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3 September 2007

In this Update: Ministerial Changes to Community Representation on RWA BEMAC / RWA talk to Public Housing Tenants & Workers / Helen Campbell Reports Back on RWA HSMAC / RWA Updates Information on Employment and Enterprise / CoS Redfern Waterloo Community Forum Report / Redfern Neighbourhood Centre Interim and Long Term Changes / CoS - Local Community Grants Program – Close 2 October 2007 / Darlington, West Redfern Chippendale Urban Design Study – Workshop 2 - 6.00pm to 8.00pm on Wednesday 19 September 2007 / CUB Site Redevelopment Update & Coming Open Day of Site / RailCorp CEO Vince Graham Reveals Plans for Mortuary Station / Friends of Eveleigh (FOE) widely circulates Concept Plan for Large Erecting Shop / Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce goes local / Redfern Oral History, Photos and Videos / “Liyarn Ngarn” Film Launch / In the Media / South Sydney Herald – September 2007 / South Sydney Herald – August 2007 / Yaama Dhiyaan Hospitality Training – Next Course 22 October 2007 / Have your say – Summary of Current Consultations

[Please use the list of articles at the top of the email to find what is of interest to you. We do not expect you to be interested in everything. Depending on your email programme and computer settings these headings may also give you a link to jump directly to the story of interest.]

In this Update:

Ministerial Changes to Community Representation on RWA BEMAC

RWA talk to Public Housing Tenants & Workers

Helen Campbell Reports Back on RWA HSMAC

RWA Updates Information on Employment and Enterprise

CoS Redfern Waterloo Community Forum Report

Redfern Neighbourhood Centre Interim and Long Term Changes

CoS - Local Community Grants Program – Close 2 October 2007

Darlington, West Redfern Chippendale Urban Design Study – Workshop 2 - 6.00pm to 8.00pm on Wednesday 19 September 2007

CUB Site Redevelopment Update & Coming Open Day of Site

RailCorp CEO Vince Graham Reveals Plans for Mortuary Station

Friends of Eveleigh (FOE) widely circulates Concept Plan for Large Erecting Shop

Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce goes local

Redfern Oral History, Photos and Videos

“Liyarn Ngarn” Film Launch

In the Media

South Sydney Herald – September 2007

South Sydney Herald – August 2007

Yaama Dhiyaan Hospitality Training – Next Course 22 October 2007

Have your say – Summary of Current Consultations

Coming Events (look at the new local events entered on the REDWatch website that are not covered here)

Ministerial Changes to Community Representation on RWA BEMAC

The RWA website’s Community Consultation page has been updated with the details of the new Community representatives on the RWA Built Environment Ministerial Advisory Committee (BEMAC). This is the final MAC to be changed following the expiry of the initial two year terms for community representatives in June 2007. Mr Sol Bellear, Mr Michael Cummins, Ms Denny Powell and Ms Norah McGuire replace Ms Ann Weldon, Ms Jocelyn Jackson, Mr Shane Phillips and Mr Jonathan Rez on the BEMAC. Mr Alex Kibble, Mr Richard Pembroke, Mr Steve Tamas, and Mr Geoffrey Turnbull continue on the BEMAC for a second term. The full details of the BEMAC membership with the current non-community members can be found on the REDWatch site at www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/structure/built/membership/ . The inclusion of two people (Ms Denny Powell and Ms Norah McGuire) with DoH Neighbourhood Advisory Board experience is welcomed in the lead up to Phase 2 of the RWA’s Built Environment Plan involving the redevelopment of public housing.

