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Welcome to MYAN’s April eNews.
It’s been another busy month for MYAN with a range of exciting initiatives across our youth leadership, policy and advocacy areas.
MYAN recently supported young people to join a national roundtable with the Department of Health and share their perspectives on their COVID-19 vaccine rollout. We will be putting together a Youth Reference Group that will play an important role in informing and developing CALD youth-specific communications that support the vaccine uptake in CALD communities. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting project!
Our policy and advocacy work this month has been focused on Employment and Job Security with a National Consultation held on the 10th of March, and submissions prepared for the JobSeeker Senate Inquiry, and the Select Committee on Job Security. We are currently preparing a submission for the Senate Inquiry into Family Reunion Visas.
New National Manager at MYAN
We are very excited to announce that Rana Ebrahimi will be stepping into the MYAN National Manager role in early May. Stay tuned for an introduction to Rana and a farewell to Nadine!
National Anti-Racism Framework
MYAN welcomed the announcement from Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner Chin Tan about his plan to establish a National Anti-Racism Framework. We were also encouraged by the announcement from the Minister for Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke, supporting this framework, and the development of a new Social Cohesion Strategy.
What’s in this eNews?
A lot! We have a jam packed edition with updates on MYAN’s recent work, including a recap from young leaders at their recent youth roundtable with the Department of Health, updates from the CALD communities COVID-19 health advisory group, NYSF training dates, news from youth ambassadors in NSW, VIC and QLD, jobs, opportunities for young people, and resources. We are sharing quite a few exciting new resources - on finding work, relationships in schools, mental health reports, and digital inclusion.
Stay safe and well.
The MYAN team - Nadine, Shannon, Swathi and Andrew
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Recap on Department of Health Youth Roundtable
from Jahin Tanvir (roundtable participant)
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On March 16th, a group of young people from culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse communities attended a COVID-19 vaccine virtual roundtable organised by the Department of Health. MYAN representatives from across Australia attended the roundtable with many questions, eager to hear about how the COVID-19 vaccines will affect young people of colour from diverse backgrounds.
The roundtable began with a presentation by Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd, on the importance of engagement with CALD communities through the pandemic followed by an address on the Vaccine Regulation, Safety, Process and Testing as well as what kind of resources would best help peers, families and the broader community when it comes to the vaccine rollout.
Following the presentations, there was an open discussion and Q&A session. The key questions were focused on the perspectives on the vaccine and current advertisements, barriers for uptake in the community, and solutions about who to best reach the young people communities and what the department could do to help. Young people also had the opportunity to ask their own questions specific to their communities.
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News from Young Leaders at MYAN
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MYAN Submission to Social Services Legislation Amendment (Strengthening Income Support) Bill 2021 - Report now available
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MYAN recently prepared a submission in response to the Inquiry into the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Strengthening Income Support) Bill 2021. The committee tabled its report of the inquiry in the Senate on 12 March 2021, and a copy of the committee’s report can now be accessed here.
We remain deeply concerned about the current amount of income support on JobSeeker and the impact this will have on the ability of young people, including young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds to meet the costs of basic necessities like food and toiletries, utilities, rent and the costs associated with looking for work.
Many young people who have been, and will continue to be, impacted by the current economic downturn will need access to targeted income support to avoid further entrenchment of employment disadvantage and to secure their future employability, physical and mental well-being, and current and future socio-economic contributions to Australian society.
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Training:
National Youth Settlement Framework
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The National Youth Settlement Framework (NYSF) 2020 edition remains Australia’s first and only evidence-based national guide to benchmark good practice with young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds.
