FUSE 2021

Typically held in person in Melbourne or Sydney, due to ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions, including state border closures, FUSE 2021 was transformed into an innovative, multi-city in person/online hybrid model. The hybrid model responded to the logistical challenges brought on by the pandemic, while still ensuring a national focus. The hybrid model brought together a total of 50 delegates in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Hobart and Brisbane, and there was also an online delegation for those who could not meet in person. 

MYAN’s national Youth Ambassadors Network (YAN) took the lead role in planning and delivering the program for FUSE 2021. The themes chosen by the YAN reflect some of the key issues they are particularly concerned about. The FUSE 2021 topics were:

• First Nations Sovereignty
• Mental Health
• Climate Change
• Each topic included the overarching theme of Racism and Discrimination

Across the 2 day event, FUSE delegates from across Australia explored key issues impacting young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, engaged with decision-makers and MPs, and heard from experienced advocates working in diverse sectors. Delegates also participated in a range of skills building workshops and worked in teams to develop ‘pitches’ on one of the themes which they then presented to a panel of MP’s, advocates, and other decision makers.

The YAN are a group of passionate and diverse young leaders working with MYAN in a national advisory capacity. Supported through MYAN and our state and territory partners, YAN members are active advocates and actors working to influence the national agenda for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds.

The YAN are not representatives of all refugee and migrant young people in their state or territory, but provide a perspective of young refugee and migrant Australians to MYAN. They also work on practical activities within their state or territory and serve as advocates, amplifying the voice of others, in a range of national and state/territory forums.

First Nations Sovereignty & Climate Change

Delegates from New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia presented their pitches to the following panel:

Comissioner Anne Hollonds
Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner

Sheena Watt MP
ALP Member for Northern Metropolitan Region at Parliament of Victoria and Victorian Legislative council.

Morgan Koegel
Senior Campaigner at Climate Council of Australia and Chair of the Board at the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.

Senator Nick McKim
Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate and Senator for Tasmania.

Mental Health & Racism

Delegates from the online group, Victoria and Queensland presented their pitches to the following panellists:

Elsa Tuet-Rosenberg
Co-founder and Director of Hue, an antiracism & social justice organisation that provides training and consulting.

Caterina Giorgi
CEO at the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE)

Shadow Minister Amanda Rishworth
Member of Federal Labour’s Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Development and Shadow Minister for Youth.

Honourable Assistant Minister Luke Howarth MP
Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services and Federal Member

#1 Pitch – First Nations Right

Tasmania   

“The Department of Education has failed to include the real history about Australia’s First Nations Peoples.”

To introduce their pitch, the Tasmanian team talked about the repercussions and ongoing impacts of colonisation and dispossession within First Nations communities which have perpetuated mistreatment, inequality and intergenerational trauma. A key point of their pitch was the failure of the Australian educational system to teach the accurate history of colonialism and First Nations history, leading to an acute misrepresentation of the history of this country and lack of accurate representation of First Nations people and history. This exclusion contributes to racist stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes which continues to marginalise Fist Nations people.

The key policy pitch of the Tasmanian team was the need to review and reform the Australian education system in the teaching of First Nations history which would greatly contribute to shifting the negative narrative around First Nations people and consequently help address the stigma and discrimination they remain subjected to.

Solutions:

1. Australian primary and high schools must implement educational programs about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history that are holistic, truthful, and culturally appropriate.
2. These programs must be designed and delivered by First Nations people.
3. Change the date for Australia Day in recognition that the 26th of January commemorates the plight of the First Nations people, and a step towards reconciliation is to recognise it as such.

#2 Pitch – Climate Change

“There is an urgent jneed to build meaningful relationships with young people in the climate action space.”

NSW

The NSW team prefaced their pitch by highlighting their personal experiences of the effects of climate change, including what it was like to live through the aftermath of the Black Summer Bushfires. Issues raised included the rise in respiratory complications, infrastructure damage and the record-high temperatures which were particularly difficult to deal with for the following reasons:

•       Lack of green open spaces in the community limiting their opportunities to be outdoors
•       Lack of facilities such as air conditioning in classrooms
•       No access to beach or pools in Western Sydney

They called out the inadequate action from decision makers even when faced with not only clear warnings from environmental experts but also when offered solutions that would help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Moreover, they expressed their frustration about the lack of support to grassroots environmental organisations who are willing to implement climate actions within their communities.

