Do you know any Sydney families whose adult children live at home?
We’re offering $500 to anyone who refers a family to us that we ask to appear on the program!
(Please talk to the family in question before putting them forward)
We are looking for Sydney based families from various cultural backgrounds to feature in a new television production for SBS.
We need families whose children aren’t in any rush to leave the parental home. There may be some tension but, by and large, the parents like having their kids around and believe they are doing the right thing by helping them out a little; the kids like living under their parents’ roof.
In this exciting new series, families will be asked to break their daily routines and take on new roles while an observational documentary crew capture the events as they unfold. Expert advisors will be on hand to guide them through the process and offer them a unique insight into their lives. The resulting television programs will be thought-provoking for all families, for you it will be the opportunity to learn about and assess your futures. Whatever conclusions you draw from the experiences you’ll be given, it’ll certainly be a positive learning curve for all the family.
If you are interested in taking part in this amazing TV show and would like more information please get in touch with Fabio Basone at casting@freehandtv.com.au or call on 02 85145427
26 February 2008
20 February 2008
Urgent reform to Indigenous policy and service delivery needed
Australia has reached a ‘crossroads’ in Indigenous policy and service delivery, according to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma, who said today that modifying the existing system must be an urgent priority for reform.
Delivering his ‘Reform’ speech at the Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) Queensland’s Annual General Meeting, Mr Calma said the new federal government had been left with a system limited in its capacity to meet commitments to Indigenous affairs and reconciliation.
“At some point, as a nation we stopped believing that equality of opportunity for Indigenous peoples was a realistic goal. And so we stopped trying to achieve it,” Commissioner Calma said.
He added that the commitment of the previous government to make a real difference could not be questioned, but they had made the mistake of not learning from their past, and not appreciating the importance of undertaking action in partnership with Indigenous communities.
“The new Australian Government should harness the urgent desire of the previous government to reform Indigenous affairs. Reform is necessary to ensure standards of accountability are upheld and that a clear, consistent vision is applied with a guaranteed capacity to deliver,” he said.
“There are some essential elements to this reform. First and foremost, Indigenous peoples must fully participate in policy making processes.
“Secondly, it is not good enough to rely on ‘record levels of expenditure’ as the measure of progress. We should instead be setting ambitious targets that have bipartisan support and form the basis of inter-governmental cooperation.”
Mr Calma said the recently announced Joint Commission on Indigenous Policy provided the vehicle for this to occur. He added that this could be enhanced with support from state and territory governments, business leaders, academics, community workers and others, to ensure that its work is evidence-based and informed.
“Once goals and targets have been set, government processes must be reformed and re-engineered to ensure that they are capable of meeting these challenges,” Mr Calma said.
“It is also essential for Indigenous policy making to be based on a commitment to human rights and human dignity. This requires a focus on gender equality, the rights of children and a focus on the best interests of the child, as well as providing recognition and protection for cultural diversity.
“The first step on this road to reform is mutual respect and partnerships,” he said.
Delivering his ‘Reform’ speech at the Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) Queensland’s Annual General Meeting, Mr Calma said the new federal government had been left with a system limited in its capacity to meet commitments to Indigenous affairs and reconciliation.
“At some point, as a nation we stopped believing that equality of opportunity for Indigenous peoples was a realistic goal. And so we stopped trying to achieve it,” Commissioner Calma said.
He added that the commitment of the previous government to make a real difference could not be questioned, but they had made the mistake of not learning from their past, and not appreciating the importance of undertaking action in partnership with Indigenous communities.
“The new Australian Government should harness the urgent desire of the previous government to reform Indigenous affairs. Reform is necessary to ensure standards of accountability are upheld and that a clear, consistent vision is applied with a guaranteed capacity to deliver,” he said.
“There are some essential elements to this reform. First and foremost, Indigenous peoples must fully participate in policy making processes.
“Secondly, it is not good enough to rely on ‘record levels of expenditure’ as the measure of progress. We should instead be setting ambitious targets that have bipartisan support and form the basis of inter-governmental cooperation.”
Mr Calma said the recently announced Joint Commission on Indigenous Policy provided the vehicle for this to occur. He added that this could be enhanced with support from state and territory governments, business leaders, academics, community workers and others, to ensure that its work is evidence-based and informed.
“Once goals and targets have been set, government processes must be reformed and re-engineered to ensure that they are capable of meeting these challenges,” Mr Calma said.
“It is also essential for Indigenous policy making to be based on a commitment to human rights and human dignity. This requires a focus on gender equality, the rights of children and a focus on the best interests of the child, as well as providing recognition and protection for cultural diversity.