Attend an upcoming training session in your state to support good settlement outcomes for multicultural young people:
By attending this training, you will:
- Build skills and knowledge to work better with young people from multicultural backgrounds
- Hear directly from young people with lived experience
- Learn how to support young people to reach their potential as active citizens
- Receive lots of resources to support ongoing learning
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Training available in your state:
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Queensland
Tuesday 25th May
9.00am - 4.00pm
Access Gateway
91 Wembley Road, Logan Central
Run by Multicultural Youth Queensland
Register here
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New South Wales
Thursday 22nd April
9.30am - 4.30pm
The Granville Centre
1 Memorial Drive, Granville
Run by MYAN NSW
Register here
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Update from the CALD Communities COVID-19 Health Advisory Group
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MYAN is part of the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities COVID-19 Health Advisory Group (Advisory Group) and you can find updates from our third meeting on 2nd March 2021 here.
Members include leaders from culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse communities and their representative organisations, health experts and medical and public health practitioners.
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Key updates from the group include:
- the department convening forums with community representatives
- discussions on best roll out strategies for the COVID-19 vaccine for CALD communities
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New COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Resources
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Is it True? (COVID-19 vaccine questions answered)
“With new COVID-19 vaccine developments every day, it’s normal to have questions or concerns, and possibly feel hesitant about getting a vaccine. That's why we're providing accurate, evidence-based answers to questions about COVID-19 vaccines. Find out more.”
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This pack contains in-language communication resources and key messages about the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, vaccine eligibility and vaccine safety. Click on the links in the stakeholder pack to access translated COVID-19 vaccines information. Resources include audio files, videos and social media content.
We encourage you to share these in-language resources and key messages through your networks.
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Online Session on Australian Government's Vaccine Rollout from SESTCoP
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You are invited to participate in an online session on the Australian Government’s COVID -19 vaccination roll out, hosted jointly by the Department of Health and Migration Council Australia.
The briefing session provides a unique opportunity for the settlement sector to hear directly from the Australian Government on the progress of the vaccine roll out. The majority of the briefing session will be an interactive Q&A which will allow participants to ask any questions they may have in relation to the vaccine roll out, common misconceptions and how the settlement sector can best support their clients during the roll out process.
We welcome you to extend this invitation to all who would benefit from this briefing.
When: Wednesday 14 April 2021 from 2.00pm - 3.00pm AEST
If you wish to attend, please RSVP by Monday 12 April to the SETSCoP Secretariat at secretariat@setscop.org.au to receive the Webex login details and calendar invitation.
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News from your State/Territory
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Queensland - MyQ
Every Mind Matters Forum
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Funded by Metro South Health, MyQ Council delivered the first “Every Mind Matters” Forum focusing on mental health for CALD young people on Saturday 6th of March at Griffith University, Logan campus. Attended by 45 people, the day focused on delivering mental health training to CALD youth leaders networking with service providers and a strong panel of CALD young people spoke about what they believe is needed.
Key themes emerging from the day included:
- culturally appropriate mental health engagement and support for CALD young people,
- support in raising awareness to their parents in order to receive support in their homes
- involving CALD young people in the co-design of service responses to addressing mental health issues
There was a strong interest to continue having conversations and include more CALD communities to be part of the conversation.
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New South Wales - MYAN NSW
An exciting month for MYAN NSW and the Youth Ambassadors
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March was a very busy month for MYAN NSW and the Youth Ambassadors! 6 Peer Facilitators finished delivering 8 workshops to 60 students at the Bankstown Senior College. From refugee and migrant backgrounds, these Peer Facilitators shared knowledge about settling into Australia as young people and led workshops focused on Indigenous history, youth services, ozzie slang, health services, settling in Australia and employment. The workshops ended with an art workshop run by young artist Raneen Shamon.
MYAN NSW also took 60+ young people to watch the musical Hamilton at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. This was a very special experience as it was everyone's first musical ever and an exclusive Q&A with the cast was offered after the performance! Being in the room where it happens was made possible by the advocacy of Wiradjuri man Callan Purcell (who's also in the Hamilton cast!).
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Victoria - CMY
Workshop on Schools Standing up to Racism
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Streetwear start-up born out of Gippsland Youth Advisory Group - CMY
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Read the brilliant story of Kuku Mahmoud, 22, who has just finished his Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and at his young age has decided to become an entrepreneur and created Slime Streetwear, a clothing brand that he founded in 2019 with the idea of representing Africa’s cultural diversity through its designs.
