refugee camp in my neighbourhood

Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood Report 2019 | 1

Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood2019

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

‘Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood’ (RCIMN) is a collaborative project undertaken by Cumberland Council and people living and working in the Cumberland LGA. Since it began in 2014 the project has maintained a solid foundation in community development and human rights principles that have allowed it to evolve and grow through the direct and essential input of representative communities.

Cumberland Council would like to thank all the visitors who joined a tour in 2019 including hundreds of school students and their teachers, health workers, community workers and other professionals, and the general public who all brought with them a willingness to engage interest and care. Special thanks go to local community members, project partners, volunteers and to the Tour Guides themselves for making ‘Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood’ 2019 such a successful contribution to increasing awareness of the human implications of the refugee experience.

Cumberland Council would like to thank Auburn Small Community Organisation Network, DOOLEYS Lidcombe Catholic Club, NSW Refugee Health Service, Refugee Advice and Casework Service and STARTTS for their ongoing support of this project.

Further information:

This report has been prepared by Training for Change for the Community and Place Unit, Cumberland Council 2019.

To find out more information about the ‘Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood’ project, please contact:

Community and Place Unit, Cumberland Council

Phone: 02 8757 9000Email: [email protected]: Cumberland Council, PO Box 42, Merrylands NW 2160Website: www.refugeecampauburn.com.au

Contents1 INTRODUCTION

2 REFUGEE CAMP IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD 2019

2.1 Project aims and objectives

2.2 Key outcomes and attendance

2.3 Tour Guides

2.3.1 Recruitment

2.3.2 Training

2.4 Media coverage

3 EVALUATION

3.1 2019 Visitor evaluation survey

3.2 All visitor patterns of response

3.3 School tours

3.3.1 High school student responses

3.3.2 Teacher responses

3.4 Professional development tours

3.4.1 All professional tour responses

3.4.2 Council staff responses

3.4.3 Health worker responses

3.4.4 General public visitor responses

3.5 Tour Guide evaluation survey

3.6 Project Partner survey

3.7 Debrief stop feedback

4 CONCLUSION

5. APPENDICES

5.1 Visitor evaluation survey

5.2 Project partner survey

4 | Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood Report 2019

1. IntroductionRefugee Camp in My Neighbourhood (RCIMN) is a collaborative Cumberland community project that began in Auburn in 2014 to help people learn about refugee experiences by taking them along an interactive, simulated refugee journey under the care and guidance of Tour Guides who have themselves all come from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. Using a community development and human rights-based approach the project has directly involved people from current and former refugee communities along with more than 30 project partner organisations to inform every stage of its design and implementation.

RCIMN 2019 took place in the grounds of Auburn Centre for Community over eleven days from Monday 29 July to Friday 9 August. Over 2024 people attended in 84 separate visitor groups, including primary and high school students, members of the general public and people whose professional work brings them into contact with refugees.

The Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood 2019 Evaluation Report presents a summary of all key aspects of RCIMN 2019. In line with recommendations of the 2018 longitudinal evaluation of the project, a uniform evaluation survey was distributed to all adult visitors and all high school students. This has resulted in a large number of visitor survey responses allowing for a detailed and nuanced insight into the visitor experience and the impact of attendance. Key findings are presented in this report.


2. RCIMN 2019 2.1 Project Aims

The two overarching RCIMN Project Aims are to:

• Develop greater understanding and support for refugees in Australia.

• Empower and create a greater sense of connection and engagement amongst local communities and individuals who are involved in the project including Tour Guides, volunteers and project partners.

RCIMN Project Objectives 2019 aimed to:

• Increase support for refugee community members in the Cumberland area (and the broader community) and enhance collaboration between services supporting refugee communities.

• Increase understanding of human rights and international law (right to protection).

• Raise awareness of refugee and humanitarian crisis issues.

• Challenge negative stereotypes and dispel common myths about refugees portrayed in mainstream media and current political debate.

• Improve understanding of the realities of life in a refugee camp and the challenges facing refugees in their resettlement journey.

Stated project pathways to achieving the objectives in 2019 were to:

• Engage local refugee communities in Cumberland in the design and implementation of the project.

• Provide an experiential learning environment for visitors to RCIMN.

2.2 RCIMN 2019 Key outcomes and attendance

Highlights

2024 visitors attended the RCIMN in 2019

27 Tour Guides led interactive tours and shared aspects of their own experience of refugee or asylum seeker journeys with visitors to RCIMN.

