Yarra Settlement Forum Blog

The Yarra Settlement Forum (YSF) was established in or around 1999 as a sub-committee of the The Yarra Ethnic Communities' Council (YECC). With the folding of the YECC in 2003 the YSF has continued as a network providing a forum for settlement providers in the CoY. Since 2001, through the Refugee and Asylum Seeker project, which was funded by CoY, the YSF has been under the shared leadership of North Yarra Community Health (NYCH) and CoY.



Purpose of the blog:

The Yarra Settlement Forum blog is intended to be the means by which members of the Yarra Settlement Forum communicate electronically, in addition to email. Anything that is related to the YSF or which members would like to inform others about, is material that is relevant to the blog.



However, it some main purposes including:

Building relationships between YSF members through enabling more frequent communication.

Notifying and keeping members informed of what is happening in the community, practically when it comes to settlement related issues.

Being a means to reflect and react about the effectiveness of the Yarra Settlement Forum, and allowing members to report back to the Forum about changes they would like to see to the YSF to make it more effective.



Minimum commitment expected:

Posting on the blog does not require a significant time commitment. However, as the blog is intended to be a collection of consistent and useful information, it is important that members see their participation in the blog as a part of their commitments to the Yarra Settlement Forum. It is expected that if members have any information that they would like to share with other members of the YSF, they do so via the blog.



It is also expected that members make every effort to make sure they are able to use the blog including liaising with their employer about the need to access the blog site, and undoing training on how to blog.



Code of Conduct:

To maintain trust and ensure the blog is used in an appropriate manner, it is important to:

Respect individuals, community members and/or service providers.

Never identify individuals, community members or services in a defamatory manner.

Make it clear in opinion pieces that the views expressed are yours alone and do not necessarily represent the views of your employer or the rest of the YSF.

Keep private issues and topics private, since discussing private issues can jeopardize personal and work relationships.

Disclose conflicts of interest.

Acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly.

Reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly.



Consequences if policy is breached:

If you have any questions about what is appropriate to include in your blog it is important that you ask the administrator – Melinie Ridge, co-facilitator of the Yarra Settlement Forum as any breach of the policy will result in your blog being deleted an/or your membership to the blog being revoked.

How to post to the Yarra Settlement Forum Blog
Step 1:
Open internet browser and go to: www.yarrasettlementforum.blogspot.com
Step 2:
Right click on the sign in link (top right hand corner) and click open in a new window.
Step 3:
Sign in using your newly created Google account (unfortunately this is necessary).
Step 4:
Once you've logged into Blogger you'll see your Dashboard, showing your list of blogs. Click the blue “new post” icon to create a new post.
Step 5:
Next, you’ll see the page for creating a new post. Start by giving your post a title (optional), then enter the post itself
Step 6:
When you're done, click the "Preview" link to make sure it's ready to go
Step 7:
Once you're satisfied with your post, click the "Publish" button. This will publish your new post


Monday, April 21, 2008

Yarra Settlement Forum

Minutes of Meeting March 25

Fitzroy Town Hall

Chair Nelum

Minutes Maggie

Present

Name

Organisation

Maggie Abdelmalak

North Yarra Community Health

Heather Stock

Fitzroy Learning Network

Colleen Duggen

Fitzroy Learning Network

Nelum Buddhadasa

City of Yarra

Chrisoula Kanaris

The New Hope Migrant and Refugee Centre

Steve O'Malley

Metropolitan Fire Brigade

Julie Palmer

NMIT - YAMEC

Meg Johnston

NMIT YAMEC Volunteer

Jonathan Aitken

NYCH

Kerry Wise

Jesuit Social Services

Tim Watson

City of Yarra

Amira Rahmanovic

Multicultural Centre for Women's Health (MCWH)

Apologies

Collette Bacash

New Hope Migrant Refugee Centre

Richard Williams

JSS

Karyn Adams

JSS

Business

Nelum welcomed all attendees with an Acknowledgement of Country.


Refugee Week

15 - 21st June. An organising committee be formed to plan event. - Maggie to convene meeting Date not yet confirmed.


