Sydney Community Forum in Sydney, Australia | Community organisation

Sydney Community Forum

Locality: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 2 9599 2522

Address: 1/11-13, Hartill Law Avenue, Bardwell Park 2207 Sydney, NSW, Australia

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25.01.2022 International students in this crisis are not charity subjects. They deserve dignity and access to decent welfare support. Some of them like Andres, the co-chair of the international student subgroup that we support have gone ahead and created jobs. Here is the story of Andres Puerto for you.

25.01.2022 Oz International Students Chapter leadership team met today and endorsed some key decisions. It's amazing to see the student leadership grow. For SCF, it's a privilege to work with these wonderful young people. If you are interested to join this organising space, be with us next Tuesday, 6:30 pm for the next meeting of the Oz International Students Chapter. We will be having a workshop on anti-discrimination by the NSW at the meeting by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice. (Leave a message, if you would like to join) Onwards!

24.01.2022 We are attempting to create safe, trustworthy spaces for our international students to share their problems and narratives. We are creating a podcast, and are building the capacity of international students to share their stories and speak up about the challenges and unfairness they face. The podcast is designed as an audio meeting between few students and a mediator, who will be discussing essential topics for students, such as the impact of the COVID-19 or any other releva...nt matter related to students living in Australia. We will use the stories to inspire and find students who are willing to participate in these conversations; it is essential to have a nationality mix with different backgrounds, so it is more interactive and attractive for the audience. We are looking for 3 international students to participate in this podcast. Please contact us, if you would like to be one. Our student co-chairs Renata Aldana & Andres Puerto are leading this amazing work. Once again, thank you the most creative Renata Aldana for the flyer.

24.01.2022 Oz International Students Chapter Listening Cycle 3 Time: Sep 10, 2020 06:00 PM

23.01.2022 The Sydney Alliance is opening an internship program to work on a project for international students. This internship is unpaid and it requires a commitment of at least 8 hours per week from August till December. International students are welcome to apply. This can be a great opportunity for professional networking in the Social Sector and to make a significant difference in the future of international education. Please help us to share this opportunity to anyone to know that may be interested in Social Justice and Advocacy work (regardless of their Study field). For more information please visit https://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/internship_program

22.01.2022 In weeks and months to come, both NSW and Federal Governments are likely to implement major spending programs as a Covid-19 economic stimulus. We want to know what you think should be the priorities for government spending. Budgets are about choices based on values and priorities - we want to know yours! This survey takes 5 minutes to complete. ... https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YJMXS6L Sydney Alliance is a coalition of diverse community organisations, unions, faith groups and NGOs working together for the common good of everyone in Sydney and NSW. Sydney Community Forum is one of the founding partners of Sydney Alliance

22.01.2022 Mr Morrison, we are home.

21.01.2022 Thanks to the ongoing advocacy and feedback campaign on the implementation of the international students' crisis accommodation package, Minister Lee confirms that the eligibility criteria have been further eased! Mary Waterford Sydney Alliance... We recommend every international student in crisis to apply. Please let us know if you would need any support in applying. NB: One of our cochairs started the day with the great news from Study NSW that she has been offered a place to stay!

20.01.2022 Have you got your Corona time energy bill? Will you be able to pay it? #VoicesforPower is pushing energy providers to acknowledge that people are losing jobs and may face serious issues in paying their bills. We need to know their response in working together with our communities in suporting them with the basic need of energy!... We are looking for stories on how the pandemic has changed affordability of energy. Please let us know if you have a personal narrative. As we know, personal stories build a stronger case. (Here is the SMH op-ed by Thuy Linh Nguyen, Voices for Power colead)

18.01.2022 Here is our champion Co-chair of the international student group, Renata Aldana speaking her truth on What now? What next?, Claire Fields podcast. Claire Field is an influential higher education consultant and her podcast has a good group of decision makers as listeners! Presenting Renata as a professional and extending the podcast as a linkage for people to connect and offer work to the great photographer that Renata is, speaks a lot both as a story and as tangible sup...port. This strongly supports the call to action as right to work and not as requests for charity. Thanks again Claire and great work Renata. https://www.buzzsprout.com//3851885-please-don-t-leave-us- Another big shout out to Dee Davidian and Tu Le for organising this

18.01.2022 A final call out for an excellent opportunity for an internship to work for the common good of international students. Come and be part of the most exciting civic work in Sydney in 2020 Post COVID19. Be part of a National Coalition of organisations advocating for support to temporary visa holders in Australia. https://www.sydneyalliance.org.au/internship_program

18.01.2022 From the Voices for Power 'COVID-19: Our Historical Moment Panel Discussion'

17.01.2022 It's National Volunteers Week! Civil Society is all the better for having awesome and organised volunteer leaders like those in the Voices for Power campaign and beyond ... THANK YOU!