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Kuku has been part of the Youth Advisory Group (YAG) for the past four years, a program that he acknowledges played a major role in the creation of Slime.
“I have found the initiatives that the YAG has for young people useful, especially for those that do not usually have access to the programs. For me, being a member is the way I can make a positive impact on others.” - Kuku Mahmoud
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Policy Incubator Fellowship Program
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Policy Incubator is a six-month national fellowship program designed to connect young people, policy makers and experts in developing youth-led policy ideas. 10 young people will be mentored by experts as they identify a problem in their community, develop a policy solution, and lobby for their idea. Policy Incubator is keen to connect with diverse communities and ensure accessibility to participate.
Apply and find more information here
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JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme
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The JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme is an incentive for businesses to employ additional young job seekers aged 16–35 years.
Eligible employers can access the JobMaker Hiring Credit for each eligible additional employee they hire between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021.
Details here.
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Census Local Engagement Officer
CASUAL / FULL TIME | NATIONAL
An opportunity to work within local communities and organisations to ensure people from diverse backgrounds are counted and receive the support they need to participate in the Census.
Jobs for these roles are now open. We encourage people from a range of backgrounds to apply.
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Web Content Producer for the Creative Equity Toolkit
PART TIME | NATIONAL
“Enable change. Be responsible for creating content and resources for supporting cultural diversity and racial equity in the creative sector. Interested? Do you have what it takes to drive this change?”
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Discrimination cases due to appearance and race most common
One in three teenagers say that they've recently experienced discrimination, according to research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The study found that discrimination due to body size or appearance was the most common, followed by race.
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Community Conversations: Talking about finding work in Australia
In 2020, we asked 20 young people and women from migrant and refugee backgrounds in Melbourne’s west about their experiences of finding work in Australia. The Community Conversations report highlights the significant challenges faced when looking for work, and makes recommendations for decision-makers about what needs to change to support economic inclusion for all.
The Community Conversations project is a partnership between HealthWest Partnership, the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, and the Centre for Multicultural Youth.
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Locked down and left out? Why access to basic services for migrants is critical to our COVID-19 response and recovery
This report focuses on how COVID-19 and related policy measures have affected access to basic services for migrants and impacted on a range of migrant groups across a countries of origin, transit, destination and upon return including Colombia, the Philippines, Egypt, Sweden, the UK, Sudan, Ethiopia and Australia and includes contributions from IFRC and ICRC.
Working with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, migrants and partners across the world, the report shows how and why migrants have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and related policy measures.
The report is available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish. The Global Migration Lab website contains additional case studies and research from report countries.
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Tip Sheet for Adults, Adolescents and Youth on Adolescent and Youth Participation in Different Settings
UNICEF's Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) section is pleased to share the Tip Sheet series on adolescent engagement (with tips for adults, and for adolescents). The Tip Sheets provide easy-to-use, brief “tips” on supporting the meaningful participation of adolescents and youth in different settings (in conferences, advocacy events, campaigns, policy dialogues, public speaking and interviews, audio recordings and video productions, document reviews, networking, online engagement, and in youth advisory groups).
The Tip Sheets were developed in collaboration with adolescents and youth, based on their real-life experience participating in various activities and builds upon UNICEF’s Engaged and Heard! guidelines.
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Respectful relationships education in schools – evidence paper
Respectful relationships education is a holistic approach to school-based, primary prevention of gender-based violence that aims to comprehensively address the drivers of violence and create a future free from it.
This evidence paper summarises the findings of the literature to guide future actions by education systems in their efforts to end violence against women.
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New education resource: Opening the Digital School Gate
CMY’s new resource provides schools with a range of considerations and practical strategies to assist in establishing a culturally inclusive digital presence. By doing so, schools can contribute to improving the engagement of migrant and refugee families in the educational experience of their children.
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