RWA talk to Public Housing Tenants & Workers

We have been contacted by a number of people who have either had discussions with RWA people or heard about the RWA meetings with public housing tenants and workers. We have asked the RWA for details about these meetings and have received the following from Angela Koutoulas the RWA’s Community Relations Manager:

“Lynda Stephens and I having been meeting with key members of the community, as part of the RWA building its Community Relations with people in public housing estates. This is prior to any development or work being done on the Built Environment Plan (Stage 2) - which will look at the revitalisation of existing public housing stock. As stated in the Built Environment Plan (Stage One): "Any proposals to revitalise public housing will be the subject of extensive community consultation, including during the concept formulation phase." The RWA is currently in the concept formulation phase.”

Helen Campbell Reports Back on RWA HSMAC

As we have earlier advised Helen Campbell from Redfern Legal Centre was not reappointed to the Human Services Ministerial Advisory Committee (HSMAC). Her position as a representative of local service providers has been dropped in the rework of the HSMAC. While there are new members who work at human services agencies the appointments are as community representatives not as a representative of local agencies in the way Helen’s position was. NCOSS retains a representative on the HSMAC.

Helen reported back to Redfern Waterloo agencies on 16th August 2007. We have placed Helen’s reports on the REDWatch website at HSMAC NGO Report Back - 16th August 2007 for those who were unable to attend but would like to read her reflections. The documents available include a written report back, an assessment of the Human Services Plan implementation for the Community Sector (MSWord 58Kb) and an Index of the Redfern Waterloo Services (MSWord 106 Kb) which lists far fewer services than the large number used by the RWA and contained in the Morgan Disney report. Helen also made available a copy of Minister's Letter advising her non reappointment (PDF 129 Kb), a Redfern Legal Centre Memorandum on Ministerial powers on MAC appointments and the RWIU Details of Changes to HSMAC Membership - July 2007. In her report Helen makes reference to a number of RWA reports including the RWA Evaluation Framework and the RWA Human Services Plan Performance Indicators which have been available on the REDWatch website since November 2006.

One of the items in Helen’s report back which agencies found most startling was that, 18 months after the RWA’s Human Services Plan was put in place, the various Government Departments have been unable to establish any baseline data against which the implementation of the Human Services Plan can be assessed. In the timetable for its implementation the Plan was supposed to be reviewed within 18 months!

The meeting of agencies also decided to re-establish an Interagency for Redfern Waterloo to provide a clearing house for information and a forum to explore areas of greater co-operation between agencies. There was also concern about the level of reported DoH vacancies in the area and it was decided to share information about such vacancies and to monitor what was happening with residents being moved from the Elizabeth Street DoH redevelopment and other DoH properties.

RWA Updates Information on Employment and Enterprise

The RWA has updated the Implementation section of their Employment and Enterprise webpage. The major problem with this aspect of the RWA information strategy is that apart from the occasional newsletters, the website is the only way that the RWA keeps the community informed about its activities and its progress in implementing its plans. Most people will not know that the RWA website site has changed as there is no ‘recent changes’ section on the website or RSS feeds like on the REDWatch website. As the RWA do not date pages when they edit them people visiting a page can not even tell whether it has recently changed. Further, unless you have a copy of the site prior to the change, it is almost impossible to work out what has changed let alone “read the tea leaves” to see what the changes might mean. Ideally the RWA should issue implementation reports which report on what has happened over the last 3 or 6 months which advise the community about how implementation is going against their plans. While Ministerial Advisory Committees may get some of this information it should also be made available to the community so they can see if the plans are being implemented and how. Ideally the RWA should report back to the community and answer questions about what it is doing, like the CoS, but since the Minister’s rash promise about four community meetings a year in 2005, Community Meetings have not been in the RWA community engagement strategy even though they are still mentioned on their website.

As it is so difficult to identify changes, we have provided, on the REDWatch website at RWA Employment and Enterprise Web Changes - 24th August 2007 a comparison of the sections that have changed. Those with greater familiarity with the Employment and Enterprise strategy can do their own analysis. This is what we learnt:

The RWA Business Needs Survey of local businesses is now referred to as an Employment Opportunities Survey. The major findings of the survey were:

·         There is a decline in industrial land in the Redfern-Waterloo area, as the land is converted to residential.

