about face 2010 applications close soon

Applications for the About FACE 2010 program close in 2 weeks – Friday 26^th February, 2010!

About FACE 2010 is a Faith And Cultural Exchange for young adults between 18 and 30 years, to take place from 26^th June to 17^th July, 2010.  Participants will elect to spend two weeks in a placement with either an Aboriginal community in Australia, or with one of our partner churches in the Asia-Pacific region. The About FACE program is an exciting and strategic opportunity for young adults to participate in the reconciliation and covenanting process with Aboriginal communities in Australia, and to share in solidarity with partner churches in the region.

The program will raise awareness of what it means to live in a global community, and to share resources and opportunities responsibly and with justice. It aims to create an ‘about face’ in the attitudes and lifestyles of participants, and to build relationships and bridges of understanding. About FACE is not simply an event for an individual, but is a shared experience with congregations and communities.

In 2010, placements will be within indigenous Australian communities, SE Asia, South Asia and the Pacific.

For more information please visit the About FACE website – www.aboutface.org.au (the website is currently in the process of being upgraded, so it may look a little different from when you visited last time).   You are also welcome to contact either Jill or Tess in the Justice & International Mission Unit on (03) 9251 5271 or info@aboutface.org.au

note from Age

Hi guys if your thinking of applying but are unsure if it is for you …. then that wonder mean yes it is you - register already and I will see you at briefing. - I’m already looking forward to this years mob - gotta love about face!!!

facebook event here

Lest we forget a cruel act of dispossession

Peter Lewis (many of us know through AboutFace and other places) and Richard Franklin have a remembering article in the Age about the Aborigines Protection Act 1869

It is an odd coincidence of history that the 11th day of the 11th month is a day of several anniversaries of great significance for Australian identity. The first anniversary that comes to mind is Armistice Day, marking the end of the First World War - a war where too many young Australian men met their deaths and the legend of the digger was born.

The next most remembered anniversary is the dismissal of the Whitlam government, which brought to an end a dramatic period of progressive government in Australia (if we ignore East Timor and the economy).

It is also the anniversary of the execution - in 1880 - of the legendary bushranger Ned Kelly. Kelly was either a villain or an imperfect embodiment of the Irish-Australian radical tradition, possibly both.

But an anniversary that has been forgotten is one that has even more relevance for understanding the ironies of Australian identity.

Eleven years before the hanging of Ned Kelly and 140 years ago this year, the Victorian colonial government passed an act ”To Provide for the Protection and Management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria”, more commonly known as the Aborigines Protection Act 1869.

This gave government control of where Aboriginal people could live, of how they would relate to Europeans, of their labour and earnings and of the ”care, custody and education” of all Aboriginal children.

It was this act that created the conditions for Aboriginal containment and assimilation, and its legal platform enabled policies that led to the stolen generations and stolen wages.

For us it raises an interesting question - why have we so rarely included this anniversary in our remembering?

keep reading here

AI Action - Racial Discrimination Act

REINSTATEMENT OF THE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ACT (RDA)

Amnesty International Australia - Working to Protect Human Rights:

No conditions, no excuses Mr Rudd

http://www.amnesty.org.au/action/action/21865/

14 Oct 09: “Suspending the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) allows racially discriminatory actions to occur - and this is exactly what happened in the roll out of the Northern Territory Intervention. … The Federal Government has promised to take steps to reinstate the RDA as soon as next week. However, the Government is proposing to designate some discriminatory practices, such as welfare quarantining, as a ‘special measure’ to allow them to continue. Such ‘special measures’ would defeat the purpose and the spirit of the reinstatement of the RDA. It is important that the reinstatement of the RDA should contain no loopholes to allow racial discrimination to continue. Call on the Federal Government now to reinstate the RDA in full… no conditions, no excuses! … Take action now - Send a letter to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, by clicking on the ACT NOW button on right-hand side of this page.”