The journey of the RCIMN 2019 was taken by:

• 1274 school students and 108 teachers from 32 schools

• 372 people from a variety of occupations taking part in RCIMN professional development tours including health workers and educators, community workers, accountants and small business representatives, as well as workers from several Councils.

• 170 members of the general public taking an RCIMN tour and attending the Celebration Day 3 August.

Attendance at all tours required booking and maximum visitor capacity numbers were reached. RCIMN proved to have become so popular with schools that booking requests for school student attendance significantly exceeded tour visit capacity (600 student visit requests were received, above capacity).


In 2018 the 5-year longitudinal study of RCIMN, Just Like Us, identified that a major impact for Tour Guides taking part in RCIMN was the local work experience and subsequently enhanced employment opportunities that they gained as the result of taking part. For many Tour Guides RCIMN is a first opportunity to carry out paid work in Australia and gain local work experience that is so essential to gaining ongoing paid employment.

RCIMN 2019 explored and focused on the employment experience during the refugee journey. This was reflected in the tour design and how employment and employability are affected throughout the journey for safety. The ‘Life in Australia’ tour stop included information about employment challenges for people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, especially those with temporary visa status. The stop also contained a role play activity providing a visceral demonstration of the difficulties faced when applying for a job in Australia through formal channels.

A tailored media campaign consisting of 6 featured stories and the ‘I am a refugee and …’ video gained widespread media attention presenting positive

stories about the Tour Guides working and contributing in many different ways to the local community. The stories highlighted and celebrated the skills and diversity of people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds and the rich contribution that they make to Australian social, cultural and working life.

The RCIMN Celebration Day community event was supported by eleven community partners, five food stalls, art work and poems from former refugees, children’s activities, drumming and performances.

10 volunteers supported the project delivery in many different aspects.

RCIMN 2019 VisitationRefugee Camp in My Neighbourhood 2019 was attended by 2024 visitors over eleven days between Monday 29 July and Friday 9 August with 84 separate tours conducted during that time. All tour attendance required booking including tours that took place on the 3 August Celebration Day. All visitation was via booked tour places in either school tours (primary/secondary), professional development tours (including health worker tours) or general public tours.

As in previous years, schools were the largest RCIMN visitor cohort with 1274 students taking part in 55 school tours (38 high school tours, 17 primary school tours). 32 separate schools visited RCIMN with most school attendance coming from the Greater Sydney Area, as well as four local schools and one group of Chinese exchange students. School tour attendance reached almost full capacity so that requests for approximately


600 additional students to attend were unable to be met due to insufficient spaces available. Many schools attending had attended in previous years and some schools sent many classes, with one school booking an entire day of tours.

Professional development tours took place over two Wednesdays of project delivery. Council partnered with NSW Refugee Health Service to deliver health worker tours which they promoted through health service provider channels. Professional development tours also included council staff (Cumberland, Penrith, City of Sydney and Inner West Council), teachers and other educators from a range of educational organisations including secondary and tertiary institutions. Tour participants also included people working or volunteering in a range of community organisations and refugee support agencies, accountancy and legal firms and other businesses (eg. the Bread and Butter Project).

Demographic data was collected from visitors via the 2019 Visitor Evaluation Survey which was completed by 1,064 visitors across general public, professional and high school tours.

Postcode details collected from 823 visitors showed visitors attending from a wide geographic range with notably high numbers of visitors coming from areas in Sydney’s north and west:

Region Number of people Percentage

North Shore (2060 – 2090, North Sydney - Cremorne) 130 15.80%

Western Sydney (2127-2148, Homebush Bay – Blacktown) 106 12.88%

Northern Suburbs (2110-2126, Hunters Hill –Cherrybrook) 124 15.07%

Inner West (2037-2050, Glebe-Camperdown) 65 7.90%

South Western Suburbs (2160-2214, Merrylands – Milperra) 89 10.81%

Hills District (2150 – 2159, Parramatta – Galston) 68 8.26%

Regional NSW 12 1.46%

Eastern Suburbs (2017 – 2036, Waterloo – Matraville) 32 3.89%

Northern Beaches (2092-2107, Seaforth-Avalon) 68 8.26%

Outer Western Suburbs (2745-2770, Mulgoa – Minchinbury) 71 8.63%

Sydney CBD (2000-2016, City- Redfern) 22 2.67%

St George (2216-2227, Rockdale-Gymea) 26 3.16%

Macarthur Region (2560-2570, Campbelltown - Camden) 9 1.09%

Interstate (ACT, Victoria, Queensland) 1 0.12%


RCIMN Celebration Day

About 200 visitors from the general public attended the RCIMN Celebration Day on Saturday 3 August. Visitors were welcomed to a variety of community led activities that allowed them to learn more about refugee issues and make direct contact with people from local refugee communities. The Celebration Day was supported by 11 community partners, 5 food stalls, art work and poems from former refugees, children’s activities, drumming and others.

