Local Governments have community harmony firmly on their agendas for 2004. Many will use Harmony Day on 21 March as a strategic opportunity to show how they deliver services to ratepayers, irrespective of the culture, background, religion or language of residents.
Now Australia’s largest national multicultural event, Harmony Day gives people across Australia the opportunity to get to know one another better, share cultures and say no to racism.
Harmony Day is part of the Australian Government’s Living in Harmony Initiative and has grown significantly since 1999, thanks in large part to significant support by Local Governments. This month many Councils are busy with their Harmony Day planning. A snapshot of the following three areas shows how some Local Governments are using the Day.
This Harmony Day the City of Darebin in Melbourne’s north will launch two exciting films that focus on its resident mix of people from Australian, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Macedonian, Vietnamese, Chinese and other backgrounds. One film features a 2003 project that brought together Darebin residents from different backgrounds through community festivals, interfaith seminars, open days, an arts festival and a women’s intercultural event. The Cramer St Neighbourhood Film premieres on 21 March about the same time as a new film project, “Faith: The Art of Believing”, is launched. This new venture sees six young film makers exploring the Darebin community to find out what young people think about the different faiths in their area.
In Queensland on 21 March, Hervey Bay City Council will use a multicultural festival to celebrate local cultural diversity. In the spirit of a community coming together, the Eli Waters Community Project, the Multicultural Respite Centre, the Multicultural Settlement Program, the Hervey Bay RSL and local businesses will join the Council to support the festivities. The 2001 census data shows that Hervey Bay has around 42,000 people, of whom 1,050 are from Indigenous backgrounds and 16 per cent were born overseas.
The Shire of Johnstone in Far North Queensland is also proud of its diverse community. Residents come from Australian, Indigenous, Italian, Hmon, Punjabi, Greek, Maltese and other ancestries. This Harmony Day, the Shire will host a Productive Diversity forum looking at business aspects of local diversity. An initiative of the Shire’s Local Area Multicultural Partnership Program, the forum will also involve staff from Multicultural Affairs Queensland and the Department of State Development.
Local Governments across Australia can join their counterparts in Darebin, Hervey Bay and the Shire of Johnstone to support Harmony Day this March. Staff can get further information, including ideas for action, by visiting www.immi.gov.au/harmony or calling 1 800 33 1100.
They can also order limited stocks of free promotional items online through the same website. The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs which administers Harmony Day is also supporting as a new category in the National Awards for Local Government. The Strength in Diversity Awards promote and share the experiences of Local Governments in responding to challenges and opportunities that arise from local migration, settlement, citizenship and cultural diversity issues.
The Department is also working with the National Office of Local Government to develop leading practice seminars to support Local Governments in responding to the cultural diversity in their areas.