·         A majority of the businesses on Regent and Redfern Streets are small, family-owned businesses and therefore have limited employment opportunities.

·         The southern part of the operational area has the majority of the employment opportunities. The major employment opportunities are in transport, logistics and warehousing.

What is not mentioned of course is that the BEP made no provision for retaining any industrial land in its re-zoning of the Eveleigh rail yards. REDWatch proposed such a zone. The Friends of Eveleigh proposal for the LES could provide some continued heritage industry in the area if RailCorp and the RWA were of the mind to support it.

According to the website changes The RWA is also developing a strategy for transport and logistics, due to the outcomes of the business needs survey. The RWA has however dropped retail employment off the list of business opportunities to be considered in the future. We are not sure if this has been dropped because of point 2 above but we would have thought Redfern’s proximity to transport and the City should have kept retail employment high on the RWA agenda.

It is also disappointing that the RWA did not provide a report about what has happened following on from their Culture of Work Project. Many people thought this RWA project may have come to grips with the underlying issues facing many looking for jobs in Redfern Waterloo and started to tackle the issues of getting these local people ready to enter the workforce. In order to fill positions in its successful employment creation projects the RWA has had to also include people from outside Redfern Waterloo - see for example Students build for the future. While one can only applaud Aboriginal employment projects catering for people inside and outside the area, the RWA has to also tackle the issues facing local unemployed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people who may not be in a position to join one of the RWA’s existing employment projects. With the demise of the CDEP and the introduction of the Federal Government requirements for people on certain benefits to find part time work, there is a real need for the RWA to come to grips with this part of the Employment and Enterprise challenge. The RWA implementation update remains silent however on this whole issue.

The RWA site does contain news that the RWA Business Advice Services have now been extended to the non-Aboriginal community. The site contains news that the “Redfern-Waterloo Enterprise Service has been set up to assist any resident of Redfern, Waterloo, Eveleigh or Darlington who is interested in setting up a business.” To see all the changes visit the REDWatch website at RWA Employment and Enterprise Web Changes - 24th August 2007.

CoS Redfern Waterloo Community Forum Report

In contrast to the RWA web page implementation report, the City of Sydney has posted its Local Action Plan report to the last Redfern Waterloo Eveleigh Community Forum. The report is a huge 18MB PDF so only download this if you have broadband Inner South Forum, Round 1 2007 (18MB PDF). The report contains a wide range of information about what Council has been doing in the area, including the park and street upgrades, traffic changes, signage rationalisation, the Neighbourhood Service Centre move, street plantings, Danks Street Festival and much more. The file includes materials that have been developed as part of community arts projects such as the banners for Redfern Street, the Cope Street artwork, the Hugo Street artwork and the “biami” play equipment for the children’s playground in the redesigned Redfern Park. Now if only the RWA held Community Forums and could report back on implementing so much of what had been discussed earlier with the community - real progress would have been made!

Redfern Neighbourhood Centre Interim and Long Term Changes

The Redfern Neighbourhood Service Centre will soon move to a shopfront at 158 Redfern Street, Redfern (in the block between Renwick and Regent Streets). The new Centre will open in late October, following final completion of the Redfern and Regent Streets upgrade. While major work is finished and construction fencing has been removed, minor work such as pavement sealing and the installation of street furniture, tree grates, final traffic and parking signage will continue for several weeks.

As Council's lease in the TNT tower is ending, the current Neighbourhood Service Centre will close at Lawson Square on Friday 14 September. During the time before the new Centre opens, residents can use the Erskineville Centre, at 104 Erskineville Road — which will be temporarily open 9am to 12 noon Saturdays from 15 September.