Activities took place in an open grassed area where chairs and tables were set up to provide a comfortable space for visitors of all ages to enjoy sharing foods from community stalls, enjoy performances by people from local communities, join activities for children, learn more about refugee issues from information stalls and enjoy engaging with locals from refugee communities.

Project partners that took part in the Celebration Day included:

- African Australian Hunting and Drumming Group

- Auburn Small Community Organisation Network (ASCON)

- Aunty’s Ginger Tonic

- House of Welcome

- Iraqi Renaissance

- Neelab Haidari

- Refugee Advice and Casework Service

- Rojé Ndayambaje

- Somali Welfare Cultural Association

- The Nile Kitchen

- Vitenje

2.3 RCIMN 2019 Tour Guides

2.3.1 Tour Guide recruitment

RCIMN Tour Guides were recruited from local refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. Recruitment for RCIMN Tour Guides was conducted by project partner ASCON with support from Cumberland Council staff. As with every year, the recruitment process was designed as an important opportunity for Tour Guides to apply for a job in a formal recruitment process that was run according to fair recruitment practice guidelines. Project partners including local community organisations assisted with promoting the Tour Guide positions to appropriate applicants.

The application process was a simple Expression of Interest form requiring:

• information about an applicant’s language background

• the reasons for wanting to work as a Tour Guide

• previous work experience (in Australia and prior to arrival in Australia)

• hopes about the results of taking part in the project and

• availability for training and project delivery


Project partner ASCON was the official employer of the paid Tour Guides while Cumberland Council maintained the role of direct supervisor of Tour Guides. Three applicants chose to work as volunteers, with Cumberland Council taking them on as volunteers. An evening information session was also held during the time applications were open, to give any interested applicants the opportunity to receive more information about the role and any support they may need with the application process. Around 8 people attended the information session most of whom went on to apply for the role.

Selection and Interview Process

A group interview process was used to make applicants feel more comfortable during the process. Instructions and information about how the interview would be conducted were sent prior to the interviews to help applicants feel well prepared. The interview was conducted in a ‘sensitive’ way to help participants feel sufficiently comfortable and confident to communicate well. The selection panel comprised of 2 representatives from Cumberland Council’s Capacity Building Team, and 1 representative from project partner, ASCON.

As part of the interview, applicants were asked to prepare a 3 minute presentation for an audience of children aged 12 years. The presentation was required to include an explanation of why people become refugees and ‘who’ a refugee is. Applicants could prepare and use any props, tools or stories to assist them in their presentation. The task allowed Tour Guides to demonstrate their public speaking and communication skills which are requirements for people who are leading visitors through RCIMN. Tour Guide applicants chose a range of different methods to conduct their presentation, including personal storytelling, PowerPoint presentations, questioning, and visual displays.

All Tour Guides were required to complete Working with Children Checks. The cost of this was reimbursed to them with their first pay.


2.3.2 Tour Guide training

Training for Tour Guides built on individual skills and experience, focussing on a range of relevant professional skills, particularly communication skills, to increase levels of self-confidence and ability to guide the many types of RCIMN visitors through the simulated refugee journey.

Training content covering key knowledge and skills was delivered over a number of weeks leading up to the 2019 RCIMN season. All training took place at Auburn Centre for Community and was delivered after work hours or on weekends to enable tour guides who may be studying or have been employed during standard working hours to attend.

2019 Tour Guide Training included:

Welcome Dinner

26 June 6.00pm - 8.00pm

The event welcomed newly recruited tour guides and welcomed back tour guides from previous years who had been recruited to take part again in 2019. The Welcome Dinner helped everyone involved in RCIMN 2019 including tour guides, Council staff, volunteers, partners and specialist contractors to begin getting to know each other and become familiar with the collaborative and participatory approaches that inform all aspects of training, development of tour content and tour delivery. It also provided Tour Guides with experience of standard employment processes. This was especially important for Tour Guides who had not previously had experience of formal paid work in Australia.