15.01.2022 Sharing the new FB page of the international student subgroup. Please share and like the page, if you are in this with us! Let's tell our students " You are not forgotten"... https://www.facebook.com/Oz-International-Students-Chapter-101032838357202/

15.01.2022 Voices for Power, is a community organising campaign that brings together communities, particularly migrant communities - to have a say in public policies that ...affect them, build power and co-create solutions to ensure Affordable and Renewable Energy for all! During this pandemic, 3 Voices for Power caucus' still actively meet, strategise and take action! If you have appetite to take collective action for Affordable and Renewable energy, join us by joining one of our 3 active and 1 emerging caucus groups: [NORTH WEST SYDNEY CAUCUS] If you live in these City Council Areas, consider joining this caucus: Penrith, Blacktown, Parramatta, Hills Shire [INNER WEST AND SOUTH CAUCUS] If you live in the following City Council areas: Sydney, Inner West, Bayside, Georges River, Sutherland Shire [EASTERN SUBURBS CAUCUS] If you live in these City Council Areas: Randwick, Mosman, Waverley, Sydney, Willoughby [EMERGING: SOUTH WEST] If you live in these City Council Areas: Cumberland, Strathfield, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Camden Message us and a team member will direct you to the most relevant person to connect with you. Stay Well !

15.01.2022 Here are international students taking charge of their rights! From the induction of our internship program... Fifteen interns from the international student cohort across colleges and universities started today as interns. We will continue to do our research, listening and organising.... Look at the incredible diversity in the room! Onwards! #SydneyAlliance# #SydneyCommunityForum#

15.01.2022 Red Cross has announced that they will be delivering an emergency relief and casework support for Temporary Visa Holders!! International students and migrant workers, if you are in distress, or if you know some one who is in need please refer them them to the following link https://www.redcross.org.au//help-for-migrants-in-transiti... "You may have heard that Red Cross is receiving funding from the Australian Government for the next six months to deliver emergency relief and casework support for people who are on temporary visas. We have welcomed this news. Red Cross has not yet received these funds. It may be one or two weeks before we do. Here is some important information to read before you contact us. What are the funds for? These are emergency relief payments, not income support. We can only provide one-off, limited amounts to help people with essential needs like food and medicine. Who is eligible? These funds are for people on temporary visas who have no way to support themselves and who have urgent needs. Because so many people are facing financial difficulty, we have to help those with the most urgent needs first. This includes: people who cannot afford basics like food and medicine families with young children, people with a disability, people who are experiencing harm, people who are vulnerable to COVID-19, and people with physical or mental health issues people who cannot access Centrelink, Medicare or other services people with no income, savings or other financial support"

14.01.2022 Voices for Power has been an amazing journey for migrants to have their voices heard in climate action. More importantly, it is a beautiful platform that curated a trustworthy space for migrant leaders to step up as civil society leaders and powerfully claim their sense of belonging. SCF is privileged to see the community members that we work with sharpen their leadership through VfP. We are celebrating 3 years of the VfP journey. Here is is a teaser for our VfP Documentary that will be screened on Voices for Power Facebook Page on Thursday evening, 16 July 2020! Invite your friends to join us in celebrating the past 3 years of the amazing leadership and collaborative work of Migrant and Religious Communities & Allies across Sydney, who have been building power for Affordable and Clean Energy for All!

13.01.2022 "Support organisation Sydney Community Forum started hearing almost straight away from students finding their superannuation had never been paid. "The lack of super has devastated these students because they thought they could fall back on that only to realise it was never paid," executive officer Asha Ramzan told AAP." https://7news.com.au//international-students-robbed-of-sup

13.01.2022 Our team at SCF is humbled to anchor this project. International students Subgroup organised the second listening circle tonight. We are moved by the commendable leadership of our international students. What an honour to have when we heard several students who we listened to tonight say "WE FELT HEARD FOR THE FIRST TIME"... Kudos to the co-chair team!

