'Voices Of Australia' Project
2 May 2005 at 1:05 pm
To mark the 30th anniversary of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA), the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission is putting together ‘Voices of Australia’ – a magazine and audio CD of real-life stories about diversity and living together in contemporary Australia.
‘Voices of Australia’ will be distributed to community groups, schools, libraries, local councils, religious groups, government agencies and other groups around the country.
Tom Calma, the Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner says the aim is to include stories from everyone – it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old; what background you come from; whether you’ve lived in Australia all your life or settled here recently.
Themes include:
– Australia: our home: What does it mean for Australia to be your home? What is special about the people and place where you live?
– Unexpected friendships: How did you meet your friend? What have you learnt from each other?
– Breaking down barriers: What barriers have you experienced – as an individual or as part of a group? How did you overcome those barriers?
– Racism: not in my backyard: When did you see or experience racism? How did you respond? How did things change?
– From tolerance to respect: When did you feel someone’s attitude towards you change? What does it mean to you to be ‘respected’ rather than ‘tolerated’?
Your story should be no more than one A4 page (400 words) and sent to us no later than 22 July 2005. And remember – the writing style isn’t important, it’s your story that matters.
The Commission will contact successful participants to let you know if it intends to publish your story in the magazine or on its website. Any personal information you submit will be treated with strict confidentiality.
Fax your story with the completed ‘Approval for Publication Form’ to (02) 9284 9849 (Attn: Voices of Australia) or post to: ‘Voices of Australia’, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW, 2001.
Or send your story to us at voices@humanrights.gov.au or by visiting www.humanrights.gov.au/voices