“The first step on this road to reform is mutual respect and partnerships,” he said.
13 February 2008
Saying Sorry: Towards an equal partnership for all Australians
It was indeed heartening to see today at the 42nd Opening of Federal Parliament, our Prime Minister taking the reconciliatory step forward in acknowledging the ill treatment of the Stolen Generations, their descendants and families.
In his speech, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd outlined his vision of : “A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.” ECC whole-heartedly supports this goal for our nation.
Last weekend, we witnessed the record gathering of 80,000 people in Sydney streets to celebrate and share in a cultural event – Welcoming in the Lunar New Year.
It is a vision of the ECC to work towards encouraging all communities to celebrate and share many other festivals in our Multicultural calendar. 2008 looks to be a positive year for social inclusion and multiculturalism.
Ted Quan ECC Chair
12 February 2008
Do migrants really volunteer less?
Last Monday's Sydney Morning Herald featured a front page story about a study by Melbourne academic Ernest Healy which supposedly shows that migrants from non-English speaking countries are less likely to be volunteers than Australian-born people or migrants from English-speaking nations.
"When you create societies from mixed backgrounds it may not lead to overt violence … but to something scarier, a withdrawal from the civic sphere," Dr Healy said, "a feeling of less connectedness."
While the study was done in Melbourne, Dr Healy said the results were likely to be similar for Sydney. See the full article here.
The story triggered many responses in the Herald's letter page the next day and once again highlighted the dangers of making broad-sweeping statements, which can unfairly prejudice entire communities.
It is open to challenge how the study defined "volunteering". It would appear that the criteria used was one of participating in organised civic, sporting, and welfare organisations. While it may be true that there are less migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds taking part in traditional institutions such as the Salvation Army or Surf Life Rescue, many migrants do regularly volunteer in their local churches, synagogues, mosques, and ethno-specific institutions.
Indeed, the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW itself, which celebrated its 32nd anniversary last year has primarily depended on the work of volunteers in its executive and management committees- and all of these people have been from migrant backgrounds. This is also the case with many of the ECC's organisational members
If truth be told, there has been a general decline in volunteering in Australia in recent decades. That is why the Department of Disability Ageing and Home Care (NSW) is currently funding The Future of Volunteering project, via New South Wales Meals on Wheels to address this issue. Clearly, the blame cannot be laid on any particular communities.
It is instructive to observe that over 80,000 people enjoyed the public celebrations of Chinese New Year over the last weekend in the City of Sydney. No doubt the success of the event came about due to the hardwork of many volunteers. It is not implausible to suggest that most of these will be people from Chinese Australian (and therefore non-English speaking) backgrounds.
"When you create societies from mixed backgrounds it may not lead to overt violence … but to something scarier, a withdrawal from the civic sphere," Dr Healy said, "a feeling of less connectedness."
While the study was done in Melbourne, Dr Healy said the results were likely to be similar for Sydney. See the full article here.
The story triggered many responses in the Herald's letter page the next day and once again highlighted the dangers of making broad-sweeping statements, which can unfairly prejudice entire communities.
It is open to challenge how the study defined "volunteering". It would appear that the criteria used was one of participating in organised civic, sporting, and welfare organisations. While it may be true that there are less migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds taking part in traditional institutions such as the Salvation Army or Surf Life Rescue, many migrants do regularly volunteer in their local churches, synagogues, mosques, and ethno-specific institutions.
Indeed, the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW itself, which celebrated its 32nd anniversary last year has primarily depended on the work of volunteers in its executive and management committees- and all of these people have been from migrant backgrounds. This is also the case with many of the ECC's organisational members
If truth be told, there has been a general decline in volunteering in Australia in recent decades. That is why the Department of Disability Ageing and Home Care (NSW) is currently funding The Future of Volunteering project, via New South Wales Meals on Wheels to address this issue. Clearly, the blame cannot be laid on any particular communities.
It is instructive to observe that over 80,000 people enjoyed the public celebrations of Chinese New Year over the last weekend in the City of Sydney. No doubt the success of the event came about due to the hardwork of many volunteers. It is not implausible to suggest that most of these will be people from Chinese Australian (and therefore non-English speaking) backgrounds.
11 February 2008
Grants from Mental Health Council of Australia
The Department of Health and Ageing has provided the Mental Health Council of Australia (MHCA) with $6 million to assist in the development of the capacity of non-government mental health organisations and other organisations delivering services relating to mental health. There are two opportunities:
One-off grants of up to $40,000.
14 free, full day workshops around the country, designed to build stronger organisations;
ABOUT THE GRANTS:
MHCA invites a broad range of services to find out more and apply. MHCA is keen to hear from organisations working in: drug and alcohol rehabilitation, counseling, telephone help lines, family support services, men’s services, asylum seeker support, eating disorders, suicide prevention and addiction.
