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Press Release 02/12
Auburn Police Local Area Command has partnered with a lead community organisation in Auburn working specifically with refugees and humanitarian visa entrants and the wider multicultural communities: Auburn Diversity Services Inc. (ADSi), to conduct a multicultural youth forum.
The partnership also includes a Job Futures Australia organisation: Inner West Skills Centre and TAFE South Western Sydney institute; to commence dialogue with young people from multicultural communities within the Auburn LGA, using strength based crime prevention and community safety approach.
The approach is built upon principles of crime prevention and community safety using participatory methods through meaningful and respectful conversations and more importantly identifying issues that matter to young people from multicultural backgrounds and from within their contexts.
Crime Manager Inspector Paul Arnold said 'that this Forum is about having our Crime Management Unit come to the young people and for conversations to be initiated about the work that we do and what the young people can offer in terms of solutions to improve our community engagement at all levels and explore positive pathways the police can continue to engage in, with the wider community in general'.
Furthermore, we have been working in partnership with ADSi for a number of years in delivering information sessions to new arrivals. New South Wales Police acknowledges that there are challenging settlement issues for refugees and those arriving on humanitarian visas to Australia and we see ourselves as important vehicles in assisting communities to understand what the law is all about and the processes that Police have to follow according to the legislation.’
Executive Officer of ADSi Tia Roko added that 'this forum is the beginning of a positive community engagement with the Police, which would assist the communities that access ADSi on a daily basis. Dialogue and meaningful conversations can only happen within community settings and this is a step in the right direction in terms of enhancing police and young people’s relationships within this Local Area Command. We see ourselves as perfect conduits between government organisations and the community in building capacity through greater levels of understanding on for young people and also the Police.'
CEO for Inner West Skills Centre Inc, Patricia Frost said that 'this forum needs to happen more regularly as quite often young people are lost when it comes to understanding police powers and the processes that happen to them once in custody. We are happy to be co-partners in this forum and hope that the outcomes will shape some of the activities IWSC would like to facilitate within the Auburn local area in particular with young people who come from diverse backgrounds.' |