The Welcome Dinner schedule included:

• Meet and greet for all former and new tour guides

• Background to Cumberland Council and to the project

• Hearing from previous tour guides’ experiences

• Creating a safe space and setting project expectations

• Consultation to inform some elements of the project content and design

• Employment/volunteer contracts and forms such as Working With Children Checks and superannuation

Training day one (full day) 6 July

• Framework for the category of ‘refugee’, current global situation and Australia’s place

• The refugee experience

• Trauma and impacts/triggers/how to safely share own story

• Accidental counselling skills, self-care, supporting own and each other’s wellbeing

Training day two (full day) 20 July

• Identifying the aims of RCIMN and components of a successful tour

• Tour Guiding Skills - theory and practice

• Tour walkthrough

• Tour stop familiarisation and preparation

Training day three (full day) 27 July

• Intensive tour stop preparation and Tour Guide mentoring by experienced RCIMN Tour Guides, Council staff and Training for Change

• Communicating with different types of audiences

• Recap child protection considerations and responsibilities

• Self-care recap

Counselling and Legal Support for Tour Guides

Tour Guides were able to access free onsite counselling support on all training and RCIMN delivery days. Moreover Tour Guides were advised of support available to them by partner organisations, such as STARTTS and Refugee Advise and Casework Service (RACS).


2.4 Media coverageIn line with the focus of the 2019 RCIMN project, the media campaign focused on employment and employability of refugees and people seeking asylum. Council undertook the marketing and communications strategy ‘I am a refugee and…’ to promote RCIMN and its positive stories of Tour Guides living in the local community. The campaign focused on the experience of a selected number of RCIMN Tour Guides past and current from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. The stories presented insight into the valuable contribution that individuals make when settling into Australian communities, and their breadth of employment skills and experience. The campaign consisted of feature stories and a video social media campaign refuting stereotypical images of refugees and highlighting their skills and knowledge, diversity, humour and determination as they build meaningful lives in Australia.

Feature stories with photographic portraits and accompanying individual stories from the 2018 and 2019 RCIMN campaigns were hung in various sites around the RCIMN spaces for visitors to see before and after their visit.

Tour guides were selected to be media spokespeople. The delivery of some media training with Council’s Communications Team is recommended in the future.

Stated media deliverables:

• Highlight World Refugee Day: Dawood’s story with link to RCIMN

• Awareness and attendance increase in RCIMN: Two media releases

• Awareness and branding: ‘I am a Refugee and…’ video: Employment theme

• Link to action: Social media campaign: Video and Photoshoot

• Cross-share content with partners/tour guides

Media Coverage

• ABC The World Today, ABC Radio

• Networking Women, Shaqaeq’s story

• Get Sydney, Shaqaeq’s story

• Auburn Review feature

• ABC, Simon Marnie show – Hedayat’s interview from 1 minute onwards.

• LENMH News, Blog post on Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood

• Refugee Nurses Australia, Blog post

• SBS News, Refugee Week Feature


3. RCIMN 2019 Evaluation ‘I have done this tour with students many times. This year at church in the bulletin, some refugees needed a room. We had a spare room and kitchen. Now a couple from Burundi have lived with us since January and will have a baby in December. I would not have opened our home to them if your program had not educated me.’ - School teacher

In line with previous annual evaluations of RCIMN, a variety of evaluation tools were used to understand processes and outcomes that had taken place in the development and delivery of RCIMN 2019. Evaluation tools included:

- Visitor evaluation survey

- Tour Guide evaluation survey

- Project partner survey

- Debriefing stop feedback

3.1 Visitor Evaluation Survey

For the second year in a row a uniform visitor evaluation survey was used to gather feedback across visitor categories on the experience of a tour of RCIMN. 1064 visitors completed an RCIMN 2019 visitor evaluation survey representing more than 52% of the RCIMN visitors in 2019.

The chief purpose of the RCIMN 2019 visitor impact evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of RCIMN in achieving its project objectives including the overall key aim ‘to develop greater understanding and support for refugees in Australia.’

With the exception of primary school students, the RCIMN 2019 visitor evaluation survey was distributed to all visitors in the final stop of the RCIMN tour during a facilitated debrief which included a reflective discussion about the impact of the tour and in the case of high school students, a small-group activity about the ongoing impact of participation in RCIMN. Primary school students took part in a debrief discussion and were invited to leave comments posted on a ‘message wall’ that were collected each day for RCIMN Tour Guides and other staff to read.

