Townsville Community Voices

Improved recognition and engagement of local Traditional Owner Groups:

The Community Voices Team strongly supports the recognition of the Traditional Owner Groups and this will be shown, if we are selected into Council, by having a RECONCILIATION STATEMENT written up for the new Townsville City Council.

Community Voices want a future Townsville City Council to collaborate in a meaningful and respecfful way with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders within the Townsville community to have input on the Reconciliation Statement. In the Reconciliation Statement we will include vital recognition and exposure to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture. Some of the items in the Reconciliation Statement should include:

• • All staff of the Townsville City Council will be exposed to Cultural Awareness Packages and this will be repeated every 2 years to have constant reinforcement to current staff and training for any new staff to the Townsville City Council,
  • Signage to be placed around Townsville to recognise important places in reference to the Traditional Land Owners. A good example is the “Welcome to Townsville” sign could also have mention of the Traditional Owners. As people take walks down the strand, there could be information, stories or events signage on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the Townsville community.
  • Any World Class or International Visitors that come to Townsville will be welcomed by the Traditional Land Owners with notification of their arrival and a week notice to give the traditional groups time to organise themselves.
  • More importance placed on involvement and appearances by a Councillors or Mayor at major Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Celebrations or Programs during the year, such as Mabo Day, NAIDOC Week or any Cultural Events.
  • The presence of National Teams in Townsville is an opportunity for ground announcers to mention and give recognition to the Traditional Land Owners to where the game is being played.
  • As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Townsville City Council should have a minimum of 10% of its employees as Indigenous along with strategies put in place to help with the retention of Indigenous employees. As part of that desired outcome, it is important that that Indigenous employees undertake a Qualification Course which will be written into their Employee Profile.

The Community Voices Team is 100% in support of this initiative of the Reconciliation Statement because it gives acknowledgement to the traditional owners of Townsville as well as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Townsville.

As part of our desire to create a safer, more inclusive and sustainable city, Community Voices want to place Townsville in the forefront of the Reconciliation Process. Seeking to embrace reconciliation as part of a ‘change’ theme, we embrace a social justice perspective which demands a balanced approach to community participation. Specifically we commit to:

• Support for cultural activities such as NAIDOC, Reconciliation Week and other culturally significant events.
• Reconciliation Statement
• Meaningful engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in planning and policy development.

Issue: Strategies for addressing the growing issue of ‘Homelessness’.

Homelessness is a very important issue and Community Voices will take the initiative to address this issue. We are not interested in Bandaide Solutions. A progressive strategy on finding a solution with Homeliness begins with the creation of a local Task Force. This Task Force will be established to research, identify, develop and initiate appropriate strategies to combat the scourge of homelessness which affects

• Youth
• People with mental health issues
• Alcohol and drug abusers
• People who are sleeping rough
• Unemployed

Community Voices believes there is no ONE department that can solve this issue so it is important for this Task Force to consist of Departmental heads or representatives from Department of Communities; Centrelink; Police; Townsville City Council; Health; Police; Department of Housing, Ozcare, Heath Care professionals and other welfare agencies. Necessarily, we would include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community representatives in any collaboration on this issue.

Homelessness is viewed as a state and national issue, attracting funding which a future Townsville City Council can access rather than just sit on our hands and wait for them to take action. There are funds available to address homelessness so Townsville City Council needs to be pro-active in these areas so that we might start creating programs and initiatives from our foreamentioned groups.

Issues:

• Public Drunkenness – Application of bylaw 51 on the homeless.
• Effects of Alcohol Bans in Remote Communities and the possible increase in migration of people moving to Townsville.
• Youth Crime & Prevention Programs (substance abuse/chroming)

Youth Crime and self abuse is definitely an area that needs addressing rather than turning a blind eye or placing in the too hard basket as previous Councils have done. Community Voices proposes that Townsville City Council will collaborate with people inside of and external to Council on a Youth Strategy, which can include Queensland Youth Services or Salvation Army which can identify a number of priority issues and needs affecting young people in Townsville. These could include:

