State terrorism and organised violence target the very essence of a community: relationships between individuals, families and other social groups. When relationships are affected, communities are likely to fragment and severe lack of trust pervades social interactions. The situation is exacerbated in communities that are already fraught with political, ethnic and religious complexities and divisions as many refugee communities in Australia are.

Since it is impossible to "leave behind" the impact of trauma on individuals and families, it is equally impossible to discard the effects on communities. In Australia, refugee communities may be fragmented, suspicious of government-related services and contain a significant amount of internal conflict and little formal structure. However, it is important to note that these are effects of trauma and state-induced violence rather than naturally occurring cultural and religious characteristics of these communities. At times is can be challenging for a service like STARTTS that deals with questions of torture and refugee related trauma to engage, consult and work with refugee communities. Overall STARTTS’ work consists of a balance between community development activities and clinical approaches. These two facets of our work are seen as points on the continuum rather than opposing philosophical positions. Most of the community development work is done by STARTTS bi-cultural counsellors who are from the same cultural backgrounds as the refugee communities they work with. They have an in-depth, personal as well as professional experience of these communities. Generalist counsellors, who are not from refugee backgrounds, endeavor to learn about and work with other communities. All STARTTS counsellors are required to use 30 % of their time for community development activities.

In the course of their daily duties, STARTTS counsellors are constantly exposed to the community’s views about STARTTS’ services and the communities’ needs. Counsellors participate in community networks, events and functions, organise groups and other projects, and assist the communities to develop structures. All these contacts contribute to communities’ input in STARTTS’ services, and the service’s awareness of the community’s needs. We view community participation as a principle value of our service as well as a tool for building and strengthening communities. A significant aspect of our community participation model are regular formal community consultations.

As practiced at STARTTS, community consultations are an ongoing process rather than series of isolated events. STARTTS utilises a number of formal and informal community consultation and participation strategies. One of these strategies are formal community consultations. In 2001, STARTTS consulted with Assyrian/Chaldean, Khmer, Illawarra, Bosnian and Afghan communities and in 2000 we have consulted with Lao, Arabic-speaking, Spanish-speaking, Tamil, Afghan and Serbian communities. The consultations reports can be accessed at this site.

Community development work at STARTTS takes place at three levels:

1. Social network – the projects on this level include social support and other types of groups, youth camps and Families in Cultural Transition (FICT) Program.
2. Refugee community – assistance with structure establishment, community education, community liaison and consultations and numerous other projects as identified by a particular community.
3. Mainstream society and institutions – including advocacy, training, consultancy, and awareness raising.

In addition to counsellors, the STARTTS Community Services Team consisting of two Youth Workers, a Community Development Worker, a Specialist Migrant Placement Officer, a Families in Cultural Transition (FICT) Coordinator and the Community Services Coordinator, fully focuses on Community Development aspects of our work.

CURRENT PROJECTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

Temporary Protection Visa Holders

• Social support groups with educational components
• Participation in relevant networks
• Information sessions

Afghan Community

• Community education
• Community liaison
• Assistance with forming Afghan Interagency
• Middle-Eastern Women’s Group
• Middle-Eastern Men’s Group
• Planning FICT groups

Afghan Consultation Report click here

Arabic-speaking communities

• Planning a training for Arabic speaking welfare and health workers
• Planning social support groups

Arabic Consultation Report

Assyrian/Chaldean Communities

• Community liaison and consultations
• Planning information sessions
• Planning further FICT groups

Assyrian Consultation Report

Baha’i Community

• Community liaison
• Planning FICT groups

Burmese Community

• Community liaison and consultations
• Community education
• Social support gatherings

Bosnian Community

• Support for Bosnian Interagency
• Zena 21 – Magazine for women and families
• Supporting Bosnian community’s work with young people – recently a Bosnian Youth Camp
• Support and consultancy for Bosnian workers
• FICT groups

Bosnian Consultation Report

Hunter region

• Health education and social support groups for clients from the countries of former Yugoslavia
• Youth projects
• Training

Illawarra region

• Community liaison
• Consultancy and training
• Planning a variety for projects for 2002

Illawarra Consultation Report

Iranian Community

• Middle-Eastern Women’s Group
• Community liaison and education

Khmer Community

• Community liaison and participation in relevant networks
• Planning a social support group and FICT groups

Kurdish Community

• Community liaison
• Planning a women’s support group

Mandean Community

• Community liaison and education
• Planning information sessions
• Planning FICT groups

Spanish-speaking communities

• Community liaison and education
• Spanish speaking women’s group – GRUMAS
• Spanish speaking men’s group

Serbian Community

• Support for Serbian Interagency
• Information sessions
• Community liaison and consultations
• In the past involvement in health and other projects initiated by the community
• Women’s Social Support group
• Youth Web-site project

Somali Community

• Support for the Somali Women’s Group
• Community liaison and education

Sudanese Community

• Sudanese Homework Help group – Blacktown and Ashfield
• Community liaison and education

Tamil Community

• Support for Tamil Interagency
• English classes
• Social support group for ex-detainees
• Community liaison and education

Tibetan Community

• Community liaison and education – enabling community access to STARTTS
• Information sessions
• Support for the Tibetan Museum Project

Vietnamese Community

• Community liaison
• Psychoeducational booklet
• Planning FICT groups

Additionally, STARTTS staff actively participate in approximately 62 different interagencies and forums including ethno-specific, issue-specific and regional forums. Furthermore, the Youth Program and Families in Cultural Transitions (FICT) Program are based on community development principles and a number of projects are conducted at any time.