Grant application forms & info available at www.mhca.org.au from 1st February 2008.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS:
Providers of mental health services can also attend the 14 free, full day workshops around the country designed for building smarter and stronger not for profit organisation and also better projects. Everything from HR, IT and maintaining staff in a not for profit organisation will be covered.
For more information or to book please contact Rachelle Irving at rachelle.irving@mhca.org.au or (02) 6285 0812
One-off grants of up to $40,000.
14 free, full day workshops around the country, designed to build stronger organisations;
ABOUT THE GRANTS:
MHCA invites a broad range of services to find out more and apply. MHCA is keen to hear from organisations working in: drug and alcohol rehabilitation, counseling, telephone help lines, family support services, men’s services, asylum seeker support, eating disorders, suicide prevention and addiction.
Grant application forms & info available at www.mhca.org.au from 1st February 2008.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS:
Providers of mental health services can also attend the 14 free, full day workshops around the country designed for building smarter and stronger not for profit organisation and also better projects. Everything from HR, IT and maintaining staff in a not for profit organisation will be covered.
For more information or to book please contact Rachelle Irving at rachelle.irving@mhca.org.au or (02) 6285 0812
09 February 2008
Disaster unlikely even if Don dropped from Test
During the last month the Federal Government announced that it would review the questions migrants are asked when sitting the Australian citizenship test amidst figures showing 18 per cent failed on their first attempt, with the highest failure rate recorded amongst refugees and humanitarian entrants.
The Ethnic Communities Council of NSW supports this review and hopes that it will result in a better understanding of why certain groups are failing and what could be done to assist them.
The ECC had in the past consistently questioned the need for the test at the time of its introduction, which some had tried to justify on the basis that Australian immigrants were not sufficiently integrating into the country. That was an incorrect perception because the vast majority of migrants in fact does integrate very well into the country and make significant contributions to our society.
At the time, the ECC had also expressed its concerns that migrants without a good educational background, and those from non-Anglo or European countries will struggle with parts of the test. The statistics now appear to confirm those initial fears.
The ECC maintains that in order for the test to achieve its intended effect of helping migrants to settle into the country, the questions must be more relevant and useful to migrants' every-day lives. It is more useful for migrants to learn for example, the name of particular Government agencies and departments in order to access various services, rather than to know exactly what year the first European settlers arrived in the country.
Of course, sometimes when new laws are introduced, they cannot be easily repealed. The GST is an example. In the case of the citizenship test, millions of dollars have already been spent implementing the test. If the Federal Government is committed to keeping the citizenship test, then the ECC hopes that changes will be made to the test in a fair and non discriminatory way, so that vulnerable groups applying for citizenship will not be excluded.
In the meantime, it would also be helpful if the media did not whip up hysteria over the review of the test. During the last month, mainsteam media reported headlines like "Don Bradman to be dropped from test", calculated to provoke community sentiments. While the topic generated some intense debate, it turned out to be a non-issue as it was soon revealed that Don Bradman was never part of the exam questions anyway (he was just in the booklet). But in any case, even if knowledge about Australia’s greatest cricketer was dropped from the list of things prospective citizens are required to learn, I really doubt migrants will for that reason struggle with life in Australia.
The Ethnic Communities Council of NSW supports this review and hopes that it will result in a better understanding of why certain groups are failing and what could be done to assist them.
The ECC had in the past consistently questioned the need for the test at the time of its introduction, which some had tried to justify on the basis that Australian immigrants were not sufficiently integrating into the country. That was an incorrect perception because the vast majority of migrants in fact does integrate very well into the country and make significant contributions to our society.
At the time, the ECC had also expressed its concerns that migrants without a good educational background, and those from non-Anglo or European countries will struggle with parts of the test. The statistics now appear to confirm those initial fears.
The ECC maintains that in order for the test to achieve its intended effect of helping migrants to settle into the country, the questions must be more relevant and useful to migrants' every-day lives. It is more useful for migrants to learn for example, the name of particular Government agencies and departments in order to access various services, rather than to know exactly what year the first European settlers arrived in the country.
Of course, sometimes when new laws are introduced, they cannot be easily repealed. The GST is an example. In the case of the citizenship test, millions of dollars have already been spent implementing the test. If the Federal Government is committed to keeping the citizenship test, then the ECC hopes that changes will be made to the test in a fair and non discriminatory way, so that vulnerable groups applying for citizenship will not be excluded.
