level of birth rates amongst young people aged 15-19.
CMY's staff in the south-east also work with the growth corridors of Casey and Cardinia, and CMY works with networks across these regions. The YRIPP and Learning Beyond the Bell programs go even further, working across the larger south-east region, ranging from Box Hill in the eastern suburbs, to Flinders in the Mornington Peninsula.
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CMY's South-East Region office is situated at the Y Stop (formerly the Visy Cares building), 39a Clow Street, Dandenong. Get in touch with them on (03) 9794 0057.
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WHAT'S NEW IN THE SECTOR
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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
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A regularly-updated list of new resources and upcoming events in the multicultural youth sector
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IN THE MEDIA
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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
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A soft touch? Not according to the evidence (Inside Story, 19 October 2009)
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In the media coverage of the debate about asylum seekers, the assumption behind the Coalition’s claim that Australia has become a ‘soft touch’ has gone largely unchallenged. Is it true – as the Coalition seems to be arguing – that significantly more asylum claims are being made in Australia than in comparable countries?
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> read the article at the Inside Story website
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