CoS - Local Community Grants Program – Close 2 October 2007

The Local Community Grants Programme provides funding up to $5000 per project to support work done by local community organisations based in, or providing events or services for, the City of Sydney Local Government Area. The whole City of Sydney benefits greatly from work done by community organisations as their services, resources, events, projects, cultural experiences and community based activities enrich the life of the City. The Local Community Grants Program is available twice a year, Round 2 Funding for projects occurring between 1 February 2008 - 30 September 2008 is now open and closes 2 October 2007.

Darlington, West Redfern Chippendale Urban Design Study – Workshop 2 - 6.00pm to 8.00pm on Wednesday 19 September 2007

At an earlier community workshop in July 2007, Council presented information about the Chippendale, Camperdown, Darlington, West Redfern and North Newtown Urban Design Study area. The residents and property owners provided concils consultants with input about the current character and built form in the area and outlined features that should be retained and desired changes that would enhance the area. The purpose of the 19 September 2007 meeting is to present the preliminary recommendations of the Study. Some of the recommendations include proposals for strategies for urban character and built form of neighbourhoods and proposed building heights and floor space ratios.

It is essential to RSVP for this meeting before 12 September 2007 to Chris David, Administration Officer on 9265 9680 or cdavid@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au . The Meeting will be held on Wednesday 19 September 2007, 6.00pm to 8.00pm Notre Dame University, St Benedict's Hall, Ground-Floor 104 Broadway, Chippendale. More information on the Design Study can be found at http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Development/CityPlan/SiteSpecificPlanning/WestRedfern.asp or by ringing the Project Manager, Karen Wang on 9265 9774.

CUB Site Redevelopment Update & Coming Open Day of Site

The court case against Minister Sartor and Fosters was not successful. In the words of the Friends of the CUB site FoCUS “While we understand the decision reinforced the need to encourage sustainable development, under the law, the Minister for Planning Frank Sartor, was not compelled to, nor was it in the Court’s jurisdiction to force the Minister to do so.” You can read more of FoCUS’s comments in CUB Site Decision handed down on the REDWatch website and in Elizabeth Farrelly’s Fooled again by a system that stinks [Note Frasers purchased the site middle of 2007 not in 2006 as in Farrelly’s article]. Following the Court decision there have been some meetings between councillors and residents with the new owners, Frasers Greencliff Developments Pty Ltd (Frasers), about their plans for the site. At a meeting on 29th August 2007 with representatives from local residents groups, Frasers’ Chief Operating Officer and Elton Consulting assured residents that Frasers were keen to engage with the community and had employed Elton Consulting to facilitate the process. There was some suspicion about the process based on resident’s experience of the consultation with Fosters which was also handled by Elton Consulting. The view was that Elton and Frasers should spell out what areas / issues will be on covered by the consultation and commit up front to the consultation process they will follow.

During the discussions it was made plain that the price Frasers had paid for the site was based on being able to develop the quantity of floor space allowed in the concept plan. The commercial parameters that Frasers is working within will only allow a decrease in floor space if there is an increase in the income from the developed floor space to cover the premium paid. At the moment Frasers are looking at what they can do within the existing concept plan rather than looking to change it. Frasers believe that the market will require the development to respond to green issues and they are looking at a range of suggestions as to how they can be incorporated in the concept. Residents at the meeting were surprised to discover that Frasers had been advised that a number of areas in the concept plan which were opposed by residents, such as “Little Broadway”, had been included because residents wanted them!

Residents raised their concerns about the deterioration of the Kensington Terraces. Frasers said that they had stabilised the buildings and it was their intention to renovate the buildings rather than let them be destroyed by neglect. Residents groups encouraged Frasers to commence work on this area of the site ASAP to preserve the site from further deterioration. Frasers said they were already looking at this problem. Frasers advised that they were applying to the Department of Planning for approval to start demolition of some of the buildings to be removed under the concept plan. This has also been posted on the CUB website www.cubproject.com.au/Updates.html. The website will be retained to keep the community advised of news relating to the site.

