The members of the Yarra Settlement Forum take strong exception to tone and content of Mr Price’s article।
Mr Price’s visit to Atherton Gardens Estate in Fitzroy lasted an hour। He appears to have spoken to two residents, including “Reg”, who apparently does not enjoy living there and, presumably, invited Mr Price into the building where he lives. It is not clear whether Mr Price actually entered a flat; he writes only of laundries and stairwells. He sees some residents of the building; most of those he sees are apparently from Africa and he concludes that they are the dominant group. Otherwise, he relies entirely on “Reg” for the information on which he bases his opinion of the estate.
It is a pity that the only statistic given by “Reg” that Mr Price seems to have checked is the report of 26 Somalis living in one flat; he admits that neither the Minister for Housing nor his own observations confirm this figure, but takes the trouble to repeat “Reg’s” assertion।
“Reg’s” reliability as an informant can be assessed immediately by the misinformation he presents about the Anglicare Centre in Napier Street। There is no soup kitchen there; food parcels are given out, but only to holders of pension or health care cards, and each recipient is entitled to and receives no more than eight parcels a year, under Commonwealth legislation. Records are strictly maintained and anyone who attempts to subvert the system loses their entitlements.
It would be interesting to know if Mr Price made any attempt to speak to any other of the approximately 2000 residents of the estate, or to the very active Atherton Gardens Residents Association about their experience of living there। Did he check any of the information “Reg” gave him with the Office of Housing?
Here are some relevant facts:
· There are approximately 2000 residents, living in 800 flats, in four 20-storey blocks. Of this number, around 30% are Vietnamese, 15-20% are Chinese and 15% are from Africa. The balance consists of smaller numbers of people of many ethnic backgrounds, including Anglo-Australian.
· While there were serious problems some years ago with security, the Neighbourhood Renewal Program run by the State Government from 2002 to 2009 has led to major renovations of the buildings, both of individual flats and of the public areas, including entrances; this upgrade has provided much improved security, with much tighter control of access to the buildings.
· All residents have computer access in their flats and there is also a very well-used computer hub in the community meeting area.
· The Neighbourhood Renewal Program has created employment opportunities for residents through the development of the Community Contact Service, which trains and employs residents to work as concierges at the entrance of each building. The service is managed by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, and is an outstanding example of cooperation between a local community agency, residents and the government.
· Every second year since the start of the Neighbourhood Renewal Program, the University of Melbourne has conducted a survey of 300 residents to discover their attitudes to living on the estate. Their answers have been increasingly positive.
· There are no plans to develop more gardens or basketball courts।
In any community of 2000 or so, there will inevitably be disagreements from time to time, but what is remarkable about Atherton Gardens to those of us who have spent a lot more time there than Mr Price has, is how harmonious the community is overall. To suggest, as he does, with no evidence to support his view, that “these people” are being “dumped” in public housing towers (a phrase conjuring up images of silos) because “we” are “flushing them into the country” would be laughable if it did not pander so obviously to the bigotry of some against anyone wishing to settle and contribute to life in a multicultural Australia.
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
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
