Welcome to the November edition of the MYAN Australia e-Newsletter - a quarterly bulletin presenting multicultural youth issues through a national lens. 
 
This edition includes comprehensive updates from MYAN networks and partners across the country, as well as the latest in multicultural youth project, policy and research information. 

 

MYAN National Update 

MYAN (Australia) funding announcement

The MYAN has welcomed the recent announcement by the Federal Government that will facilitate the building of a national network of multicultural youth specialist services in each state and territory and support a national approach to youth settlement.
 
Senator the Hon Kate Lundy, Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Sports announced on 12th November a $1.2 million commitment by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship over three years, to fund a national approach to youth settlement through the national Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (MYAN).
 
Senator Lundy said “this funding will allow further collaboration and linkages with relevant stakeholders, including other peak bodies, government and non-government organisations. It will help to clearly articulate best practice principles and actions for delivering youth settlement services. It will build the skills of settlement service workers and those involved in mainstream youth services. Guidance from organisations like MYAN is invaluable in helping us do just that” she concluded. Read the Media Release here.
 

MYAN State and Territory Updates 

WA
The MYANWA recently held its November meeting as a forum on unaccompanied minors, with more than 60 people attending. Nadine Liddy, MYAN National Coordinator, presented on the MYAN UHM paper - UHMs in Australia: a overview of national support  arranagements and key emerging issues and Ali Reza Sadiqi shared a personal perspective on coming to Australia as an unaccompanied minor, providing a number of valuable tips for workers supporting unaccompanied minors. In other news, the MYANWA Executive Group has welcomed Katanning, bringing rural re-presentation to the network.

SA - Multicultural Youth South Australia
Youth Settlement Action Network (YSAN)
YSAN will be hosting the South Australian consultation on the National Youth Settlement Training Unit on 4th December. For more information contact the YSAN Convenor, Dr Helena de Anstiss, Assistant Director, MYSA via email: helena@mysa.com.au
 
New resource
MYSA has developed a series of Q & A Fact Sheets for sporting bodies and facilities seeking to create sustainable opportunities for multicultural youth to participate in sport and recreation. The information and guidance provided will assist in the development of culturally inclusive opportunities and activities, including sport exposure programs and sporting carnivals, multicultural coaching and training programs and multicultural sport awareness training. For a free copy, email: amina@mysa.com.au
 
Honour Roll
MYSA's annual Honour Roll will occur in December to recognise the achievements of young multicultural Australians, groups and organisations involved in raising awareness and acceptance of cultural diversity in the South Australian community. To be included in the Honour Roll, awardees must demonstrate an outstanding contribution to the values and aims of multiculturalism. Contact Helena deAnstiss for more information on helena@mysa.com.au
 
Issues Paper
An issues paper was prepared by MYSA to inform the development of new child development legislation that will be introduced into the South Australian Parliament in 2013. For more information, email: amina@mysa.com.au
  
QLD
Queensland Multicultural Youth Settlement Network (QMYSAN)
In October, QLD welcomed its QMYSAN worker Eli Moore.  Eli brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role from her teaching, multicultural youth work and sector development experience.  Immediately after starting in the role, Eli coordinated the youth leadership partnership with MDA and QPASTT for the Youth Employment Forum - see below.  In November, QMYSAN presented at the national Partnership Brokers professional development day focused on how PBs might improve settlement outcomes for young people from refugee backgrounds. The 3 hour interactive workshop gave participants a detailed understanding of the refugee journey and key needs for young people in settlement, with a partiuclar focus on education and training pathways and transitions.  Examples of how partnership brokers can partner with services to deliver project outcomes were shared.

The next QMYSAN quarterly meeting is on 21st November, incorporating a consultation on the development of the Youth Settlement Trainig Unit.

ACT
Sector development survey report
The MYAN ACT has received funding from the ACT government to focus on delivering sector development activities, including promoting best practice and cultural competency to improve service delivery for multicultural young people in the ACT. To inform this work, the MYAN ACT recently completed a survey of services funded under the Child, Youth and Family Services Program. The purpose of the survey was to identify the training and other supports that would assist services to improve their service delivery to young people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) bbackgrounds.  Access the survey report here (insert link to  www.youthcoalition.net/dmdocuments/MYAN_ACT_Sector_Survey_Report.pdf).
 