• Participation in community life
• Consideration of young people and their needs in land use, strategic and recreational planning
• Services working in partnership with young people, and other agencies to address identified youth issues, and share resources
• Celebrating young people's achievements, and promoting the positive role that young people play in our community
• Recognizing young people as a diverse group requiring acceptance, understanding, and equitable treatment
• Providing accessible and appropriate services and information
• Providing adequate funding to meet local needs
• Assisting disadvantaged groups to achieve self-determined and sustainable outcomes

We see a Social Planning approach as being part of a total Sustainability Framework which we seek to implement in Council- a framework which includes:

• Economic factors (e.g. population growth)
• Social factors (e.g. Inequity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples health, Increase in people's sense of security (perception of/vulnerability to crime)
• Cultural factors (Equal opportunity for migrant and Indigenous communities to contribute to the overall identity of the city)
• Environmental factors (Ensure needs and aspirations of Traditional Owners are addressed in land use decision making)

Statistics have show that youth who are not involved with an active activity or sports, tend to involve themselves in area’s that could hurt them physically or could lead to incarceration. We believe that families of low income and families that struggle with the basic necessities in life such as fuel, groceries and rent are the families who have their children who have social issues due to stress and affordability. We at Community Voices seek to implement protective and preventative measures as a means to combat these social issues.

Community Voices will introduce a sports subsidy to help low income families and means tested single parents to have their children being able to join a club and to become an active member of this club. It doesn’t have to be a sporting club, it can be any club for example girl guides, scouts etc.

As mentioned previously, statistics have shown that children who are more active and participate in activities, tend to make life long friendships, develop communication and negotiation skills and gain the knowledge of responsibility, which are all significant employment qualities. The subsidy is a prevention measure to crime and is more relevant to low income families and single parents, which is unfortunately constituted by a high percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

We will continually have collaboration with Indigenous Organisations, Men’s Group; Police; Clubs and welfare centres to introduce programs that can be funded by local government and definitely negotiate funding from State and Federal Government. There is no one body or organisation that will solve these issues; it will take different groups offering different avenues that will work to a solution.

Increased Employment and Retention Strategies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the Townsville City Council.

Townsville has a huge tourism sector and Community Voices will be working vigilantly with Townsville Enterprise & Tourism Groups to increase the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee rate in this field.

Tourism statistics have shown that a high percentage of people that visit Australia from other countries, want to see and experience the cultural aspects of this country. So with the assistance of Townsville Enterprise we can work together to get more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees into the Townsville Tourism Industry. We recognise the Townsville Cultural Centre and the events they are doing, but there can be so much more and there needs to be so much more and with joint venture, there can be positive outcomes in tourism areas in Townsville.

This venture will not only employ Indigenous people and expose the culture, but it will also provide youths to learn and embrace their culture that has been lost and then introduce their cultural to other countries with pride.

Promotion of local businesses employing more Indigenous people – traineeships and apprenticeships etc.

Community Voices are also looking to establish in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce an “INDIGENOUS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE”.

The mission statement of the new Indigenous Chamber of Commerce would be,

“To connect Indigenous and Non-Indigenous businesses to promote, support, and guide Indigenous business success in the Townsville community”

This group will be together to have informed discussions on topics that can enhance business and enhance opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in employment. The group is made up of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous business people, who have experiences in developing long-term business avenues, as well as offer advice and opportunities in programs for employment ventures. Members from Employment Agency’s and Organisations that run Stepper’s Programs are also invited to participate.

The Indigenous Chamber of Commerce in Townsville will:

• Provide a focal voice for Indigenous-owned and/or operated businesses and Indigenous business people
• Provide an identity to approach other chambers to promote Indigenous training and employment
• Be a tool to promote Indigenous business in the Townsville region
• Provide the opportunities for business in general to do business with the Indigenous community
• Provide a forum for employers to consider/broaden Indigenous business, training and employment
• Allow members to discuss specific opportunities/challenges for Indigenous owned or operated businesses and give them a voice to bring such matters to the attention of relevant organizations/governments
• Be the means for Indigenous business people to network and access mentors and information programs

This means working with having constant talks with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and Non-Indigenous, successful business people.

• City Transport
• Innovative support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations who have an identified Community Social Service function .(ie For Housing Organisations who are significant rate payers, perhaps a rate subsidy, in recognition of their role in addressing social issues in the community.)