The visitor evaluation survey included:

- Five before the visit/after the visit scaling questions

- Three open-ended questions

- Demographic data questions

Before the visit /after the visit scaling questions

The survey asked visitors to rate their comparative level or understanding and knowledge before the visit/after the visit as:

I had no understanding;orI had some understanding;or I had a high level of understanding


against five separate areas of understanding or knowledge:

- ‘my understanding of why people flee from their homes’

- ‘my knowledge about conditions in refugee camps or urban environments during a refugee journey’

- ‘my knowledge about refugee and asylum seeker rights under international law’

- ‘my knowledge of difficulties that refugees and people seeking asylum may face when arriving in Australia’

- ‘my knowledge of ways that individuals can take responsibility to support the rights of refugees’

Open ended questions

The survey asked visitors three open-ended questions about the impact of the RCIMN tour:

Q2. ‘Has anything changed for you from this experience (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs)?’

Q3. ‘Which aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?’

Q. ‘In relation to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, is there anything you plan to do or change in relation to your work, study or life in general?’

Responses to open ended questions were all recorded and coded into the following categories:

Q2. Has anything changed for you (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs) as the result of the tour experience?

- Increased knowledge/awareness of refugee issues

- Increased empathy/insight

- Moved to action to support refugees

Q3. Which aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?

- Experiential

- Tour Guides’ personal stories

- Content/objects/data

- All of it/everything

Q4. As a result of your participation in the tour today is there anything that you plan to do to support refugees and people seeking asylum, in relation to your work, study or life in general?

- Increase knowledge/awareness of refugee issues

- Advocacy

- Volunteering/fundraising

- Working with refugees: people seeking asylum


3.2 ‘All visitor’ patterns of response

All visitor patterns of response are based on analysis of 1064 surveys including the 5 before/after questions and three open ended questions. Overall visitor response to each question was compiled and analysed with further breakdown of responses into visitor type to identify any variance in patterns of visitor response.

Before the visit/after the visit responses Questions 1.1 - 1.5 All visitor responses indicated a consistently strong shift from ‘no knowledge’ or ‘some knowledge’ before the visit to ‘high level of knowledge’ after the visit against all five questions.

All visitor responses identified a particularly positive shift to ‘high level of knowledge’ after the visit for three questions in particular:

- ‘why people flee their homes’(Q1.1) 87.8%

- ‘conditions in refugee camps’(Q1.2) 83.6%

- ‘difficulties refugees may face when arriving in Australia’ (Q1.4) 77.46%

These three questions focused on knowledge about the human experience of refugee journeys which had formed the basis for experiential activities included in the tour and the stories that Tour Guides shared of their own refugee journeys. Visitor comments to subsequent open-ended survey questions about

what had changed for them as a result of tour participation and what had made those changes happen also pointed strongly to the effectiveness of experiential activities and the power of hearing the individual personal stories that Tour Guides chose to share with visitors.

The other two before the visit/after the visit questions, Q.1.3 and Q1.5 also showed a significant positive shift in levels of knowledge after the visit although a slightly lower proportion of visitors indicating high level of knowledge after the visit than the other before/after questions.

Q.1.3 ‘regarding knowledge of refugee and asylum seeker rights under international law’

showed a significant shift in the proportion of respondents indicating ‘high level’ of knowledge after the tour, increasing from 6.17% to 55.12%. Answers to this question also showed a dramatic fall in the proportion of respondents indicating no knowledge reducing from 49.9% to 0.95%. There was an unchanged proportion of respondents before and after indicating ‘some knowledge’ at 43.93%.


Q 1.5 regarding ways that individuals can support the rights of refugees demonstrated similar patterns with an increase from 9.35% to 45.75% in the proportion of respondents indicating ‘high level’ of knowledge after the tour. There was a large fall in the proportion of respondents indicating ‘no knowledge’ from 38.0% to 2.29% and an almost unchanged proportion of respondents before and after indicating ‘some knowledge’ from 52.58% to 51.96%.

These two questions were focused on knowledge and information rather than the human experience that was supported by sharing of stories and experiential activities. The final two tour stops, Life in Australia and Debriefing, allowed visitors to ask questions about factual information such as legal ramifications of Temporary Protection Visa and Safe Haven Enterprise Visa status, and questions about other learning that had taken place for them. Observation in these two stops revealed a strong interest amongst visitors, including school students and adult visitors, to learn more factual information underpinning the human experiences that they had learned about on the tour, including information about national and global situations.