Solutions:

1. Find practical ways for meaningful and purposeful engagement with First Nations people, utilising their environmental knowledge, conservation experience, and ways of caring for country.
2. Embed a concrete plan to ensure that First Nations voices play a fundamental role in all stages of the climate change decision-making process.
3. Decision makers must be more attentive and receptive to the advice and warnings of climate scientists and be more proactive in designing climate change policies.
4. Allocate additional resources to grassroots climate change programs for increased capacity and better delivery, as well as legitimising their efforts and allowing them to be strategically included in climate action at a national level.
5. Create a climate change taskforce with the capacity to coordinate and oversee the provision of assistance to the people on the ground. This will help accelerate their work and expand their reach.
6. Embed more rigid policies that address climate change at a systematic and institutional level and limit reliance on volunteer action from businesses and consumers.
7. Commit to follow up meetings to create timelines for action plans proposed by youth-led groups.

#3 Pitch – Indigenous Liberation Equals Climate Mitigration

WA

The WA team pitch focused on the link between First Nations rights and climate justice. They spoke of how climate change impacts Indigenous peoples across the world in distinct ways, and how those who contribute least to climate change are the ones most affected by its negative impacts. They spoke of how Indigenous people have particular physical, cultural, and spiritual and social connections to land, water and sky; connections that transpire in many aspects of Indigenous cultural practices and ways of life. Climate change exacerbates cultural erosion as well as displacement, and has significant social and economic repercussions.

The team highlighted the critical lack of recognition and utilisation of the wisdom, knowledge, and experience about land management and care for country that exists within Indigenous communities, and how this is a significant oversight in climate change responses. There needs to be more inclusive and intersectional dialogue about climate change policies and Indigenous people must be at the forefront of climate policy, response and justice.

Solutions:

1. Implement a Federal First Nations Climate Change Advisory body to specifically inform climate change policies and provide culturally safe training, with recruitment done through a consultation and recommendation process with First Nations Elders.
2. Provide support and pathways for First Nations young people to work in the renewable energy sector, including subsidised TAFE courses and designing culturally safe learning environments.
3. Reform the Australian education system to include First Nations history and knowledge of cultural rules and regulations which involve respect for animals and the environment, and care for country.

#4 Pitch – Mental Health

WA

“There is a need to recognise the critical role of spiritual health and cultural practices as essential alongside clinical care and diagnosis”

This pitch focused on intergenerational trauma and the lack of cultural awareness within mental health services. The group spoke of how existing mental health support services typically lack the necessary competencies to understand how intergenerational trauma affects young peoples’ social and emotional development and overall wellbeing. Contributing to this is that the clinical mental health sector is typically built on the Western healthcare system and is not always culturally safe or appropriate for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. They spoke of the compounding impacts of racism and discrimination which also contributes to social distress and feelings of isolation. For young people, this can be challenging to navigate when understanding and conversations about anxiety, trauma, and depression can be highly stigmatised within certain communities.

Solutions:

1. Culturally responsive training must be mandatory in all workplaces but especially for mental health service providers.
2. Mental health staff cohorts need to be more diverse and include those who are BIPOC, neuro-diverse, LGBTQIA+, disabled and/or have lived experienced of intergenerational trauma to contribute to a more conducive and responsive environment for sharing experiences, communicating needs, and healing.
3. Individuals with these various intersections must lead the conversation, co-designing programs and informing best practice.
4. Recognition that one size does not fit all. For instance, youth coming out of the justice system need targeted support to facilitate reconnections, to navigate their trauma and find pathways to become active citizens.

QLD

“As our leaders you are running out of time.”

The QLD team’s pitch highlighted the issue that young people from refugee and migrant background often share the repercussions of displacement and dispossession, often not by choice. This is exacerbated by experiences of racism that can cause trauma, as well as feelings of anxiety and isolation. Furthermore, the migrant and refugee experience is usually accompanied with a huge existential burden and expectations to be high achieving and conventionally successful, which can be overwhelming for young people.

The key message of their pitch was that mental health support is inaccessible to multicultural young people as mental health services are not well-equipped to address these complexities of the migrant and refugee experience. The solutions provided are on a short-term basis and there is no real ongoing care.

Solutions:

1. Mental health services need to create safe spaces for young people be vulnerable and feel connected to one another.
2. Services need more multicultural youth in positions of influence to advocate for themselves and more inclusive health professionals to provide culturally sensitive care and who can relate and empathise with the stories of young migrants and refugees.
3. Culturally responsive practices should be at the heart of mental health care and should have a more personal dimension, with meaningful conversations free from judgement. In this way, cultural competency training can be purposeful and sincere as opposed from a task done to tick a box.

VIC

“Mental health services often have a one size fits all approaches that do not meet our communities specific needs.”

