31 October 2005 B

Responses to Redfern School Sale Announcement

There is considerable concern that there has been no consultation with the local agencies, especially with those that currently provide existing services from the old Redfern School, regarding the plans for the school announced yesterday. Agency discussions today have pointed to meetings held over the last week between the RWA and agencies which have failed to mention that ILC would be taking over the site or that they would be entering the area as another service provider or that services currently based at the school will be displaced. Yet again the way the RWA has handled this is alienating local services rather than drawing on their skills and knowledge to improve Redfern Waterloo.

There is a strong feeling that it is important that the RWA learn from the mistakes made by the RWPP in imposing solutions onto the community and services. The decision to establish the Street Team without initially engaging local services and the appropriation of Kid Speak are just two of the RWPP’s mistakes and the RWA is rapidly heading down the same path. The RWA has to find ways of meaningful dialogue with the community and service providers about the issues and the possible solutions rather than making decisions behind closed doors and them imposing them on everybody.

We have been requested to circulate the following statement from South Sydney Community Aid Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre who currently operates from the Redfern School regarding the announcement. This statement has also been added to the REDWatch Speak Out page on the RWA Draft Human Services plan at http://www.redwatch.org.au/redw/speakout/051023hsp  .

South Sydney Community Aid - Response to Redfern School Sale

The local Community Services currently operating and being delivered to the community from the Redfern Public School site have not been consulted or given any advice regarding the sale of the old Redfern Public School to the Federal Government's Indigenous Land Corporation. There is also no mention of the current Human Service Delivery being offered by South Sydney Community Aid Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre, The Aboriginal Resource Centre, the Benevolent Society (SCARBA), the Montessori Play Group, the Redfern Computer Centre and South Sydney Youth Services 'Street Beat' and the Factory's bus.

The only organisation mentioned in Minister Sartor's Press Release was that Murawina Long Day Care Centre will stay and the introduction of the Exodus Foundation into the Old Redfern School site in six months time.

South Sydney Community Aid Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre currently offers Human Service delivery to over 200 people per week. We have not been consulted and we have not been able to get any feedback about our current tenancy at the site from the Redfern Waterloo Authority and we're also unable to get any information from the Indigenous Land Council about whether we're staying on the site.

While we believe that the introduction of an Aboriginal School of Excellence onto the Old Redfern Public School site is wonderful for Aboriginal Youth in our community. We'd like to know what's happening to our Tenancy.

Relocating a Neighbourhood Centre such as ours would take a lot longer than six months to find suitable affordable premises. We have been located with the Aboriginal Resource Centre for more than 30 years. South Sydney Community Aid Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre is 38 years old and originally sponsored the Aboriginal Resource Centre. We continue to provide a high level of support to the ATSI community who think of South Sydney Community Aid Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre as their local Neighbourhood Centre with individuals and families coming into the Centre on a daily basis for information, group work, referral and support.

Why have we not been consulted and embraced in the current plans for the School along with our partner agencies offering Human Service delivery at the Old Redfern School site? If we are included in the current plans for the site why haven't we been consulted about this?

Is the Federal Governments Indigenous Land Council aware that we're here?

As anyone who could give me this information today is either not at work, un-contactable or in a meeting, I'd really like the Hon Minister Sartor, Robert Domm, Aldo Pennini from the RWA or someone from the Indigenous Land Council to respond and come and meet with us urgently to let us know what's going on with our current tenancy at the Old Redfern Public School site.

Jan Leach
Coordinator
South Sydney community Aid Coop Ltd
Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre
Ph: 9319 4073