Five things you can do for asylum seekers

With politics in Australia at the moment - it is very tempting to despair - especially when it comes to vulnerable groups of people such as asylum seekers.  But in Toowoomba right now there is not time to despair.  On Friday Bishop McGuckin spoke at a local Multi-Faith Peace conference.  He powerfully outlined the need for all of us to be involved in pastoral care for refugees and migrants.  In doing this he emphasised the basic human right to move from country to country and to seek asylum.  For more than a decade many of us have been speaking out about the lack of humanity involved when we imprison and denigrate people fleeing persecution.

So..... right here and now we have an opportunity to demonstrate that there is a better way.  To put our money where our mouth is.  Literally.   For the last month a number of people in the Toowoomba area have been offering practical support to asylum seekers living in our community.  Even if you don't live in Toowoomba there are ways in which you can be involved.


1.  Give your time  

Whether you want to share conversation, teach English, play boardgames, create a garden,  learn to cook, share a meal, play indoor cricket, play football (soccer).  All of these are possibilities.  The key ingredient is time.    You might not have enough time - but some local asylum seekers have way too much.  They are not allowed to work and relish any opportunity to interact with the wider community.


2.  Share your food

A number of local asylum seekers are currently living below the poverty line.  Without work rights they are forced to live on just over $200 a week.  Try paying for your rent, food, clothes, phone calls etc. on that.  Something that people living in Toowoomba can easily do is throw a few extra items in your grocery trolley the next time you go shopping.  Examples of food that would help the budget go a little further include:  fruit and vegies, rice, lentils, chick peas, chicken, cans of crushed tomatoes.  Other possible items include coffee, tea, sugar,  long life milk, tomato paste,  soap, shampoo, toothpaste, canned fish, jam, honey, laundry powder etc.

3.  Be a voice

We want to get this advertisement on the Toowoomba Chronicle website.  It recognizes two facts.  Firstly, that it is a basic human right to seek asylum and also that part of this right is the right to work.  It emphasizes the human side to the asylum seeker debate.  We can get 25000 page imprints for $440 and 50000 page imprints for $880.  At the moment I have $270.  So let me know if you want to be a part of this important promotion.  See below for account details to make a direct deposit


4.  Spread the message

Our hard-working researcher Elle has put together this great Myths and Facts sheet about Asylum seekers.  Take the time to get the right information about the issue and share it with your friends, acquaintances and workmates.

5.  Share your resources.  

When people seeking asylum can live in the community it is better for everybody.  It means vulnerable people do not have to endure harsh detention conditions and our common humanity is not diminished.  At the moment there are many small and not so small  items needed to share the gift of hospitality.  These include basic food, clothes, sanitary items, spices, bicycles for transport etc.  If you wish to donate please contact the Social Justice Commission Office or you can make a direct deposit to:

Corporation of the RC Diocese of Toowoomba  BSB: 084-961  Account Number - 653097284  Reference SJ - Refugee Support.

Close the Gap Day 2013

Members of local agencies with Veronica Pegler from the Indigenous Youth Mobility Programme

Welcome to Close the Gap Day 2013.  And to our new blog!  I first found out about the whole "Close the Gap" campaign when I was a member of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council.  Tom Calma, who was at that time Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner spoke to the council about this new campaign that he was working with a number of organisations to establish.  The central part of the campaign was to close the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and the wider population.  At that time it was estimated that an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person was likely to die 17 and a half years before his or her non Indigenous counterpart.

And how the campaign has grown.  To the extent that over 900 events will take place across the country today.   It is possible to be cynical.  It is just another label - we had self determination, reconciliation, main-streaming and now we have 'close the gap'.  I have heard it said that the gap we need to close is the gap between what governments say they will do and what they actually do.  But despite this I am a fan.  The campaign is powerful for a few reasons.  Firstly it is evidence based.  So it is not wrapped up in ideology - but instead can focus on what actually works.  Secondly flowing on from this the campaign is strengths based.  It focuses on real partnerships with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and promotes best practise.  The third thing I like about "Close the Gap" is that it is based around the Social Determinants of Health.  That is it is not a narrow focus which looks at people turning up to their local clinic or hospital - but it looks at education, housing, employment, rates of incarceration and levels of discrimination.  That is it considers the causes - not just the symptoms.

The main thing I like about "Close the Gap" is if working properly it holds us all accountable.  I'm going to lose some of the teachers here but I am a fan of testing and a fan of NAPLAN.  Not as a tool to compare schools on a league table - nor as a narrow focus for curriculum - but as one way of measuring how well an individual students is going in literacy and numeracy and also how a particular school or school system is going.  For parents with students who have strong literacy and numeracy skills NAPLAN is probably not all that helpful.  But for those students who are struggling it can be a crucial beginning tool.  And this is an important point.  Identifying the problem does not solve the problem!  It is the only place to start - but we must find strategies and resources which work - otherwise we will merely become experts in documenting disasters.

The reason I think the benefits of NAPLAN and testing outweigh the negatives can be clearly seen in the area of Indigenous education.  In 2008 I was part of a group of teachers establishing Tiwi College on Melville Island.  As part of our routine we sat down with parents in the community and discussed report cards and their children's progress.  Hardly radical - but when I survey parent-teacher interview nights - I am not sure how many parents with students struggling are turning up.  Tough as it was,  in some cases as teachers we sat down with parents and told them that their son or daughter was in Year 11 but struggled to read the equivalent of a year two level student.  That didn't address the issue but it was certainly better than the post-modern nonsense that masqueraded as assessment previously.  (eg. student X is achieving at expected level).  I'll outline what is happening in a number of schools across the country to address this in another post.  For now I want to shine the light on a brilliant project that is using technology to promote literacy for Aboriginal students throughout the country.

The Indigenous Reading Project (IRP) was established just last year.  The idea is very simple.  Students who are below the national minimum standard for reading are targeted as part of the project.  The hook is a free Kindle.  Well almost.  Students are given a free Kindle e-reader to upload and read books for three months. They are pre-tested and then post-tested.   Those who have progressed, improved their test results and received positive feedback from parents and teachers then get to keep the kindle.  And the good news is..... it is working!   The first group of students had improved the time they spent reading by 154%  Their fluency levels had improved by 51% and comprehension by 42%

There will be 100 Kindles sent to Aboriginal students around the country this year.  Every state and territory has students involved.  We have had a student from the Toowoomba region take part in the Indigenous Reading project and there have been students from other regional centres in Queensland and New South Wales part of the IRP as well.    The small and passionate team who make IRP happen are putting out the challenge to Amazon - the company that sells the Kindle.  Amazon makes around a billion dollars every year in sales in Australia.  It would be fair to say that they are not the country's largest tax payer and do not give any support to local charities.  The Indigenous Reading Project represents a great opportunity for Amazon to enable thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students around the country improve their literacy.    

And there are so many possibilities when that literacy is in place.  On Tuesday morning I was inspired by a visit to the Indigenous Youth Mobility Programme (IYMP).  It's motto is "making tracks to close the gap" and it certainly is doing that.  IYMP supports young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from remote communities study at university and further education levels.  In Toowoomba there are 34 young people from all over our state studying and training as nurses, health workers, engineers and many other professions.  They are guided and supported as they make a pathway to employment.

On so many social indicators the Gap still remains.  With transparency, good resources, evidence and real partnerships with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people there is however grounds for hope.

Click here to find out more about how you can support the Indigenous Reading Project

Katelyn Ferguson from South Grafton High with a Kindle from  the Indigenous Reading Project