Multicultural Centre for Women's Health - Amira Rahmanovic

Provided background on organisation.

  • Targets all women from CALD backgrounds - specially industry with high employment rates of CALD women, including hospitality and textiles
  • Provide community workshop program - free
  • Modules include: Sexual and Reproductive Health; Occupational Health and Safety; Mental Health and Well being; Drug and Alcohol; Gambling; Safe use of medicines; Financial
  • 15 bilingual educators employed - some with medical backgrounds
  • Sessions run over 6 workshops
  • Folders containing translated materials provided
  • 4 weeks notice for booking sessions preferred
  • Cross-cultural training available at cost
  • They have the 'largest' multilingual library in Victoria available to people who are members
  • Community workshop sessions can be provided at ANY time of the day.


Working Groups:

  • Transitions: have continued to meet and are now establishing a clearer understanding of transitions impact from one benefit to another
  • Youth: members of the Youth group presented at the 'Young people, crime and community safety: engagement and early intervention conference
  • New Families: Agenda for next forum will include Driving School, Driving Program and Dinka School

Meeting Close

Posted by at No comments:

Monday, April 14, 2008

Cross-culture courses starting 1st May 08


Cross-cultural communicator training courses
Call for people working in their local community across Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond estates
8 weeks x 4 hours of ACCREDITED NMIT TRAINING plus an extra 20 hours volunteer community placement
Courses are free. Participants will receive a certificate at the end of training.

Thursday morning: 1 May – 18 June 08
OR Saturday morning: 3 May – 21 June 08

please contact Kerry Wise on 0447 338 033 or kerry.wise@jss.org.au
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, April 4, 2008

3ZZZ 92.3FM, Wednesday 9 April with Olivia & Murugi

Radio 3ZZZ 92.3 FM, Wednesday 9 April 2008, 7-8am

  • Local agencies: What do they do?

  • How can they use radio to publicise their projects/campaigns/programs?

  • How can 3ZZZ encourage more guests and volunteers to get involved in 'Starting Out' and other innovative programs on 3ZZZ?

Jambo Australia!
This is Starting Out on radio 3ZZZ. On the program today ... (see details below). AND We want you! So please have a listen, and if you'd like to know more about getting involved please give us a call (phone 9415 1923) at the end of the program. (Repeat in Swahili.)

Draft schedule
All times are approximate & interviews are subject to change at any time.

7am: Introduction by Murugi & Olivia.

7:05: Phone interview with Colette Bacash, Settlement Support Worker, New Hope Migrant and Refugee Centre, see http://www.nhf.org.au/Text/1096527700968-6170/About-the-NHMRC

Discus "Information Sessions for Newly Arrived African Women" e.g.
7:15: About us; and any news from old friends.

7:30: Oxfam's Brendan Ross
The story behind Oxfam's recent Refugee Realities exhibition.

7:40: Ms Dee Basinski from VicHealth.
VicHealth runs many projects about Mental Health & WellbeingDiscrimination and Violence and the links between violence against women and mental health. To quote:
Intimate partner violence is responsible for more ill-health and premature death in Victorian women under the age of 45 than any other of the well-known risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity and smoking; 58% of the health impact experienced by women is anxiety and depression.
VicHealth has developed a public health model for the prevention ofviolence against women, which classifies interventions as primary, early intervention and intervention. More at: http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/Content.aspx?topicID=115

And also, to mark next week’s World Health Day (Monday 7 April), comedian Akmal Saleh and former Premier, Steve Bracks, will launch a TV commercial, that has been produced by the Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre (SMRC), featuring high profile celebrities and community leaders from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, as part of their Family Men Don’t do Family Violence campaign to prevent the incidence of family violence. Akmal Saleh said:
I've put my name and face to this campaign because I believe that hearing from other men, like me, that family violence is not on, will help the message get through. I’m often making jokes, but family violence is no laughing matter. The campaign title is true – family men don’t do family violence.
7:53: Ending.
What's coming up 'Starting Out' in two weeks?
Starting Out is sponsored by the City of Yarra.
Call us now: 9415 1923.
8.00: 3ZZZ Greek Youth program.

See also Yarra Settlement Forum blog
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)