Frasers are planning an open day at the site in late September where people will be able to visit the CUB site and see what is proposed. Frasers with Elton Consulting will then embark on a broad consultation with the community about the redevelopment of the site. Details of the Open day will be posted on the www.cubproject.com.au

RailCorp CEO Vince Graham Reveals Plans for Mortuary Station

We were recently shown a letter from RailCorp CEO Vince Graham in reply to someone concerned about the use of Mortuary station to overnight steam trains. The letter confirms that RailCorp proposes to develop the Mortuary Station area as a permanent stabling area for heritage rail, with work to be completed before the 2008 Steam Season. RailCorp says they will put in place an operational plan to “mitigate the adverse impacts”, a “cleaning regime for the sandstone” at Mortuary station and they will ensure RailCorp covers security costs for rollingstock in the core heritage fleet at the location. This letter begs the question as to why RailCorp would go to all this trouble to avoid using Eveleigh. We have received some comments from a person with a long involvement in Rail Heritage who, when they saw the letter, felt the RailCorp CEO’s comments should not go unchallenged. You can see the text of Vince Graham’s letter about the future of Mortuary and the comments on the REDWatch website at RailCorp Reveals Plans for Mortuary Station.

Friends of Eveleigh (FOE) widely circulates Concept Plan for Large Erecting Shop

The Friends of Eveleigh - Concept Plan for the Large Erecting Shed (974 Kb PDF) has been circulating widely. The proposal has formally been sent to RailCorp’s Office of Rail Heritage and the RWA as well as distributed to networks including users of the LES, rail heritage groups and those with an interest in rail tourism. FOE reports in their media release The Museum Site that RailCorp Refused to tell the Minister about - 24th August 2007 that the early feedback to their proposal is positive. They have not yet heard back from RailCorp or the RWA, which determine what actually happens on the site.

The National Trust e-news of 23 August 2007 reports that “The National Trust welcomes and strongly supports a proposal by the Friends of Eveleigh for a Heritage Railway Workshop and Museum in the Large Erecting Shop at Eveleigh. As a prime tourism destination Sydney needs an accessible rail heritage museum as has been already successfully established in Queensland at Ipswich and at Midlands in Western Australia.”

From Redfern’s railway heritage to its railway future; we noticed in the SMH’s NSW fast-tracks plan for rail links that The State Government has flagged that it wants to tap private investors to finance the new suburban links in the city's north-west and south-west, which will also include a new tunnel linking Chatswood and Redfern, via North Sydney”.

Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce goes local

The Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce had its AGM in August 2007. The AGM decided to establish local Chapters to bring businesses in the  various urban villages together and called for nominations for Vice-Presidents for each of the new divisions. Divisions have been set up for Redfern (Vice President, Chris Curtis – Mr Mary’s), Waterloo (Vice President, Matt Lee – Lee Photography), Darlington (Vice President, Geoff Turnbull – Stassen Australasia) and ATP (no Vice President nominated). The President (Tony Larkins - Innovative Solutions), Secretary (Richard Pembroke - Redfern Development Group) and Treasurer (Betty Colquohon - Retro on Regent) were re-elected.

A meeting for Darlington businesses has been called for 12.30pm on Saturday the 15th September at Tripod. Jan Campbell the City of Sydney’s Economic Development Officer will address the meeting. More information about the Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce can be found at http://www.rwchamber.com.au/index.htm . A map of the Redfern Street businesses can be downloaded from the CoS website at Redfern Locality Map Flyer (PDF 687Kb).

Redfern Oral History, Photos and Videos

We mentioned the launch of www.redfernoralhistory.org by Redfern Residents for Reconciliation earlier this year. The site is continuing to grow with new stories and photos from around the area and is worth a visit. The Settlement videos, including the award winning “Another Day”, have also been put up at www.youtube.com/user/redfernoralhistory .