Sector development forum - Towards cultural competence in the youth sector
The MYAN ACT Forum Towards Cultural Competence in the Youth Sector was held on Wednesday 29 August 2012 at the Youth Coalition of the ACT. This forum provided an opportunity for MYAN members, and workers in the youth, multicultural and broader community and government sectors to explore the importance of cultural awareness and best practice when providing services to young people from CALD backgrounds. Speakers included service providers addressing culturally sensitive practice, and young people from CALD backgrounds discussing their experiences of using support services. The results of the survey were also presented at the forum and participants discussed the future priorities of the MYAN based upon the sector survey.
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MYAN ACT Newsletter
The MYAN ACT October newsletter is now available, including a snapshot of the MYAN ACT sector survey, and a summary of the Forum: Towards a Culturally Competent Youth Sector. Access the newsletter here .

TAS
A meeting with key stakeholders is scheduled for this week to reinvigorate the MYANTAS. Convened by the MRC of Southern Tasmania in Hobart, this meeting will bring together key stakeholders across the youth, settlement, education and government sectors who have an interest in supporting the development of the MYANTAS. This will be an important opportunity to explore possible network structures that facilitate engagement in multicultural youth policy and advocacy work at the national level. For more information contact Cedric Manen on cmanen@mrchobart.org.au

VIC - Centre for Multicultural Youth 
CMY - Strategic Plan Launch for 2013-2017
After 18 months of in-depth consultations with young people and other key stakeholder, CMY launched ‘Future Priorities for Young Australians’ – its Strategic Plan for the years 2013 to 2017. The strategic plan consists of four key objectives – My Community, My Journey, My Voice and Organisational Capability – with each objective supported by action strategies that are measurable and time-bound. This plan arose out of a series of discussions with CMY’s Youth Advisory Group, who raised the need for young people to feel connected and contribute to their communities; empowered so they can access education and employment opportunities; have a voice in their communities and be positively represented in the media. More information, including a short video, can be found here.
 
NSW
The MYANNSW welcomed the launch by the Federal Government of a partnership between the Greater Western Sydney Giants, CMY and Settlement Services International (SSI) to support young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in Greater Western Sydney. The Federal Gillard Government has committed funding over three years (2012-2015) for the establishment of a new service that will support young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in the Greater Western Sydney area. This builds on the work of the MYAN NSW to date and is part of a larger commitment to fund a national approach to youth settlement through the MYAN Australia. More information can be found here.

NT
MyNT Youth Leadership Summit
Organised by MyNT, the inaugural NT Youth Leadership Summit was held on October 5-7 2012, attracting 21 participants from across the NT. The summit consisted of a series of workshops that explored and developed participant’s capacity as young leaders. In addition, young people were given time to plan a proposal containing project ideas they were passionate about and ones  they wanted to introduce in their communities. Aged between 15-21, participants came from diverse cultrual backgrounds, including Muslim, Indonesian, Filipino, Mexican, Sri Lankan, Indian Fijian, Ugandan, Indigenous and Anglo-Australian. It was a very multicultural bunch indeed! One young person commented: 'I Made so many links this weekend, it was a great way to meet other youth with a common aim to make a difference in their community.  Loved learning about other people’s culture and upbringing experiences'.

MYAN NT Briefing Paper: Newly-arrived young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds in the Northern Territory was recently launched at the inaugural Northern Territory Youth Conference in early October. A range of people from different regions, workplaces and interests were keen to hear more and engage in discussion about the policy work that is being done to support these young people, of which there are growing numbers in the NT. MYANNT is currently plotting its next move to ensure that this paper is only the beginning of positive outcomes for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, and that the impact of this work is increasingly felt at higher levels of decision-making. Download a copy of the paper here.

Multicultural Youth in Focus

Congratulations Ali!

Ali Etemadi is young person from an Afghani background who was born in Iran. Chosen to participate in soccer training in Singapore in December 2012, Ali was the only candidate from a newly arrived refugee background given this opportunity. Arriving in Australia with his family in March 2010, a 17 year old Ali set about learning English and attended the Intensive English Centre (IEC) at Melville Senior High School in Perth. In just 8 months, Ali was transferred from the beginner level class to the highest level English class offered at the IEC. The speed at which Ali accelerated in English has never been heard of at the IEC.
 
Ali has secured a part-time job at a fast food chain, even without any previous work experience, and is still employed today. Ali’s motivation for working comes from his desire to help support his single mother financially and also to have more opportunities to make new friends and practice his conversational English.
 
