Project Title:  I'm not racist but... Combating Racism and discrimination
Location:  Youth Affairs Council of Victoria Inc, Australia

YACVic, in conjunction with the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI), hosted a forum called ‘I’m Not Racist, But: Combating Racism and Discrimination’. This was held on September 18, 2001 at the Kensington Community Centre. The forum program covered the following areas:

• Challenging racism using the law 
• Confronting racism in sport
• Young people’s experiences of racial discrimination

Contact: Youth Affairs Council of Victoria
Level 6, 1 Elizabeth St, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph:  03) 9612 8999
Email: info@yacvic.org.au
http://www.yacvic.org.au

Organisation Name: Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI)

The Centre of Multicultural Youth Issues aims to strengthen and build innovative partnerships between young people, support services and the community to enhance life opportunities for young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds.  CMYI has a number of resources, kits and publications available for download or purchase.

CMY delivers high quality professional development to youth and community sectors, government bodies, schools and educators, sport and recreation providers, young people and community leaders, and organisations. CMY delivers training to direct staff, policy makers and management.

CMY professional development can cover topics such as:

• Understanding culture and cross-cultural interactions
• Developing inter-cultural skills
• Migration and refugee issues
• Settlement for young people and newly arrived communities
• Language, interpreters and translations
• Intergenerational conflict
• Youth and family focussed approaches
• Adolescent theories and practice
• Youth leadership
• Culturally and linguistically appropriate policy development
• Refugee youth good practice principles
• Identity
• Racism

Contact: (03) 9340 3700
www.cmyi.net.au

Organisation Name:  Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies

The Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies (ACYS) provides information products and services for those working in the youth field and for anyone with an interest in youth. They publish Youth Studies Australia and Youth Field Xpress.

Resources relating to multicultural issues are available to order.

Contact: c/o University of Tasmania
Private Bag 64
Hobart, Tasmania 7001 Australia.
Phone: (03) 6226 2591
Fax: (03) 6226 2578
www.acys.utas.edu.au

Project Title:  California Tomorrow - Building the Capacity of Community Initiatives to Address Equity and Diversity

Principles for Building Capacity

The following set of underlying principles was developed by the California Tomorrow project to be used as the basis for organising strategies aimed at building the capacity of community initiatives to address dynamics of race, language, culture and class.

1. Recognise that assets are more than money and buildings: Community initiatives should identify and build upon the assets of the diverse people and groups residing in their community.

2. Treasure and develop Cross-Cultural Leadership: Community initiatives should value and draw upon the experiences of people who are grounded in their own group history, culture and language and able to appreciate/navigate the ways of other groups.

3. Recognise Multiple Realities and Identify Common Ground: Community initiatives should foster opportunities for people to identify common ground across race, language, culture and class while developing a deeper understanding of the different truths and realities that exist within the community.

4. Facilitate Community Self-Determination: Community initiatives should support the right of people to be involved in deciding what happens in their community -  whether their communities are defined by shared geography or shared collective interest.

5. Fight Exclusion: Community initiatives should recognise that racism, classism, language bias, and cultural domination have traditionally kept people out of the decision-making process.

6. Promote Trust and Personal Relationships: Community initiatives should invest resources and time into creating opportunities for people to build the trust and personal relationships needed to work on issues of social justice and equity.

7. Support On-going Personal Growth around Equity and Diversity: Community initiatives should promote personal growth that supports a greater understanding of race, language, culture, class, social justice and equity.

8. Stand Up Against Individual and Institutional bias: Community initiatives should find ways to strategically address individual behaviors and institutional practices that result in the unequal distribution of goods and services.

9. Take Stock: Community initiatives should regularly assess how well we are addressing issues of equity and diversity.

Contact: http://www.californiatomorrow.org