13.01.2022 In our listening sessions, what we are hearing are stories of isolation and helplessness. We realise that several international students are not aware of the support available to them. That's why we decided to create this 'Where to Go Bulletin'. This is an attempt to compile all help available to international students in one place. We will keep updating this. Thank you Sengar Utk Utkarsh, our champion co-chair for leading this work.... We are planning to run a train-the-trainer program so that student leaders from different colleges and universities can be trained as trainers to share this information with their collegemates. If anybody is interested in being associated, please be in touch.

12.01.2022 Here are our fabulous co-chairs representing Oz International students at the School Strike for Climate. We are privileged to be standing with the young heroes... taking action on climate and it's even more joyful when we do it with the larger civil society. Uniting Churches, Engadine Uniting Church, Sydney Community Forum and Voices for Power - Sydney Alliance joined us in this action. Renata Aldana Andres Puerto Gabriela Weiss Chaitra Hareesh

12.01.2022 In difficult times like this, it is extremely important to capture the experience of the underprivileged and collate big data evidence to highlight the pressures that they face. Unions NSW wants to know how you are surviving the pandemic, your past experiences and what needs to change in order to provide more opportunities. Please participate in this survey and contribute to the advocacy evidence base for the common good of our young people. Please fill out the Australian Young People Deserve Better 2020 Survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ypdbetter

12.01.2022 Hello everyone, my name is Mehebuba and I am an international post-graduate student from Bangladesh also representing Oz International Students Chapter. I am go...ing to share what motivated Oz International Students Chapter to be a part of this School Strike for Climate. First and foremost, we wanted to stand along with the broader civil society and the young people who care about the climate. This has been a difficult year starting with the bushfires, then the coronavirus and the ongoing economic disruptions. We thought this is high time we sent a message to the govt. that they should be focusing on rebooting the economy by investing in affordable renewable energy projects rather than gas and fossil fuels. And last but not the least, as international students we wanted to send a message that we genuinely care about the country and land we are living in and we are ready to take responsibility and do our part to make the world a better place. It is a perfect opportunity for us to stand in solidarity with the community to show that we are not here just to take but we have a lot to offer as well. Thank you!

12.01.2022 We are privileged to know you and have worked with you Natasha! The way you asserted your truth and your sense of agency on what's being told about you, is inspiring. Australian higher education should be proud and honoured to have students like you! Bikas, it was amazing to see you stepping up and being the voice of the most vulnerable in this crisis. ... https://www.abc.net.au//coronavirus-impact-on-int/12224752 On behalf of a big group of civil society organisations that has come together to support international students to have their voice heard, we want to tell you; "YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN"

11.01.2022 "After our PM told me to go back to my country, I felt unwanted here. Thank you for making me feel heard and validated" (A student at the last iteration of our listening session) We know that international students, like other temporary visa holders in Australia, have become the unexpected casualties of this pandemic. As the world went into lockdown, Australia closed its borders and implemented social distancing to try to flatten the curve of the tide of new infections and m...any customer service industries closed their doors and in the process, thousands of workers lost their jobs. And we know that international students have become the faceless others in the crisis and nobody is listening to them to see what the impacts are and what they believe will help them to survive this crisis. And as things start to return to the so-called new normal, we dont know what this means for them as individual and as a group and what will change, if anything, in their circumstances which is why were doing this listening process. The aim of this listening is to hear from you directly and link you up as a group so you have peer support and feel a sense of solidarity, and to support you to take action on your priority needs if you decide to do this. We wont be sharing any identifying information about you with others and the final list of pressures, issues and concerns will be de-identified to protect your privacy. After the overwhelming response to the late iteration of listening, we are ready with the next cycle. This time, even bigger! Come join us https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89396823813 Meeting ID: 893 9682 3813 Passcode: 263468

10.01.2022 You Speak, We Listen series post #02

10.01.2022 [LIVE PANEL REMINDER] Our Voices for Power North West Caucus is looking forward to Hosting a LIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: COVID-19: Our Historical Moment!... Remember to Log-In and Visit this Page to View the Live Discussion at 6PM this Thursday, 7 May 2020. See you there!