“Liyarn Ngarn” Film Launch

We normally try limiting ourselves to stories directly linked to Redfern, but we think this film is worth a special plug because it deals with the Aboriginal experience of Australia and we think everyone should see it. We were present at the ANTaR hosted World Premiere of the Patrick Dodson, Pete Postlethwaite and Archie Roach documentary “Liyarn Ngarn”. The DVD cover explains the movie in the following way:

Liyarn Ngarn, in the Yawuru language of the West Kimberly region around Broome in Australia's far north-west, means "Coming Together of the Spirit". It epitomizes a thirty year long mission of Indigenous leader and Yawura man, Patrick Dodson, to bring about a lasting and true reconciliation between the original owners and the immigrants.

This compelling documentary tells of the devastation and inhumanity bought upon Indigenous people in every aspect of their daily lives. Personal stories of injustice are recounted by renowned English actor Pete Postlethwaite, as told to him by Patrick Dodson and Bill Johnson, an old English school friend, whose Indigenous son Louis died tragically. Respected songman, Archie Roach, adds his powerful lyrics and voice to this often painful, yet inspiring, journey of strength.

Liyarn Ngarn aims to change peoples' perception and attitude to Indigenous people and to assist with the process of true and lasting reconciliation. It is also offers some kind of meaningful epitaph to the Indigenous lives lost through sheer inhumanity.

"Liyarn Ngarn had me riveted and moved me to tears, anger and shame. It's the most culturally significant film I've seen in years ... Pete Postlethwaite, Archie Roach and Patrick Dodson are superb ... it's an absolute 'must see' for ALL Australians." - David Lightfoot, Film Producer, "Wolf Creek", "Rogue"

For more information on the DVD, the launch and future screenings visit http://www.antar.org.au/liyarn_ngarn .

In the Media

An article on the recent debate about a gun shop in Ku-ring-gai produced a more than unusually frank comment from Minister Sartor on community consultation in the SMH Councils in their sights: angry ratepayers demand more say. This brought to mind that the Department of Planning has a section on its website on Community Engagement in the NSW Planning System at www.nswplanning.org.au/pia/engagement/index.htm . This part of the DoP website has not been updated since February 2004 with the promised case studies. The email address on the “Talk to us” page bounces and while the content of the site may have won awards from the Planning Institute of Australia, it is clear it is currently being neglected by the Department of Planning. In the light of this we thought it worthwhile sharing this extract from the SMH article:

Tony Reisce, the president of Save Our Suburbs, insists the community is losing its voice. "There had been a general move away from community having a say in favour of centralised authorities. The Roseville gun shop issue shows that the community is being left out of the equation … How can a mayor say their opinions are irrelevant?"

The Minister for Planning and former lord mayor of the City of Sydney, Frank Sartor, insists that communities are being misled by local politicians who are inflating expectations. "The degree of public consultation has grown to a point where it is almost dishonest," he said. "The expectations have been built up to a point where they [residents] think they make the decisions. They don't. Public consultation is vital, but you can't pretend."

In the lead up to APEC you may have picked up that locals were warned of Mock gunfire likely during APEC training and that Eveleigh plays an important role in controlling the APEC traffic The limo Olympics get the green light. The ATP had a major fire Fire threatens heritage-listed building over the immediate past weekend.

