The City of Whittlesea has been awarded a major new program by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) aimed at improving community understanding and acceptance of cultural diversity.
The three year program – ‘Localities Embracing and Accepting Diversity (LEAD)’ – is one of only two trials in Victoria. It was officially launched on Harmony Day, Sunday March 21, by Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services, Laurie Ferguson.
LEAD has been developed in response to VicHealth research that shows that despite widespread support for diversity in Victoria, people from migrant, refugee and Indigenous backgrounds continue to experience unacceptably high rates of race based discrimination.
According to Whittlesea Mayor Councillor Mary Lalios, the VicHealth More than tolerance: embracing diversity for health report recommended that councils have considerable potential to play a lead role in addressing factors that contribute to discrimination at a grassroots level.
The Whittlesea LEAD Project will focus on building positive attitudes and behaviours towards diversity in the wider community and supporting local organisations, such as retailers, workplaces, schools and sports clubs, to be fair, safe and welcoming for all.
“Being awarded this funding is important recognition of Council’s strong track record in supporting diversity and our ability to trial new and innovative approaches to complex social problems,” Councillor Lalios said.
“As a highly diverse municipality, with more than one third of our residents born overseas, and representing 140 different countries and a strong and growing Aboriginal community, we pride ourselves on our welcoming, inclusive and harmonious community. This is something we need to continuously nurture, now and into the future.
“We know that even when discrimination is expressed in less obvious ways and unintentionally, it can have devastating effects on people’s sense of belonging, self esteem, life opportunities and mental health and wellbeing. Race based discrimination is also clearly linked with mental health problems, particularly depression.”
Around Australia, 47 per cent of all people from non English speaking backgrounds report having experienced discrimination because of their ethnic or national background at some time in their lives (Markus and Dharmalingam). Up to three quarters of Indigenous Australians report regularly experiencing race based discrimination (Paradies, Harris and Anderson 2008).
LEAD’s emphasis will be on addressing discrimination against people from African, Asian, Arabic speaking, Muslim and Indian backgrounds, and Indigenous Australians, as research indicates these people experience higher rates of discrimination.
A range of partners have been identified for the Whittlesea project in 2010, including a large local employer, local retailers and a selection of schools.
Strategies include organisations undertaking a cultural competency audit of policies and practices and developing action plans to address gaps, diversity training for employees, and developing champions and leaders within organisations and in the community. An overarching communications strategy to promote the benefits of cultural diversity to the wider community is in development.
Council will also be a setting for change with an internal audit undertaken to identify where there are opportunities to improve Council’s approach to antidiscrimination and promoting diversity.
Both LEAD Projects – Whittlesea and City of Greater Shepparton – will be evaluated by a University of Melbourne team to build on the model for Australian councils.
The project is underpinned by VicHealth’s Building on our strengths: A framework to reduce race-based discrimination in Victoria, which draws on the best national and international evidence and outlines the themes, actions and strategies that are most likely to have a positive impact.
VicHealth will disseminate the framework to all Local Government areas over the coming months. It is currently available at: www.vichealth.vic.gov.au