In 2011, Ali transferred to Lynwood Senior High School and, as always in Ali’s case, he did not have to stay long in the English as a second language class. His enthusiasm for learning and understanding English even went as far as pointing out a grammar mistake in the text book which had been used for many years and Ali progressed to Year 10. As soccer had always been a major part of his family, Ali decided to join the school soccer team and, under the guidance of his coach, Ali has improved rapidly and has been offered an opportunity to join the Ashfield club for a 2012 training session.
 
Ali says that “soccer is his passion and he dreams of becoming a professional soccer player in the future”. The big influence in Ali’s life and someone who always supports him to pursue his dreams is his older brother, who Ali describes as a father figure and someone who he admires and looks up to.

 

Multicultural Youth Project in Focus

Youth Employment Forum - Brisbane
MYAN Australia supported the recent Youth Employment Forum in Brisbane which saw more than 75 young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds discuss job seeking with 11 employers.  The Queensland Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Glen Elmes MP, opened the packed forum. Minister Elmes acknowledged the commitment by employers such as Woolworths, All Purpose Transport, McDonalds, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Australian Country Choice, QLD Police Service in answering the questions put forward by young people about the challenges they face in finding work. Questions to the panel included:  How do I get local work experience? What qualifications are required? Is it OK to wear cultural dress in the workplace? What level of English is required for different positions? Are there companies that actively sought and supported a culturally diverse workforce?

The young people attending were enthusiastic and highly motivated to find part time or full time work, using the opportunity d to develop their job-seeking networks - a critical part of finding work in a competitive job market. Immediately following this event young people followed up with employers, sought assistance from MDA or their school teachers with job preparation. The event exceeded expectations as one week after, many young people had attended job interviews and at least 2 young people have secured jobs following the forum.

The forum was a successful partnership between refugee services MDA and QPASTT and their Youth leadership group Youth Voice, as well as the South East Brisbane Chamber of Commerce and Local Member of Parliament, Ian Kaye. Plans for the next forum in regional Queensland are underway. Chris Ismail is pictured below asking a question to the panel.

Other National News

SCOA
Settlement Policy Network
SCOA, RCOA and MYAN recently held a joint Settlement Policy Teleconference on Unaccompanied Humanitarian Minors.  The teleconference was well attended and included participants from across the country.  Discussion focussed on the recently released MYAN paper on UHMs and its recommendations. The report from the teleconference should be ready in the next week (and will be distributed through the SPN network). You can download a copy of the MYAN paper here.
 
Policy Practice Forum
SCOA has recently established a new forum looking at policy, research and practice in the settlement sector.  We encourage those in the settlement sector (and the youth sector) with an interest in this area to join the next teleconference. For details please email Laura Anderson at mso@scoa.org.au
 
Second National Settlement Conference – report launched
SCOA was pleased to have Minister Lundy launch the report of the Second National Settlement Conference at our AGM in October.  The report is now available on the SCOA website and can be accessed here: www.scoa.org.au.

'Not Yours to Promise' - the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre’s child forced marriage project
The National Children's and Youth Law Centre (NCYLC) is undertaking Australia's first national research into child forced marriage entitled ‘Not Yours to Promise’. The aim of the project is to create a set of best practice guidelines to assist organisations in responding to victims of child forced marriage, as well as produce a range of educational resources on this issue. The Centre is consulting with community service providers and other relevant organisations about their experiences with child forced marriage and their views on best practice responses. If you have had any experience with the issue of child forced marriage in the course of your work, then please complete the survey -  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/notyourstopromise. For further infomration contact the Project Officer, Ms Tina Jelenic, on (02) 9385 9589 or by email at tina.jelenic@ncylc.org.au. 
 

Policy & Resources

FECCA Teaching Democracy resources
FECCA has recently released its resources on Teaching Democracy, developed from a series of workshop held in 2011 for educators of young people about promoting positive political engagement amongst young people. These resources can be accessed at http://fecca.org.au/aboutus/projects/teaching-democracy-workshop-and-factsheets.

Forced Migration Review (FMR 40) - Being young and out of place
The August edition of FMR has a focus on young people from refugee and humanitarian backgrounds, and the experience of displacement. Download a copy here.

Social Inclusion in Australia - How Australia is Faring, 2nd Edition.
How Australia is faring highlights Australia's progress against a range of social inclusion indicators, including health and employment, education, access to services, housing, feelings of safety and engagement in community activities. Download the report or read more on the Social Inclusion website.