African Australians Project:
About the project
About the project
- What is this research about?
- What is the focus of the research?
- What is the research methodology?
- How can I get involved?
- How can I make a submission?
- What if I don’t speak or write in English?
- Is there translated information available?
- How long do I have to lodge my submission?
- Background papers
- Guide to the Racial Discrimination Act
- For more information
What is this research about?
The last 10 years has seen several conferences and reports directed at issues for African communities in Australia, most with a localised or state/territory perspective. The Commission felt that it was time to build on this valuable foundation, but also elevate issues to the national level.
There has been no national report that looks at the issues facing African Australians from a human rights perspective. This project will seek to address this identified research ‘gap’.
The aim of the project, African Australians: A report on human rights and social inclusion issues is two-fold:
- to explore the issues for members of African communities in Australia from a human rights perspective,
- to suggest solutions to issues raised and make recommendations to stakeholders to inform future policy, program and service design as well as public debate and education.
What is the focus of the research?
This project will investigate the support available to African communities and the issues impacting upon their inclusion, with particular reference to:
- Employment and training
- Education
- Health
- Housing
- Justice
The issues relating to the areas of employment and training, education, health, housing and justice will be analysed through a legal and moral human rights framework also informed by social inclusion policy principles.
What is the research methodology?
The African Australians: A report on human rights and social inclusion issues project will comprise a number of components:
- background papers
- Discussion paper
- national consultations - interviews, focus groups, meetings with representative groups
- public call for submissions – seeking submissions (responses) from the public
- analysis of information gathered from the national consultations, call for submissions and research
- final report
- plain language guide – like an overview of the report
- formal review
- evaluation – as part of the CPHR program evaluation
You can find out more information about these components on this webpage and in the Discussion paper.
The Discussion paper has been designed to guide the national consultation and submission processes. The Discussion paper will:
- provide background to the project African Australians: A report on human rights and social inclusion issues
- explain the aim and focus of the project
- provide a ‘Content for consideration’ section which expands upon the areas of focus for the project by specifying themes and listing questions as a guide for participants
- explain the project methodology and provide information on the project partners, governance and consultants
- outline the project outcomes
- provide additional information in two appendices
- provide information on how to make a submission to the project.
Click here to download the Discussion paper in PDF 
or Word 
.
It is anticipated that a final report will be produced and released in late 2009. The final report will include the main report prepared by the consultants, as well as the four background papers. A plain language guide will also be developed, as an overview of the final report.
How can I get involved?
There are two ways that you can get involved with the project:
- Write a submission
- Participate in consultations
We invite you to write a submission
We would like to hear from anyone that is interested in human rights and social inclusion issues for African Australians, especially:
- members of African Australian communities
- friends of African Australians
- all levels of government
- the non-government sector (NGOs)
- community organisations
- service providers (specialised and mainstream)
- academia.
In particular, the Commission is interested in your responses to any or all of the questions in the Discussion paper, as well as any other issues of concern.
We invite you to participate in consultations
Myriad Consultants have been commissioned by the Australian Human Rights Commission to organise and facilitate the national consultation process.
Consultations will take place from late-March to 31 July 2009. For more information about consultations, click here.
How can I make a submission?
Electronic submissions are encouraged on any of the issues in the Discussion paper, however you can make a submission in the following ways:
By email: africanaus@humanrights.gov.au
By post:
African Australians project submission
Education
and Partnerships Section
Race Discrimination Unit
Australian Human Rights
Commission
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
By fax: (02) 9284 9849.
What if I don’t speak or write in English?
You do not need to speak or write in English to get involved in the project.
While information on the Australian Human Rights Commission's website is mainly presented in English, the Commission appreciates that African communities are diverse and speak many languages.
This project is using an inclusive approach to ensure that all people who want to participate are able to. However it is not possible for the project to work with all languages, so the Steering Committee for the project has recommended the following 10:
- Amahric
- Arabic
- Dinka
- Kirundi
- Krio
- Nuer
- Oromo
- Somali
- Swahili
- Tigrinya
If your first language is one of those mentioned above, you can write a submissions in your first language rather than write in English.
Translation and/ or interpreting of the 10 languages above will also be incorporated, where appropriate, in national consultations.
Is there translated information available?
Yes.
While information on the Australian Human Rights Commission's website is mainly presented in English, summaries of the Discussion paper have been translated into the 10 languages above, to ensure that members of African communities have access to information about the project in languages other than English.
While we are aware that some languages are more commonly used as a spoken language rather than written language, we thought it was still useful to make translations available from our website.
African community leaders may wish to use these summaries when talking with their communities about the project and explaining how community members can get involved.
Summaries of the Discussion paper are available below:
- Amharic – download PDF or download Word
- Arabic – download PDF or download Word
- Dinka
– download PDF or download Word
- Kirundi – download PDF or download Word
- Krio – download PDF or download Word
- Nuer – download PDF or download Word
- Oromo – download PDF or download Word
- Somali – download PDF or download Word
- Swahili – download PDF or download Word
- Tigrinya – download PDF or download Word
A plain English summary of the Discussion paper has also
been developed.
Please note: Some of the Word documents require the appropriate language font to be installed to display correctly.
How long do I have to lodge my submission?
The national call for submissions was launched on 16 March 2009 by Tom Calma, National Race Discrimination Commissioner, and Abeselom Nega, Immediate Past Chair of the Federation of African Communities Council who is also one of the project Steering Committee members. Click here to view the media release about the launch.
The closing date for submissions is 30 June 2009.
You can lodge your submission at any time between these dates.
Background papers
Four background papers are being written as part of the project. These papers will set the scene and provide context to the issues, consultation findings and recommendations of the final report:
- Demographic analysis – by Prof. Graeme Hugo, University of Adelaide.
- Australia’s migration policies – by Prof. Andrew Jakubowicz, University of Technology, Sydney.
- International and national human rights issues relating to refugees and immigrants – by Assoc. Prof. Simon Rice, Australian National University.
- Literature review – by Ann Wayne Reiner, post-graduate intern with the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Background papers will be available with the final report.
Guide to the Racial Discrimination Act
In preparing your submission, you may want to find out more about the Racial Discrimination Act.
For more information
For more information about the project, please contact:
Claire Moroney
Project Manager
Education and Partnerships
Section
Race Discrimination Unit
Australian Human Rights
Commission
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Phone: (02) 9284 9600 or 1800 620 241 (TTY)