In the meantime, it would also be helpful if the media did not whip up hysteria over the review of the test. During the last month, mainsteam media reported headlines like "Don Bradman to be dropped from test", calculated to provoke community sentiments. While the topic generated some intense debate, it turned out to be a non-issue as it was soon revealed that Don Bradman was never part of the exam questions anyway (he was just in the booklet). But in any case, even if knowledge about Australia’s greatest cricketer was dropped from the list of things prospective citizens are required to learn, I really doubt migrants will for that reason struggle with life in Australia.
02 February 2008
The Future of Volunteering
The Future of Volunteering is an innovative project which will, for the first time in the world, use narrative research processes, tools and proprietary software Sensemaker TM developed by Cognitive Edge to explore an issue of critical public policy. The project is funded by the Department of Disability Ageing and Home Care (NSW), via New South Wales Meals on Wheels. It is supported by the Minister for Ageing, Disability and Home Care (Minster Keneally), the Minster for Volunteering (Minister Burney), and Premier and Cabinet as well as peak organisations in the community care sector. The Society of Organisational Learning Australia and Cognitive Edge are providing the software and facilitation expertise. (SoLA is the learning partner for Cognitive Edge in Asia Pacific).
The key objectives of the project are to develop an understanding of policy issues and implications given the changes in demographics and patterns of volunteering, as well as guidance for those organisations funding and managing volunteers. The project may assist in providing answers to such questions as:
Is volunteering a doomed activity?
Where will the volunteers of the future come from?
What will motivate them?
What might volunteering look like in the future?
What forms might volunteering take (eg corporate volunteering, time-limited or project-based etc)?
The project will result in:
· a data base that contains the experience of volunteers, funding bodies and organisations that use volunteers
· identification of themes and issues, that will inform policy development for government and agencies that use volunteers
· an agreed set of priorities for further research and action
The project was launched in June 2007 and an on-line survey developed which went “live” in August 2007. The initial story-collecting phase ran from August through to mid-September 2007
The initial project plan was ambitious, expecting completion by December 2007. We underestimated the time required to inform, mobilise and facilitate volunteers and others to share their experiences and stories. We probably also over-estimated the ability of many of our target audience (particularly volunteers themselves) to easily access the internet to complete an on-line survey.
We currently have some 800 stories on the database and would like to generate 3 or 4 times that many stories as quickly as possible, to inform planned workshops for February and March 2008.
How can you help?
That’s where you and your organisation come in. We would like to enlist your support in generating stories about volunteering from your own volunteer base and from those staff who work with and manage volunteers. We also invite you and your volunteers to participate in the sensemaking workshops, set for February 25,26. A separate invitation to this event will be forwarded shortly.
What is in it for you?
Well firstly, you will be contributing to building the database and the body of knowledge around volunteering that will come from working with the stories on the database. This information will be in the public domain, and be available to all participating organisations.
However, if you are able to supply at least 300 stories from your own organisation, we will be in a position to “tag” your organisation’s stories and provide you with an analysis of the stories that reflects the issues around volunteering “as they apply specifically to your organisation”. This analysis would include comparisons with the overall data.
It should be noted that individuals can supply multiple stories about volunteering if they wish. We are interested in the experiences of volunteers, and their managers.
How to collect stories:
Recognising the difficulties of only using an on-line survey format, we have now developed 5 options for collecting stories: Whatever option is used, we need the data to be with the project team no later than 1 March 2008.
The survey is still available on-line. To visit the survey website, please point to the following web address: https://60.242.186.37/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.cognitive-edge.com/surveys/fov/ . For those who previously found this difficult to complete, some changes have been made based on feedback that is more user friendly.
The survey is available in hardcopy. Survey forms can be distributed to your volunteers and staff and completed forms sent back to the Future of Volunteering Project at the following address:
Future of Volunteering Project
NSW Meals on Wheels
Level 4, 80 Cooper Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Ideally completed surveys would be sent back in batches as soon as they are ready so that we have maximum time to arrange for their transcription and up-loading to the database. However, the last date for receipt would be 1 March 2008, as we also plan to hold an “Intervention Design” workshop in mid-March to start to design interventions to address some of the issues which emerge from the sensemaking workshops.
Stories could be recorded and indexed at the time on a variety of recording media. The recorded stories could be sent to the project where they will be transcribed and up-loaded to the database. We can receive the recordings in any format eg as cassette recordings, as audio files via e-mail (viv.read@cognitive-edge.com) or on CD etc. If you wish to use this option please contact one of the project team members on the numbers listed below to discuss.
If the above methods prove difficult, but you have people in your organisation that would like to tell their stories, you could send a list of names and contact phone numbers to the Future of Volunteering Project at the above address and we will have someone call them back and record their stories over the phone.
