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

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