Page 3415 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 22 October 2014
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We do sometimes underestimate the voluntary contribution that is made simply by the day-to-day activity of thousands of Canberrans dedicated to assisting those that are most in need in our community. Indeed the three in our audience are some of those volunteers, and I recognise you again for the work that you do. Their work is in most cases unsung and carried out behind the scenes, often working with people who have arrived in our city from adverse and traumatic circumstances. We believe this effort warrants special recognition.
The 2014 ACT Multicultural Awards, to be announced on 27 November, are an opportunity to give public recognition of outstanding contributions in assisting new arrivals to successfully settle in our city, to secure employment opportunities and to be fairly represented in the media.
Another example of directly provided government assistance to the community is the support for all Canberrans to learn and appreciate another language. We fund over 50 language schools in the ACT and provide financial support to the ACT Community Language Schools Association. We also, through the Multicultural Festival, support an interfaith forum. In the lead-up to a symposium to be held here next week, I met with not only Muslim leaders but also the interfaith leaders. From the interfaith leaders meeting, it was recognised that the faith leaders have an important contribution to make to the social cohesion of our community.
The faith leaders were very keen in that discussion, when I met with them a couple of weeks ago, to explore ways to increase engagement with local youth, both inside and outside schools and formal faith organisations, and to increase an understanding of the importance of human values, cultural acceptance and the spiritual basis of faith. There was a general agreement to remind our young people, and indeed our community more broadly, that we have more in common in our humanity than we have differences across our faith.
Next week, as I have mentioned, I will be hosting the One Canberra Interfaith Symposium. The purpose of this is to explore ways to strengthen the social cohesion of our community in the context of recent developments at a national level. Over 100 people have been invited, with representation from the broader community expected, including representatives of unions, schools, youth, sport and multifaith, and social cohesion issues with an emphasis on youth participation are expected to be debated. We stand ready to implement community development and engagement programs arising from these consultations and from the multicultural summit that will be held later this year.I see a significant opportunity to better harness and develop the capacity of our local communities to play an even stronger role as we work to maintain our socially harmonious community. As the federal Race Discrimination Commissioner said:
… the vehicle of social progress is like a car on a steep incline, you have to keep your foot on the accelerator to prevent yourself from rolling back down the slope.
Here in the ACT we have our foot firmly on the accelerator.
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