While acknowledging that “cultural competency” training is necessary to be better informed and deliver more culturally responsive mental health support, the VIC team highlighted that mental health and the professional development in this area is informed by settler colonial structures. Therefore, these systems of knowledge must be viewed critically and recognise their tendency to exclude, and marginalise BIPOC young people.

Beyond the othering and objectification of young migrants and refugees in the clinical mental health sector, they shared that young people struggle to overcome the stigma entrenched in their communities and often lack general mental health literacy. In addition, there are practical factors that make mental health services inaccessible. These include financial barriers, and transportation barriers. The VIC team also emphasised that a one size fits all approach to youth mental health is detrimental because every individual and community has different intersecting experiences. The VIC team advocated for lived experience-led solutions beyond conventional clinical practices in the mental health space.

Solutions: 

1. Key mental health services should be brought to young people through existing structures such as schools. Because of existing relationships of trust with students, schools have great potential to foster a culturally safe environment for young people. When supported this way, young people do not have to face additional barriers such as family and community stigma or even practical barriers.  Providing support to young people within schools provides early intervention, mental health literacy and has the potential to improve mental health outcomes for youth in general.
2. Youth mental health services need to be delivered in a sustained and holistic way, with expertise drawn from community and trusted elders to allow mental health issues to be dealt through cultural and community ties to promote deeper connections, raise awareness and destigmatise mental health struggles.

First Nations Sovereignty  

1. Australian primary and high schools must implement curriculum about First Nations history that is holistic, truthful, and culturally appropriate.
2. These programs must be designed and delivered by First Nations people.
3. Change the date for Australia Day in recognition that the 26th of January commemorates the plight of the First Nations people, and a step towards reconciliation is to recognise it as such.

Climate Changes

1. Find practical ways for meaningful and purposeful engagement with First Nations people, utilising their environmental knowledge, conservation experience, and ways of caring for country. E.g. establishing an environmental integrity committee.
2. Embed a concrete plan to ensure that First Nations voices play a fundamental role in all stages of the climate change decision-making process.
3. Decision makers must be more attentive and receptive to the advice and warnings of climate scientists and be more proactive in designing climate change policies.
4. Allocate additional resources to grassroots climate change programs for increased capacity and better delivery, as well as legitimising their efforts and allowing them to be strategically included in climate action at a national level.
5. Create a climate change taskforce with the capacity to coordinate and oversee the provision of assistance to the people on the ground. This will help accelerate their work and expand their reach.
6. Embed more rigid policies that address climate change at a systematic and institutional level and limit reliance on volunteer action from businesses and consumers.
7. Commit to follow up meetings to create timelines for action plans proposed by youth-led groups.
8. Implement a Federal First Nations Climate Change Advisory body to specifically inform climate change policies and provide culturally safe training, with recruitment done through a consultation and recommendation process with First Nations Elders.
9. Provide support and pathways for First Nations young people to work in the renewable energy sector, including subsidised TAFE courses and designing culturally safe learning environments.
10. Reform the Australian education system to include First Nations history and knowledge of cultural rules and regulations which involve respect for animals and the environment, and care for country.

Mental Health

1. Culturally responsive training that is led and delivered by PoC must be mandatory in all workplaces but especially for mental health service providers.
2. Mental health staff cohorts need to be more diverse and include those who are BIPOC, neuro-diverse, LGBTQIA+, disabled and/or have lived experienced of intergenerational trauma to contribute to a more conducive and responsive environment for sharing experiences, communicating needs, and healing.
3. Individuals with these various intersections must lead the conversation, co-designing programs and informing best practice.
4. Recognition that one size does not fit all. For instance, youth coming out of the justice system need targeted support to facilitate reconnections, to navigate their trauma and find pathways to become active citizens.
5. Mental health services need to create safe spaces for young people be vulnerable and feel connected to one another.
6. Services need more multicultural youth in positions of influence to advocate for themselves and more inclusive health professionals to provide culturally sensitive care and who can relate and empathise with the stories of young migrants and refugees.
7. Culturally responsive practices should be at the heart of mental health care and should have a more personal dimension, with meaningful conversations free from judgement. In this way, cultural competency training can be purposeful and sincere as opposed from a task done to tick a box.
8. Key mental health services should be brought to young people through existing structures such as schools. Providing support to young people within schools provides early intervention, mental health literacy and has the potential to improve mental health outcomes for youth in general.
9. Youth mental health services need to be delivered in a sustained and holistic way, with expertise drawn from community and trusted elders to allow mental health issues to be dealt through cultural and community ties to promote deeper connections, raise awareness and destigmatise mental health struggles.