UCA writes to UN about Northern Territory Intervention

Thought this press release could use some air time 

Territory Intervention highlighted for UN Rapporteur

Thursday, 20 August 2009 11:59

The Uniting Church in Australia has taken its vehement opposition to the Northern Territory Emergency Response to the United Nations. The Uniting Church has written to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People, currently visiting Australia, to draw his attention to the concerns being expressed by Indigenous members of the Uniting Church. The letter, co-signed by Uniting Church President, Rev. Alistair Macrae, and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress Chair, Rev. Ken Sumner, outlined for the Special Rapporteur, Prof. James Anaya, what the Church believes is Australia’s most pressing human rights concern. In particular, the letter highlighted: discriminatory implementation of policies under a suspended Racial Discrimination Act; inadequate consultation with Indigenous peoples affected by the Emergency Response; and policies that contravene human rights principles.   Rev. Macrae said the UN Special Rapporteur’s visit was timely, given resolutions that were passed at the Uniting Church’s recent Triennial Assembly. “At the 12th Triennial Assembly the Church adopted a statement that highlighted several matters of concern regarding the relationships between Australian governments and Indigenous people,” Rev. Macrae said. “It particularly called on the Federal Government to rectify the lack of negotiation with Indigenous communities about the Northern Territory Emergency Response. “We have since written to the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and requested that the Government urgently facilitate a ‘negotiation forum’ in the Northern Territory to address a number of serious issues relating to the implementation of the Intervention. “We do commend the Government for extending the invitation to the Special Rapporteur to see first-hand the Intervention at work. This visit by the UN Special Rapporteur provided us with the opportunity to take our concerns to an audience beyond Australia. “We do not believe the Emergency Response meets the criteria laid out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights for an emergency situation, the basis for the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act. We do not believe that the policies are being implemented in a way that demonstrates genuine long-term partnership and engagement with the communities affected. It is, therefore, vitally important that the United Nations is able to look at the situation independently.” The Uniting Church has been further encouraged by being granted a meeting with Minister Macklin’s office to discuss these issues. Rev. Macrae and Rev. Sumner are available for comment.

Sorry is the first step

The National Apology on February 13 was a truly momentous occasion. The healing power of that simple word - sorry - has helped to build a bridge of trust.

Our task now is to make sure that we don’t look back on the apology to the Stolen Generations as merely a symbolic gesture, but as the beginning of something far more significant. Sorry is only the first step.

The Stolen Generations survivors should benefit from both a specific, targeted response that comprehensively addresses the recommendations of the Bringing them home report, as well as broader efforts to close the gap in Indigenous life expectancy and health status.

Please send your elected state and federal representatives an email asking them to implement all the recommendations of the Bringing them home report

http://takeaction.antar.org.au/1/sorry-is-the-first-step

Reconciliation Vic - Conferences

Learning Together Conferences

Education and Local Groups Conferences

Rec Vic & ANTaR Vic will host two conferences on October 17 & 18 at the Aborigines Advancement League. See the flyers and registration forms attached for full details.

Oct 17 will be a dedicated Education conference for teachers and education specialists.

Oct 18 will run as the annual Local Reconciliation Groups conference, with a focus on integrating local reconciliation groups and local councils.

Step Up! 2008! - Youth Gathering - October 16

Reconciliation Victoria is proud to present Step Up! 2008, a youth gathering for students in Years 8-12, to be held at the Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy on Thursday, October 16.

You can register and find more infomation for these conferences here.

NAIDOC WEEK

NAIDOC Week celebrates the survival of Indigenous culture and the Indigenous contribution to modern Australia. The national theme this year is Advance Australia Fair? And all Australians are encouraged to participate in the many NAIDOC Week activities that will be held across the Victoria. NAIDOC celebrations are held around Australia in July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has become the name of the week itself. See http://www.naidoc.org.au/ for full details. The Victorian NAIDOC Coordinator this year is Robert Britton – 9416 9240 / 0400 057 678. For information on events happening around Victoria in NAIDOC Week go to the Reconciliation Victoria website www.reconciliationvic.org.au

Re-Action: Reconciliation Youth Network Launch

Bar 303, 303 High St Northcote
$5 entry

Come and celebrate reconciliation week, hear great music, meet like-minded people interested in combating racism, advocating  for indigenous justice and find out how to voice your views and act on these issues.

Featuring: Tjimba & the Yung Warriors, Brolga Boys, Deline Briscoe and many more.

More Details:
Contact – Matt Bell,
matt.bell@reconciliationvic.org.au
Join Facebook Group: Reconciliate Youth

International law from conservative commentators

Not sure if people saw this great post from Ben down in the feeds

Gerard Henderson goes all populist in his rant denying that past Australian Government policy and actions towards Indigenous Australians might ever have amounted to genocide. Because the “person on the street” understands genocide as mass murder, and because mass murder didn’t take place, therefore Australian Governments can’t possibly have committed genocide against Indigenous Australians.

He knows, of course, but glibly dismisses – “legalisms and academic debates aside” – that the real definition of genocide in international law is something quite different.

Genocide is the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, through acts including murder, inflicting life conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction of the group, preventing births within the group, and forcibly transferring children away from the group. continue reading over at Ben’s

UpperRoom - Close the Gap

The Upper Room Project meets the first Monday of each month (6-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet in the S Bar (Shop 18, Village Walk, O’Sullivan Road, Glen Waverley ) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.We hope the upper room will be

• Space to rest/relax with your tribe
• Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion
• Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

• a gallery space for photos and other art.
• activist space - activities, information and people deeply into that topic to meet
• conversational space - multimedia and communally led (an interview, music, texts, a place to chat)

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

This month we will be thinking about Closing the Gap and the communities potential response to Rudd’s Sorry Day Speech. Rod’s Schools work has been working on making resources down this line - we get to be one of the test mobs :). As always there will be others of our tribe to eat, drink and chat with and some art, info etc to fuel the conversation . So cya there. All are welcome

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