Refugees take centre stage
Friday, 7 March 2008
Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services Laurie Ferguson told members of Brisbane’s African community involved in an innovative drama project to ‘break a leg’ before their final rehearsal today.
'I would like to congratulate the group on their acting talent as well as their openness in sharing their experiences in settling in Australia,' Mr Ferguson said.
'I understand these performances will be an important starting point for discussion in their communities about sensitive issues such as domestic violence, intergenerational conflict and some of the challenges they face in employment.'
The scenes have been developed through a series of improvisation sessions, drawing on the experiences of the former refugees in settling in to a new country and a new culture.
'This is an important project because it involves this group deciding how best to put forward information about issues affecting their community in an entertaining and accessible way,' Mr Ferguson said.
'Its aim is to bring these issues out into the open and work through ways of resolving them.'
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has supported the project through a $25 000 grant to Multilink Community Services Inc to provide information on Australia’s culture to humanitarian entrant communities in Logan City.
Senior drama lecturers from Griffith University have guided community members through devising and staging the scenes.
Performances will be staged for the Burundian, Ethiopian and Afghani communities in the Logan area over the next two weeks.
'The settlement grants program currently provides about $32 million each year to organisations that help new arrivals settle in Australia,' Mr Ferguson said.
'Grants are made to projects that help new arrivals orient themselves to their new community, help new communities develop and promote social participation and integration,' he said.Media contact: Khaldoun Hajaj - 0404 078 692
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/parlsec/media/media-releases/2008/lf08009.htm
Last update: 13 August 2008 at 17:14 AEST