09.01.2022 The City of Sydney and Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre are calling for expressions of interest from residents of the City of Sydney to participate in domestic and family violence prevention and allies training. This training will provide the skills and knowledge to identify and safely respond to domestic and family violence and gender-based violence in the community. Participants will gain an understanding of gender-based violence, domestic and family violence, how to ha...ve safe supportive conversations and where to get help for people impacted. Expression of interest are open now until 29 October via an online form. Training requirements The online training will take place over 4 weeks in 1.5 hour sessions. Participants are expected to attend all 4 sessions via Zoom and will need access to an electronic device (with a camera) and the internet. To support individual and group wellbeing, participants will be contacted before the first session, and in between sessions. Training dates and times First training session: Tuesday 10 November 2020, 7pm to 8.30pm Following training sessions: Tuesdays 17 and 24 November 2020, 7pm to 8.30pm Last training session: Tuesday 1 December 2020, 7pm to 8.30pm. For more information about the training please visit the City of Sydney’s website https://form.jotform.com/202807524041850 See more

08.01.2022 Feeling extremely delighted to see their leadership develop. Feeling extremely humbled to have known and worked with these young men and women. Way to go Amit Vikram Singh and team..... Woohoooo!! Onwards! #ozinternationalstudentschapter #sydneyalliance #unitedworkersunion #sydneycommunityforum

07.01.2022 You are invited to participate in Australia's first large-scale solar garden pilot in Australia. For three years, Voices for Power has been advocating for the funding of a solar garden in Western Sydney so that low-income households, families that rent or live in an apartment, can all have access to clean affordable energy. Sydney Community Forum is honoured to be playing a key role in Voices for Power through which we amplified migrant voices in climate action, brought to s...urface the energy affordability issues that our communities face, and build the leadership of our amazing ethnic community leaders. Due to the overwhelming community support, our friends at Community Power Agency and Pingala was able to win funding to pilot a solar garden - called the Haystacks Solar Garden. Now, they have invited us and our communities to sign up as the first members of this solar garden pilot. Attend the Solar Garden Information Session The first step is to attend an information session, co-hosted by Voices for Power and Haystacks Solar Garden, to ask all your questions about how to get involved. You can come to listen about how being a solar gardener can benefit you, whether it will save on your energy bills and meet the team that is running this initiative. Details of the Solar Garden Information Session: Date and Time: Wednesday 30th September 2020, 6:30-7:30pm Where: On Zoom RSVP by registering here: https://us02web.zoom.us//tZcuc-CgrTksHta0pAzXOdPLZGdPzHkod **Make sure you register to get updates and log-in details for webinar.

06.01.2022 Another successful listening session of the Oz International Students Chapter. We just finished the third iteration of our listening campaign. Today, we listened to the stories of students and their struggles dealing with educational institutions. This is what we asked them: How has your ability to pay your tuition fee changed since the pandemic? How has been the quality of education since the pandemic? How has been your experience of negotiating a fee waiver/deferment?... We had 43 participants. We heard some powerful narratives. We had an expert sharing the legal perspective on dealing with educational institutions. We heard from international student collectives from Melbourne and Adelaide. We saw students stepping up and taking action for themselves- We have 7 new commitments to join the Oz International Students Chapter. Woohooo..that's one more strong step forward! #sydneyalliance #sydneycommunityforum #Somos21 #unitedworkersunion #cityofsydney

06.01.2022 The cochair team of the Oz International Students Chapter met today to plan our next listening cycle. We are all geared up to listen to more stories os student pressures... It's amazing to see the student leadership group growing. Here is an organised bunch of international students building their leadership and campaigning for their rights. Be there on September 10, 6:00 pm, if you would like to be a part of this amazing journey.... This space is for you: if you are an international student feeling unheard; if you are an international student wanting to build your leadership; if you are someone who is feeling that our students deserve justice and support; if you are an individual/organisation wanting to support international students.

04.01.2022 A list of services offered to international students by Australian Indian organisations in NSW.

03.01.2022 "I have contributed a lot to this country. I have contributed to the economy. I have been employing 19 employees. I have been supporting homeless Australians. But when it came to a time of need.. we are forgotten" I don't be able to say what's Australian and UnAustralian' but I'm sure this is INHUMANE. Forgotten people in the time of corona..

02.01.2022 Our much loved and deeply valued community leader extraordinaire, Azra Ahmed, lost her long battle with her autoimmune illness and passed on Monday 24 August. As you probably know, Azra was the lynchpin of so many SCF community related campaigns, actions and activities in St George over the last 10years. Azra was such a vitally engaged member of every community activity she participated in, her gentle, encouraging presence naturally facilitated the inclusion of those in our...Continue reading

01.01.2022 You Are Not Forgotten! Here are our partner organisations making it loud and clear they are together with us in this. For all those international students falling through the cracks in this crisis, this a big coalition of civil society organisations telling you "YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN"... Put together by the most talented Renata Aldana, an international student. Coordinated by a co-chair team of nine amazing international students