Living in Harmony Community Grants 1999

Victoria

On Common Ground - Youth in Action for a Fair Go!

$47,500 Awarded

This project, now completed, aimed to:

gain an understanding of residents’ perceptions, values, attitudes and beliefs in regard to different cultures in the local community
promote a better understanding of ethnic/Indigenous cultural values, heritage, identity and community needs and aspirations
increase public awareness of Living in Harmony values and create positive relationships based on tolerance and understanding of cultural diversity
defuse violent relationships between young people and the rest of the community (such as the police) based on racist attitudes affecting both Indigenous and ethnic community groups.

The project:

identified poor relationships between groups such as Aboriginals, Polynesians, Asians, Italians, Greeks and Anglo-Celts
found that poor relations and sometimes institutionalised discrimination towards minority groups in the community were mainly due to ignorance

focused on the celebration of the diversity of cultures and factors in the local community (eg, found that it is difficult for an agricultural community to celebrate Harmony Day in March because of harvest-time, so switched to November)
had a steering committee made up from a wide range of ethnic groups, and a youth committee with the same mix, plus strong Aboriginal and Pacific Islander representation
promoted community harmony through a range of initiatives using multi-media, a multicultural public arts festival (with multicultural community murals by the College students, including one at the Koori Education Centre in the main street) and education programs to empower young people
engaged active participation of young people in addressing the problems of race relations in the local community through:

a series of community forums (such as the Aboriginal Cooperative leading Reconciliation discussions and other gatherings)

held cross cultural sports, recreational and social events (such as successful dance parties at the college for student body from many backgrounds), promoting social cohesion in a diverse community and leadership training

The project found that:

although using a community development model with the community "steering" the project was a slow process, the advantages outweighed this in terms of giving the project a solid basis, especially with young people
it was necessary to move its educational focus from the original emphasis on youth to the entire community, as it emerged that the main group whose attitudes and education needed broadening were adults
with the community development model and the extended focus with adults, it was possible for the whole community to become involved in the project
there was attendance at Aboriginal functions by non-Aboriginal people who had never been before
whilst realising it is impossible to completely change entrenched ideas and information, it could give people an opportunity to voice their feelings and fears and ask questions in a non-threatening environment
whilst there continues to be some negative media coverage of the multicultural make-up of the community, people are now more able to place this type of sensationalised reporting in context, and focus on the more positive aspects of the community