Friday, 17 April 2009
New projects set to build bridges between police and Muslim communities
Nineteen new projects to cement good relationships and build trust between Muslim communities and police services have been announced today by national Race Discrimination Commissioner Tom Calma.
Part of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Community Policing Partnerships Program (CPPP), the 19 projects are spread around the country and take a grass-roots approach to improving relationships by emphasising respect and shared values.
“Racism, discrimination and religious hatred are all toxic viruses with the potential to eat away at the core of Australia’s multicultural society,” Commissioner Calma said.
“These projects I am announcing today are about police and Muslim communities working together at the grass-roots level to come up with a way forward in improving their relations and building better communities.
“A diverse pool of projects will soon be up and running and I expect they will fundamentally improve relations between police and young people, which have sometimes triggered disharmony and misunderstandings in the past.”
Commissioner Calma said the projects included general educative workshops around rights and responsibilities and improving understanding of police complaint processes, through to a Queensland partnership looking at police services in relation to some of the issues the Muslim clergy come across while conducting their religious duties. These included: youth and family issues, domestic violence and burial procedures. Other projects included a three-day camp for ‘at-risk’ young people focused on relationships, career opportunities and safe driving, and another project focused on crime prevention and early intervention strategies with young people from African or Muslim communities backgrounds who are already known to police.
Dr Hass Dellal, Executive Director of the Australian Multicultural Foundation said the projects have also led to a number of participants considering policing as a career.
"The young participants and community groups involved in the CPPP have shown a real commitment to establish meaningful partnerships with local police services, with some young Muslims being genuinely attracted to a career in the police service,” Dr Dellal said.
Commissioner Calma said identifying where prejudice played a role for both members of Muslim communities and the police was the first step in identifying misunderstandings and provided the best way forward in fixing them.
“Respecting and supporting cultural diversity in Australia today is crucial to keeping our society fair and reducing damaging discrimination in all its ugly forms,” Commissioner Calma said.
The CPPP is a national initiative undertaken by the Australian Human Rights Commission in collaboration with the Australian Multicultural Foundation (AMF). It is one of several programs being run by the Commission funded under the federal government’s National Action Plan which aims to promote social harmony and to counteract discrimination and misinformation about Muslim Australians.
The projects were selected by a selection committee made up of equal numbers of police and Muslim community members. For more information about the projects being supported by the Australian Human Rights Commission please go to www.humanrights.gov.au/partnerships/projects/community_policing.html
Media contact:
Louise McDermott (for Tom Calma) 0419 258 597
Dr Hass Dellal (for AMF) 0419 370 507
