By Kirsten McGavin 

In late February, in my capacity as YANQ's Multicultural Development Officer, I attended a meeting of the State-wide Multicultural Youth Issues Network (SMYIN) in Victoria; a meeting focused on "Being ‘In-between': Projects Engaging Second Generation Young People". Organised by the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI) - an organisation with which YANQ works closely as part of the National Multicultural Youth Issues Network (NMYIN) - the meeting was a follow up to a recent two-day symposium on a similar topic that was held in association with Deakin University.

At the "Being ‘In-between'" assembly, delegates explored and discussed the idea that "Australian-born young people whose parents or grandparents were born overseas can find themselves straddling the orientations of different cultural identities" (CMYI brochure). We also examined a selection of initiatives that assist "second generation young people in positively experiencing and expressing their identities" (CMYI brochure).

The Attorney-General, Robert McClelland MP, and Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator Hon Penny Wong, released a joint press release on 22 September 2011, officially launching a discussion paper on the proposed consolidation of Federal anti-discrimination laws.  Submissions on the discussion paper can be made until 1 February 2012.  To read the press release, go to: http://bit.ly/ndObPx

On Thursday 20 September the Australian Government launched a web site that provides  information on mental health and wellbeing, including information on the Government's mental health programs, health and employment programs, funding opportunities, publications, and policies (e.g. the Personal Support Employment).

You can find the site is at http://www.mentalhealth.gov.au.

This is a map of Aboriginal Australia, created by Dr David Horton and produced by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.  You can access it at the AIATSIS website here.

The map indicates only the general location of larger groupings of people. The larger groups may include smaller groups such as clans, dialects or individual languages in a group.

The 2009 National Survey of Young Australians, conducted by Mission Australia, tested the views of close to 48,000 young people – the biggest group since the survey began in 2002 – between the ages of 11-24 (97.9 per cent aged 11-19).

Drugs, suicide and body image were the most common concerns raised by young people in the survey.

The report Juvenile justice in Australia 2007–08, released earlier this month by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), shows that the number of young people in juvenile justice detention in Australia is increasing.

Racism against young Australian-Sudanese people prevents them from moving freely in the community and limits their access to services, employment and education, according to a report launched recently by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare recently released the report, Australia's Welfare 2009.

Topics include children, youth and families; ageing and aged care; disability and disability services; carers and informal care; housing and housing assistance; and homelessness.

Read the media release at http://is.gd/4XCQS and read the report itself at http://is.gd/4XCTD.

By Robert A. Cummins and others / Australian Centre on Quality of Life

The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index is a barometer of Australians’ satisfaction with their lives and life in Australia. Unlike most official indicators of quality of life and wellbeing, it is subjective – it measures how Australians feel about life, and incorporates both personal and national perspectives.The Index shows how various aspects of life – both personal and national – affects our sense of wellbeing.

By Elizabeth Broderick, Human Rights Commission

In November 2007, Elizabeth Broderick began a nation-wide ‘Listening Tour’ to ask the Australian public two questions: How far have we come in our journey towards gender equality? And where should we focus our efforts into the future.

Found at what the answers were at  http://tinyurl.com/67cudf.

By Ben Saul, Sydney Centre for International Law

The new government has displayed some original thinking but not yet quite up there in the exceptional category of the very best governments around the world, according to this paper, which spells out areas requiring further attention – including Australia's attitude to capital punishment and torture in other countries.

Read the full article at http://tinyurl.com/5tosp4.

Source: Australian Policy Online

Management of not-for-profit organisations was once seen as irrelevant and esoteric. Because these organisations now receive so much government funding, interest in understanding how they ought to be managed and organised is now keen. With public funding comes increased scrutiny and policies to encourage ‘partnerships’ between not-for-profits and governments and businesses. In this environment, not-for-profits face challenges – perhaps threats – they have not encountered before.

Read the full text of this article at http://tinyurl.com/56gf9x.

Source: Australian Policy Online

By Andrew Smith, Eddie Oczkowski, Chris Selby Smith.

This report examines the ways in which Australian employers retain skilled staff and the ways in which employers enhance their ability to use the skills of their people. It has been published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research.

by Christine Halse, Anne Honey and Desiree Boughtwood

While the primary focus of media attention and medical treatment is the individual's battle with anorexia nervosa, research from University of Western Sydney reveals that anorexia can have a long term impact on the physical, social, and psychological well-being of the entire family.

The Parliamentary Library produces a Monthly statistical bulletin (ISSN 1835-6389), updated each month by the Parliamentary Library's Statistics and Mapping Section at http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/MSB/. It contains a selection of the latest economic and social statistics and is issued during the first week of each month. It contains statistics available on or before the day of release. All figures are original data unless otherwise noted. Section 1.5 of the bulletin provides an overview of youth unemployment: see: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/MSB/15.htm.

Source: Youth Field Xpress, Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies

by Chris Bonnor

The 'ARACY Report Card' presents a summary of the wellbeing of Australia's young people. It provides an international perspective and sets a baseline for future monitoring.

Published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics , this report provides a summary of measures which relate to the fourteen headline dimensions of progress presented in the Bureau's Measures of Australia's Progress (MAP) project. It presents the headline indicators (where a headline indicator is available) at the national level, and a brief discussion about the measure and associated trends.

By Richard Eckersley, published by Australia21

The health and wellbeing of young people, an important indicator of Australia’s future population health, is declining. This development is of immense social significance. It has implications not only for how we deal with specific current concerns such as child abuse and neglect, obesity, media sexualisation of children, and binge drinking, but for national priorities and public policy more broadly.

Australian Social Trends 2008 is the 15th edition of an annual series (published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics) that presents information on contemporary social issues and areas of public policy concern, and describes aspects of Australian society, and how these are changing over time.

Click here for more information and the full report - http://tinyurl.com/5wqccj.

Source: Australian Policy Online

The Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative (IDDI) provides a nationally consistent framework through which police and courts may use to refer eligible drug offenders towards appropriate assessment, education or drug treatment. This report presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of the IDDI in rural and remote Australia, drawing on quantitative and qualitative evidence to explore the extent to which the stated objectives of the IDDI have been achieved in rural and remote locations. 

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) recently released this report - Australia's Welfare 2007.

The report covers a range of topics including: children; youth and families; ageing and aged care; disability and disability services; housing for health and welfare; dynamics of homelessness; welfare services resources; and indicators of Australia's welfare.

The Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI) has recently completed two papers for the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) on multicultural youth issues. The papers review and summarise the evidence on the needs of refugee, migrant and second generation youth from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. They also examine the current policy and program responses to these needs.

Australians for Affordable Housing was formed by a group of community and human service organisations with a national focus, concerned at the declining levels of access to good, secure and affordable housing in Australia. The group argues that only Governments - national, state and local, working together in a collaborative manner can work to end the housing crisis and improve the lives of low and middle income earners.

Find more information at  http://www.affordablehousing.net.au.

As reported in QCOSS News recently, QCOSS has been meeting with Ministers in the QLD Government urging them not to lend their support to the Federal Government Welfare Reform Act.  This piece of legislation allows authorities to 'manage the incomes' of welfare recipients in the Northern Territory, and in for Cape York communities.

Earlier in August (2007) the Federal Government (with the Oppositions approval) passed the legislation that overrides the Racial Discrmination Act and allows Indigenous Land to be 'acquired', again.  Members of the Social Action Office were in Canberra at the time.  Here's their account:

By Jenny Shale, First published at On Line Opinion, Wednesday, 15 August 2007

Politicians are very sensitive to public opinion in an election year. Interest groups and industry lobbies form queues to knock on their doors, and politicians are keen to meet them to make sure no important group is overlooked when promises are made.

Except for families, that is. Because despite the constant reference to families by politicians, there is no national voice in Australia for parents, families and carers.

Until now - A long-overdue National Federation of Parents, Families and Carers was launched last week in Melbourne (August 8, 2007).

Gideon Haigh recently wrote the essay Facepaint Patriots. The essay maps nationalism from its Enlightenment origins, through its fascist excesses and its prejudicial overtones, and discusses how Australia arrived at its own sense of nationhood. This lecture on ABC Radio National's Book Show is based on that essay.

Find more information and listen to it online at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2007/2032650.htm.

If you would like to take action related to the Federal Government's takeover of Indigenous Communities , consider the following sites:

• For information on the campaign to achieve comparable health outcomes for Indigenous Australians see the Close the Gap campaign by GetUp:  http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/CloseTheGap&id=28.  The campaign is based on a Policy Briefing Paper produced by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and Oxfam Australia.  (For a copy of the Paper see: http://www.oxfam.org.au/media/files/CTG.pdf).
• ACOSS has developed an email letter, loosely based on the Combined Aboriginal Organisations' response, which you can send to your local Federal MP and State/Territory Senators through http://www.acoss.org.au/Action.aspx
• SNAICC (the national peak body for Indigenous children) is asking people to write personal letters to key decision makers.  Their paper suggests some of the main points you might want to make!  See their paper on Developing a National Response to Child Abuse and Neglect (release 12 July 2007).
• Governments SAY they are committed to strengthening Aboriginal communities so they can live in peace and harmony ... but then take away their power when it comes to caring for their land. We can't have it both ways!  Supporting traditional owners' right to protect their land is inextricably linked to enabling communities to address issues such as child abuse.  Please think about signing, and circulating, this petition to help support Kokatha Traditional Owners in maintaining fresh water in the Artesian Basin.  To sign the petition: http://www.geocities.com/healthykokatha For mor information contact: healthykokotha@yahoo.com.au

Source: Suzi Quixley

Non-Aboriginal contractors at the Territory’s largest Aboriginal town, Yuendumu, three weeks ago bulldozed a corrugated iron shelter, home to a couple and their seven month old daughter. The object of the exercise? To build a residence for one of the federally-funded outside employees being parachuted into some 70-odd Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

Read the rest of this article by Anna Lamboys at Crikey - http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20070926-Broughs-bulldozing-backyard-blitz.html.

In the last week of June 2007 the Commonwealth Government announced it was taking 'emergency measures' to overcome violence, child abuse and alcohol abuse in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.

For information on
Places to take action
click here.

The measures being taken were in response to the Northern Territory Government's report entitled Little children are sacred: Report of the NT Board of Inquiry into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse.

The response to the Prime Minister's announcement has been mixed.  Below we include some of these responses.

The Council for the Australian Federation comprises the Premiers and Chief Ministers of all States and Territories. This report includes a new statement on the future of schooling in Australia, and a twelve-point action plan to which all states and territories have agreed.

During the last week of August (2007) a number of articles appeared on Crikey , claiming that as part of the Federal Takeover of Indigenous Communities in the Northern Territory, the Commonwealth Government plans to seize assets of Aboriginal organisations and rent those same assets back to them.  Crikey also reports that roughly 8,000 Indigenous workers employed under CDEP programs will be effectively fired, moved onto social security payments instead and new jobs founds for only 2000 of them.

While housing & homelessness continues to be the most common issue of concern amongst youth interagencies in Queensland, readers may be interested in this comparison (below) of the housing policies of the major parties prepared by National Shelter.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has today released a statistical report titled Juvenile justice in Australia 2005-06. This report provides data on all young people in both community-based and detention-based juvenile justice supervision throughout Australia. It is based on the experience of the young person in supervision, rather than on legal orders. The report presents data for 2005-06 as well as analyses of trends in community-based supervision and detention since 2000-01. It includes data on the characteristics of the young people under supervision such as age, sex and Indigenous status, and their patterns of supervision over time.

The report is available from the AIHW website at: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10497.

In November 2006, Queensland Community Housing Coalition Ltd, Bond University and LandPartners entered into a joint venture agreement to produce an industry research paper based on the following objectives:

• To identify how the planning system in Queensland impacts on housing affordability and its supply.
• To engage stakeholders, through separate focus group sessions in order to identify common ground in relation to  planning issues and AffordableHousing.
• To conduct a literature review of examples identified by the Focus Groups assuccessful in the provision of Affordable Housing.
• To examine regulatory planning tools and incentive based options in providing Affordable Housing.
• To develop recommendations for planning reform.

By Ann Harding, Quoc Ngu Vu and Alicia Payne, NATSEM

Available evidence suggests that the past decade has generally been one of rising earnings and prosperity for the majority of Australians. Broadly speaking, wage earners in both richer and poorer suburbs appear to have shared in the rising tide of prosperity. Although they did increase in real terms, incomes at the bottom of the income spectrum rose somewhat more slowly than for the middle between the mid 1990s and 2002-03, resulting in higher poverty rates and rising income inequality.

Saving children's lives is a matter of long-term will

You can't protect children without supporting and involving their community, argues FIONA STANLEY, director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

Read Fiona Stanley's full argument at http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/comment_results.chtml?filename_num=170255.

Oxfam Australia and Prof. Jon Altman from Australian National University's Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research have examined the proposed legislation and how it affects the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.

The report can be downloaded from: http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/indigenous/docs/land-rights-altman.pdf

Suzi Quixley has worked in the Human Services industry for 30+ years.  On her website Suzi has compiled a range of responses to the Federal Takeover of Indigenous Communities and other relevant papers.

You can access Suzi's list at http://www.suziqconsulting.com.au/invasion_of_aboriginal_communities.htm.  The articles which Suzi has listed that are not included in YANQ's own collection of responses, are listed below (with Suzi's own words).

The Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the NT (CAO-NT) have responded to the Federal Government's interventions to address child abuse in the NT.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission's (NATSIEC) position statement on Child abuse intervention by Federal Government.

NATSIEC completely supports action to end child abuse, wherever it is found. We have long been calling on the Government to hear the pleas of Aboriginal people and to take action to assist them in addressing the woeful conditions that plague their communities; to address issues of lack of health care, lack of proper education, lack of adequate housing and the high rate of violence, abuse and alcohol related issues. While it is tragic that these Aboriginal voices have been ignored for so long and are now being characterized as being part of the failure, we see this change of heart from the Federal Government as an opportunity to make a real and dramatic improvement to the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Howard's New Tampa - Aboriginal Children Overboard

By Jennifer Martiniello.

Howard's new Tampa children overboard are our Aboriginal children. The Little Children are Sacred report does not advocate physically and psychologically invasive examinations of Aboriginal children, which could only be carried out anally and vaginally. It does not recommend scrapping the permit system to enter Aboriginal lands, nor does it recommend taking over Aboriginal 'towns' by enforced leases. These latter two points in the Howard scheme hide the true reason for the Federal Government's use of the latest report for blatant political opportunism.

What I would do If I were the Prime Minister

by Judy Atkinson.

JUDY ATKINSON has been writing about violence in remote communities for two decades. Here she responds to measures announced by the prime minister last week

I WOKE up this morning with a sense of doom. What was wrong? Yes. I remember! The prime minister has announced that he is “sending in the troops.” He has declared, in effect, a National Emergency.

Read the rest at Australian Policy Online...

Comparing the Recommendations to the Government's Response

IAN ANDERSON compares the federal government's response to the Little Children Are Sacred report with the authors' recommendations.

Media Release from the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Care (SNAICC)

Released 22 June 2007

SNAICC Chairperson Ms Muriel Bamblett has called for proper consultation by the federal government with Indigenous child and family services, expressing concerns that the policies the government will put in place are not the comprehensive child protection plan required to turn around abuse in remote communities.

Open letter to The Hon. Mal Brough MP

Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600 

Dear Minister Brough

The undersigned organisations write this joint and open letter in order to convey our views on action required to stop the abuse of children in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, and our concerns about aspects of the Australian Government's response to this problem as outlined in your statement of 21 June 2007.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Race Discrimination Commissioner Tom Calma

This statement was made on June 22, 2007.

I have been calling for governments to turn commitments into action so I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to tackle violence and child and alcohol abuse in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. I, like all Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, want to see every Indigenous child enjoying the basic right to live free from violence in a safe and supportive home and community.

The pursuit of political equality is one of the four underpinning values of the Democratic Audit of Australia. In this new paper, Audit leader Marian Sawer reviews the state of Australian democracy in relation to this core principle. Restrictions on voting, a lack of transparency surrounding political finance, and the use of public money for party political ends are some of the areas in which Australia currently fails to measure up.

Read the full text of Political equality in Australia (PDF file).

Source: Australian Policy Online

Edited by Sarah Mares and Louise Newman.

In Acting From The Heart over 50 advocates describe how and why they became involved in campaigns for ethical responses to the needs of asylum seekers and refugees.

Acting From The Heart shows the hardship and commitment behind this extensive grassroots political movement. Stories, poems and political cartoons by Australia's foremost, award-winning cartoonists, make up this powerful and provocative book.

For more information and to order: http://www.safecom.org.au/acting-heart.htm.