South Sydney Herald – September 2007

So we don’t miss this month’s SSH we are giving you an early rundown on the September issue before the printed version hits the streets. Redfern Waterloo stories include Pemulwuy to test Government reporting on the AHC presentation of their project, Building industry mentor proud of Indigenous achievements on Les Tobler’s work on Aboriginal employment and Telling tales of South Sydney a statistical look at South Sydney. Marketing the Rabbitohs reports on the Rabbitohs Business Conference while Promises! Promises! We’ve heard it all before reflects on Police Aboriginal relations following an Aboriginal Souths player’s run in with local police (see also SMH Aboriginal Souths players targeted: club). Other articles include Babana hosts World Indigenous Peoples Day, The Brewery on Broadway coming down and Keeping alive the Keating legacy. Whose lane is it anyway? - looks at the problems of old inner city dunny lanes, while Football (aka soccer) in South Sydney looks covers PCYC FC South Sydney. On the arts in Redfern Waterloo are “Something deep within my spirit” and Bystander @ Performance Space. Covering other broader City issues are the articles Police trained to handle mental health crises, Plumbers help tell the green story, Vision for Sydney 2030 must go beyond platitudes and Scams! Let the buyer beware.  The pending Federal election is reflected in articles such as Sydney “prospective Green,” says Brown, ICE: euphoria, depression, psychosis and Plibersek backs affordable housing project. These and many more articles can be seen in the large 5.4 MB PDF version of SSH September 2007.

South Sydney Herald – August 2007

The August SSH came out after our last RWIU so we did not get to provide a rundown of the main stories that might be of interest to those in Redfern Waterloo. The August SSH ran a story about a plan involving the people behind the Paddington markets coming to Cope Street in Redfern Markets? Watch this space!. Union and RWA build community look at the CFMEU’s involvement with the RWA in Aboriginal employment, The battle for Pemulwuy flagged the AHC’s presentation on the Pemulwuy project to the community,View from the Block: looking forward, looking blak covered at NAIDOC Week activities, while Two weeks to change your life looked at the challenges facing someone recently released from prison. The SSH also reported on the Waterloo Lois Barker Childcare Centre’s concerns in Parents argue for improved road safety and on Skills and fun after school - Sports Commission initiative at Alexandria Park. On the CUB site the SSH ran Victory for sustainable development? and Movement at Drake-Brockman vs Planning Minister court case. On a slightly broader city canvas the SSH looked at the two perspectives on wards for the City of Sydney in Referendum – the way for wards?, also at Qs & As on Council DAs, Inner-city clergy unite in concern over APEC and The media and the formation of community. While in response to the Northern Territory Federal Government intervention the SSH carried Nation at the crossroads, a guest editorial by Dr Naomi Mayers OAM, the Chief Executive Officer of the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service. Other national stories in the lead up to the election included Serious about climate change: Garrett on song in Darlington and Sydney, Wentworth warm up for election. These and many more articles can be seen in the full 2.6 MB PDF version of SSH August 2007.

Yaama Dhiyaan Hospitality Training – Next Course 22 October 2007

The following is taken from an advertisement appearing in the September 2007 Issue of the South Sydney Herald:

Looking to work in hospitality? Love working with food and want to make a career of it?

Yaama Dhiyaan is Australia’s first and only hospitality college specialising in Indigenous culture and cuisine. It offers accredited Certificate II training in Hospitality (Operations) with a focus on gaining employment in the hospitality industry.         

Four courses will be run in 2008 Yaama Dhiyaan offers a unique training experience. It is an initiative of the Redfern-Waterloo Authority in partnership with Aboriginal elder Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo, and Aboriginal chef, Mathew Cribb. The course is open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous unemployed people.

This 8 week full-time course features:

         Food and beverage service.

         Customer service and teamwork.

         Hands-on tutorial sessions.

         Practical work experience with Yaama Dhiyaan Functions and Catering.

         Cooking classes with an Indigenous twist.

         Accreditation in Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA); Responsible Conduct of Gaming (RCG) and Barista Training.

The Yaama Dhiyaan Hospitality Training and Function Centre is close to Redfern Railway Station, at Darlington. The Centre is an initiative managed by the Redfern-Waterloo Authority and assisted by nationally accredited training organisation MG* My Gateway. Training support is provided by the Department of Education and Training. For enquiries about the course or to register your interest for future courses, contact Louise Wagner, at the Redfern-Waterloo Authority by phone 02 9202 9100 or email louise.wagner@rwa.nsw.gov.au.

Have your say – Summary of Current Consultations

Below we have listed consultations currently open for community input and provided a link for further information: