Glenorchy City Council: Living in Harmony Project

… what does the project look like? …

In late 2005, Glenorchy City Council received funding of $23,761 to implement the Diversity: We Are Who We Are project. Funding was from the Australian Government Living in Harmony intiative, under the community grants program. The initiative is designed to develop local solutions to local problems. It promotes harmony, brings down barriers between people and addresses issues of racism.

“Diversity: We Are Who We Are” is running within 3 High Schools and 2 Primary Schools in the Glenorchy Local Government Area (Southern Tasmania) in the first half of 2006.

• Students from each school participate in an interactive session led by people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to explore the benefits of cultural diversity.
• Students from each school experience cultural foods, music and traditions from visits with established cultural organisations/clubs and with newly arrived communities.
• Selected students from the 5 schools participate in an experiential learning program to further explore and experience cultural exchange. This program developed into an educational package to be retained by participating schools.
• Photographs and stories from each of these experiences are documented by a community artist and produced as posters on Metro buses from August 2006 until January 2007, in order to showcase the project and facilitate broader community awareness of issues of discrimination.

… background …

For Harmony Day 2005, Glenorchy City Council, led by their Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee, held a forum with more than 100 residents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Participants at the forum identified issues of discrimination, which limits their ability to access and engage in education and public transport services. The impact of discrimination towards people from diverse backgrounds in Glenorchy, especially young people, is significant, affecting individual health and wellbeing, as well as reducing the capacity of both people and communities.

… project aims …

The Glenorchy City Council is committed to exploring, promoting and celebrating the benefits of diversity in the city. The “Diversity: We Are Who We Are” project aims to:

• Build connections, trust and harmony in the community
• Bring people together in new and mutual learning environments
• Offer people from diverse backgrounds opportunities to participate in mentoring and role modeling with the broader community
• Generate new understanding and empathy of cultural difference
• Foster the development of new, and ongoing, relationships between cultures and generations

… contact …

This project is proudly supported by the Australian Government’s Living in Harmony initiative. 
Administered by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, the Living in Harmony initiative aims to promote community harmony. 
It recognises that, whatever our backgrounds and beliefs, we are united as Australians and want to live in a country that is free of racial intolerance. 
For more information on the Living in Harmony initiative,
visit: www.harmony.gov.au