Living in Harmony Community Grants 1999

Queensland

Brisbane Indigenous Media Association Inc. (4AAA)

"Waanya - It's Time to Talk" (Waanya is the Jagera word for "welcome")

$80,000 Awarded

Aims

This project, now completed, aimed through the medium of community radio, to:

promote greater understanding of a range of issues, including cultural diversity, racism and discrimination
address issues of equality in the workplace, in education and in health
provide opportunities for community involvement, discussion and feedback to foster positive attitudes to multiculturalism
provide a grass-roots community focus on harmonious living through addressing issues such as Reconciliation, immigration and human rights, stressing the social and economic benefits of cultural diversity

Background

Radio 4AAA:

is an Indigenous community radio station, with:

a large audience of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people
an attractive "easy listening" format
a blend of country music with information and discussion sessions during its normal programming

is the No. 1 station in the region featuring country music
relays its programs to a further 90 Indigenous stations and 109 BRACS (Broadcasting to Remote Aboriginal Community Stations) outlets nationally, thus providing wide exposure for the LIH program
has an expanding network of documentaries and current affairs programs being produced, forming an overall context for listeners to accept the LIH series
was confident on this basis that its audience would respond well to the proposed interactive program including monthly talkback sessions on the issues of racism

Activities

The project produced:

monthly live-to-air interactive panel discussions designed to promote understanding of Indigenous issues
a 3 month series onaddressing Indigenous disadvantage, and on health/welfare/education issues including:

a panel discussion with the Anti-Discrimination Commission of Queensland
a panel discussion with special reference to solutions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

a 3 month series on multiculturalism and on Indigenous cultural practice including:

broadcast and recording of a live forum on cultural practice at the 1999-2000 Woodford Folk Festival
a Harmony Day 2000 broadcast from the major Brisbane event at South Bank

a 4 month series on Reconciliation to give background and grassroots information including:

main panel discussion chaired by Ernie Dingo
major forum on the issue of Indigenous Deaths in Custody

quarterly newsletters featuring:

summaries of issues dealt with in the broadcasts
questionnaires about attitude and knowledge changes from broadcasts since the last newsletter

an appropriate balance of community speakers and "experts", including Elders, local health and education workers, historians and government figures for the panels

List of CDs produced from broadcasts:

Reconciliation: It’s up to us
Towards a document of Reconciliation
Getting involved in Reconciliation
Reconciliation - live forum
Addressing disadvantage in Indigenous education
Addressing disadvantage in Indigenous health
Towards economic independence
Addressing disadvantage – live forum
Multiculturalism in modern Australia
Passing on cultural knowledge (an international perspective)
Youth perspectives on Indigenous culture
Sharing culture – live forum
Youth perspectives on racism and human rights
Discrimination
Harmony Day special
Indigenous deaths in custody – live forum

Outcomes

The project:

ran surveys in the quarterly newsletters which came out after each series of broadcasts, which:
revealed the series helped listeners and forum attendees gain a better understanding of the issues involved
provided a wide range of data on listeners’ usual sources of information and their (self-assessed) changes in attitude and knowledge, showing marked improvement after the Waanya series, ie:


Topic	Good/excellent knowledge before the Waanya series	Good/excellent knowledge after the Waanya series
Indigenous issues	51%	81%
Indigenous health, education and welfare	39%	60%
Indigenous cultural practice/Multiculturalism	23%	64%
Human Rights mechanisms	17%	61%

had excellent positive listener feedback from a diverse audience including local Reconciliation groups, Multicultural Affairs Queensland, the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland, community organisations and educational organisations, that:

the programs were well received
the subject material was of interest and benefit to a large nationwide audience

had a very high demand for the CDs of the recorded broadcasts, with CD packages being used by a number of Reconciliation groups and learning circles
had many attendees travel long distances to the live forums to hear about the issues at first hand
was a finalist in the 1999 United Nations Media Peace Awards for the first series of programs, focusing on Reconciliation: It’s Up to Us

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