Fostering Community and Community Involvement

We believe that all Australians should be actively involved in their communities. Adequate funding should be available to develop effective and sustainable services for the community.

Recommendation 1
Community Involvement Campaign

We recommend the implementation of a multi-faceted campaign to encourage, support and promote community involvement. The campaign should be individually targeted at all local communities. It should include:

• Community meetings
• Use of publicity to promote the benefits of community
• Use of technology to assist community interaction
• Engaging the community to use media to express their needs.

Recommendation 2
Sustainable Community Services

We recommend the support of existing, and the development of new, sustainable community services in order to alleviate the social issues of each community.

Recommendation 3
Access to Funding

We recommend the development of government-sponsored services to provide community organisations advice on meeting funding requirements and guidelines. This is essential to facilitate access to government and private sector funds. Volunteers involved in these services should be acknowledged for their efforts.

Recommendation 4
Safe and Secure Communities

We recommend the government take initiatives to make communities safe and secure for families by:

• creating direct interaction between government, education and local community groups
• providing a well coordinated police presence
• further educating the police to improve their relationship with the community (especially with minority groups)
• educating the community about their rights and obligations with regard to the law
• encouraging families to make use of public facilities and to support community celebrations and events.

Recommendation 5
Youth Representation

We recommend increasing youth representation in the community by:

• introducing optional voting for 16-18-year-olds in government elections
• supporting state and local youth advisory councils
• using the media to highlight the commonality between generations
• developing a central database to facilitate government and non-government organisations to involve interested young people in planning and strategic committees.

Recommendation 6
Community Involvement

We recommend encouraging community involvement and participation by:

• providing incentives and funding for government and non-government community groups to deliver programs that teach life skills
• recognising volunteer work as a valid activity that partially contributes to meeting the requirements for welfare benefits
• promoting an understanding of the diverse Australian demography and encouraging participation in multi-cultural activities.