Accessible Government Services for All Annual Report
Page 12
State, territory and local governments
New South Wales – the Community Relations Commission
The Community Relations Commission (CRC) worked in partnership with Sydney's Sutherland Shire Council to develop proactive media and communications strategies following social unrest at Cronulla during December 2005, and helped mobilise immediate and longer term state and Australian Government support and resources to address local issues.
The CRC, in coordination with the council, facilitated a project to engage 12 outreach officers of diverse cultural backgrounds who were available to talk to residents and visitors in the Cronulla area, allaying fears and providing information on local services and methods to report anti-social activity. These officers liaised with police and built up a strong presence in the community.
The Diversity Health Institute (DHI) Clearinghouse in Sydney West Area Health Service is the first example of the application of the clearinghouse model of information centralisation to the area of multicultural health. It is unique in the breadth of information it provides and in its focus on directing the user towards relevant resources, rather than developing the resources itself. It is supplemented by an enquiry service where users can personally contact DHI Clearinghouse staff by email, telephone or fax.
The DHI Clearinghouse website is underpinned by five separate databases: resources; services; research and projects; education and training and events, with each database containing access to predominantly Australian information. Recent statistics recorded over 500 visitors a month from Australia and also North America, Europe and Asia.
The Department of Community Services has conducted a major review of its Multicultural Caseworker Programme, which provides child protection services. New guidelines have been developed to define the role of the Multicultural Caseworker and work conducted to improve the programme structure, provide better support for workers, and increase the number of Multicultural Caseworker positions to be matched with appropriate areas of need.
Bankstown City Council screened a music video called X.R.O.A.D.S. (Xploring Road-user Options, Achieving Driver Safety) at Bankstown cinemas. The Council was funded for this project by the Motor Accidents Authority, and supported by the Department of Community Services and sponsorship received from Hoyts Cinemas. Production of the music video involved over 30 young people from different ethnic backgrounds, some of whom had direct experience or exposure to risky driving and road incidents.
The Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability funded the Ethnic Communities' Council for the Saving Water in Asian Restaurants Programme, which was launched in August 2006 to replace traditional wok stoves with 'waterless' wok stoves. By installing a waterless wok stove, there is potential to save 5000 litres of water per day per wok stove. The programme involved the development of multilingual education resources for water efficiency in commercial kitchens.
Boys and girls of different cultural and religious backgrounds, wearing hijabs or sun-hats, became part of a variety of sporting and novelty events called the Greenacre Games. The event was a community harmony and leadership initiative of the Community Relations Commission, NSW Police, the NSW Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation, Greenacre Neighbourhood Centre and seven local schools in the area. The 350 school students from Al Noori Primary, Malek Fahd, Banksia Road, Chullora Primary, Greenacre Public, Holy Saviour Primary and St John Vianney Primary were divided into mixed teams from all the schools to enjoy the day's activities through competing in track and field sporting and novelty events.