Alternatively, one of our project staff could attend a meeting/workshop/seminar/other event that your organisation is running and arrange to record stories on the spot.
For further information:
If you are able to assist, require any additional information, have a question or would like clarification, please contact of the following project team members:
Viv Read 0414294339
Chris Fletcher 0402308403
Steve England 0418638873
The key objectives of the project are to develop an understanding of policy issues and implications given the changes in demographics and patterns of volunteering, as well as guidance for those organisations funding and managing volunteers. The project may assist in providing answers to such questions as:
Is volunteering a doomed activity?
Where will the volunteers of the future come from?
What will motivate them?
What might volunteering look like in the future?
What forms might volunteering take (eg corporate volunteering, time-limited or project-based etc)?
The project will result in:
· a data base that contains the experience of volunteers, funding bodies and organisations that use volunteers
· identification of themes and issues, that will inform policy development for government and agencies that use volunteers
· an agreed set of priorities for further research and action
The project was launched in June 2007 and an on-line survey developed which went “live” in August 2007. The initial story-collecting phase ran from August through to mid-September 2007
The initial project plan was ambitious, expecting completion by December 2007. We underestimated the time required to inform, mobilise and facilitate volunteers and others to share their experiences and stories. We probably also over-estimated the ability of many of our target audience (particularly volunteers themselves) to easily access the internet to complete an on-line survey.
We currently have some 800 stories on the database and would like to generate 3 or 4 times that many stories as quickly as possible, to inform planned workshops for February and March 2008.
How can you help?
That’s where you and your organisation come in. We would like to enlist your support in generating stories about volunteering from your own volunteer base and from those staff who work with and manage volunteers. We also invite you and your volunteers to participate in the sensemaking workshops, set for February 25,26. A separate invitation to this event will be forwarded shortly.
What is in it for you?
Well firstly, you will be contributing to building the database and the body of knowledge around volunteering that will come from working with the stories on the database. This information will be in the public domain, and be available to all participating organisations.
However, if you are able to supply at least 300 stories from your own organisation, we will be in a position to “tag” your organisation’s stories and provide you with an analysis of the stories that reflects the issues around volunteering “as they apply specifically to your organisation”. This analysis would include comparisons with the overall data.
It should be noted that individuals can supply multiple stories about volunteering if they wish. We are interested in the experiences of volunteers, and their managers.
How to collect stories:
Recognising the difficulties of only using an on-line survey format, we have now developed 5 options for collecting stories: Whatever option is used, we need the data to be with the project team no later than 1 March 2008.
The survey is still available on-line. To visit the survey website, please point to the following web address: https://60.242.186.37/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.cognitive-edge.com/surveys/fov/ . For those who previously found this difficult to complete, some changes have been made based on feedback that is more user friendly.
The survey is available in hardcopy. Survey forms can be distributed to your volunteers and staff and completed forms sent back to the Future of Volunteering Project at the following address:
Future of Volunteering Project
NSW Meals on Wheels
Level 4, 80 Cooper Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Ideally completed surveys would be sent back in batches as soon as they are ready so that we have maximum time to arrange for their transcription and up-loading to the database. However, the last date for receipt would be 1 March 2008, as we also plan to hold an “Intervention Design” workshop in mid-March to start to design interventions to address some of the issues which emerge from the sensemaking workshops.
Stories could be recorded and indexed at the time on a variety of recording media. The recorded stories could be sent to the project where they will be transcribed and up-loaded to the database. We can receive the recordings in any format eg as cassette recordings, as audio files via e-mail (viv.read@cognitive-edge.com) or on CD etc. If you wish to use this option please contact one of the project team members on the numbers listed below to discuss.
If the above methods prove difficult, but you have people in your organisation that would like to tell their stories, you could send a list of names and contact phone numbers to the Future of Volunteering Project at the above address and we will have someone call them back and record their stories over the phone.
Alternatively, one of our project staff could attend a meeting/workshop/seminar/other event that your organisation is running and arrange to record stories on the spot.
For further information:
If you are able to assist, require any additional information, have a question or would like clarification, please contact of the following project team members:
Viv Read 0414294339
Chris Fletcher 0402308403
Steve England 0418638873
ACCA Chinese New Year Banquet 2008
The Australian Chinese Community Association Chinese New Year Banquet 2008 will be held on Thursday 14 February 2008 at Marigold Restaurant. Details attached (Note, date is now 14 February 2008, not 15 February 2008).
http://www.acca.org.au/pdf/CNY%202008%20Flyer.pdf
http://www.acca.org.au/pdf/CNY%202008%20Flyer.pdf
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