There are some unique challenges for successfully engaging with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities who reside in most urban and larger regional areas across Australia. Although some of the cultural considerations described throughout this resource still apply, many of the people who live in urban settings may live by quite different protocols to those observed in remote communities.
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities in urban communities are not necessarily geographically or culturally discrete, nor based around family or language groupings as they may be in smaller regional or remote areas. This can make it difficult to identify the appropriate community contact when planning an engagement activity.
Depending on the population, there may be few non-government organisations such as housing or youth service providers specifically serving the local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community. However, in larger urban areas there may be both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations established to provide health, housing or other services to their respective community if there is a significant population of both groups in one location. These groups are often key contacts for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people and can often play an important role in the engagement process. Where such support is sought it should always be formally requested as an addition to their core business and not taken for granted.
Case study: Inala Community Justice Group Volatile Substance Misuse Video
The Inala Community Justice Group (CJG) and state and local government agencies were increasingly concerned about the growing incidence of paint sniffing by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in the Inala area of South-east Queensland and impact on local families, culture and the health of local youth.
In February 2004, the Inala CJG convened a one-day Volatile Substance Misuse Workshop between keystate government agencies, the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and key community-based organisations to discuss and develop joint responses to paint sniffing.
Also, local youth who had engaged in paint sniffing, and many members of the Inala community, recognised the harmful physical and social effects and wanted to prevent other youth from engaging in this practice.
The workshop laid the groundwork for the Inala CJG and the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships to work in partnership to identify and secure the resources to produce a preventative paint-sniffing message in a format relevant to Inala Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth.
The Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships worked collaboratively with the Inala CJG and their youth group to secure support from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Film and Television Discipline, Creative Industries Faculty, to produce a short video, made by and for local youth, that presented a preventative message about paint sniffing.
The department supported the Inala CJG and QUT production team to negotiate local cultural protocols, shared responsibilities, stakeholder roles, and agreement on the message the video would deliver.
Local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth worked collaboratively with five QUT students during the filming, editing and production of the video. Their involvement led to a number of the participants wanting to undertake formal studies in video production as a means of securing employment in film and television.
The aim of the video is to enhance strong families and strong cultures and improve healthy living through the production and utilisation of a relevant information resource to curb the incidence of paint sniffing by local youth.
The video was completed in July 2004 and will be screened at local health and medical service providers’ offices, youth group meetings, Inala CJG meetings and other community events to promote a preventative message about paint sniffing to local youth.
This partnership supported the Inala CJG and QUT to identify and agree on future collaborative videoproductions to promote the group’s work to the local community and other stakeholders.
For more details contact the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships South Queensland Regional Office or visit www.communities.qld.gov.au telephone (07) 3225 8982.