Before the tour

After the tour

1.60%

71.79%

26.60%

0.47%11.72%

87.81%

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

I had no knowledge I had someknowledge

I had a high levelof knowledge

Q1.1 Regarding why people flee from their homes

Before the tour

After the tour

Q1.2 Regarding conditions in refugee camps or urban environments during a refugee journey



18.58

73.40%

8.02%0.95%16.13%

83.06%

0.00%20.00%40.00%60.00%80.00%

100.00%

Before the tour

After the tour

Q1.4 Regarding difficulties that refugees and people seeking asylum may face when arriving in Australia



49.91%43.93%

6.17%0.95%

43.93%

55.12%

0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%

Before the tour

After the tour

Q1.5 Regarding ways that individuals can take responsibility to support the rights of refugees



38.07%

52.58%

9.35%2.29%

52.58%45.75%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Before: 73.39% ‘no knowledge’ to ‘some knowledge’

After: 99.53% ‘some knowledge’ to ‘high knowledge’

Before: 96.84% ‘no knowledge’ to ‘some knowledge After: 99.50% ‘some knowledge’ to ‘high knowledge’

Before: 99.52% ‘no knowledge’ to ‘some knowledge’ After: 99.53% ‘some knowledge’ to ‘high knowledge’

Before: 90.65% ‘no knowledge’ to ‘some knowledge After: 97.71% ‘some knowledge’ to ‘high knowledge’

Before the tour

After the tour

Q1.3 Regarding refugee and asylum seeker rights under international law

knowledge of knowledgeI had no knowledge I had some I had a high level

49.91% 43.93%

6.17%0.95%

43.93%55.12%

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

Before: 93.83%‘ no knowledge’ to ‘some knowledge’ After: 99.05% ‘some knowledge’ to ‘high knowledge’


52.77%

35.25%

8.23%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Increased knowledge ofrefugee issues

Increased empathy/ insight

Moved to action tosupport refugees

37.85%

22.37%

18.39% 19.46%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

Experiential Tour guides/personal stories

Contents/objects/data

All of it/everything

34.86% 33.71%

22.97%

4.23%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%

Increase my knowledge and awareness

of refugee issues

Advocacy Volunteer/fundraise Working with refugees and people

seeking asylum

Q2 Has anything changed for you (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs) as a result of the tour experience?

Q3 What aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?

Q4 As the result of your participation in the tour today, is there anything that you plan to do to support refugees and people seeking asylum in your work, study or life in general?

52.77%

35.25%

8.23%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%




37.85%

22.37%

18.39% 19.46%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%




34.86% 33.71%

22.97%

4.23%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%


of refugee issues


seeking asylum




Open ended question responses

All visitor response to open ended questions strongly indicated RCIMN success in achieving project objectives

Q2. Has anything changed for you (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs) as the result of the tour experience?

- Increased knowledge/awareness of refugee issues: 52.77%

- Increased empathy/insight : 35.25%

- Moved to action to support refugees : 8.23%

Q3. Which aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?

- Experiential: 37.85%

- Tour Guides’ personal stories: 22.37%

- Content/objects/data: 19.46%

- All of it/everything: 18.39%


Q4. As a result of your participation in the tour today is there anything that you plan to do to support refugees and people seeking asylum, in relation to your work, study or life in general?

- Increase knowledge/awareness of refugee issues: 34.71%

- Advocacy: 33.71%

- Volunteering/fundraising: 22.97%

- Working with refugees: people seeking asylum: 4.23%

52.77%

35.25%

8.23%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%




37.85%

22.37%

18.39% 19.46%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%




34.86% 33.71%

22.97%

4.23%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%


of refugee issues


seeking asylum





3.3 School Tours

3.3.1 High school students

What changed?

- ‘It changed my perspective of what a refugee looks like and how it’s not just children and parents, it’s teenagers too.’

- ‘Before I thought we didn’t need refugees in our country but now I want to help people to leave detention centres and gain rights.’

- ‘I feel very different and understand what these people face. My thoughts have changed on why we must let refugees into our country’.

- ‘I have gained a high level of sympathy for asylum seekers, especially after hearing of the time they are forced to wait, without knowing if they will be free.’

- ‘I was surprised at Australia’s response, I know there are a lot of politics involved but to hear real stories, to see real people broke down my heart.’

What made change happen?

- ‘Every single aspect put into perspective the struggle I vaguely knew about but I now realize and understand the drastic hardships people go through’.

- ‘The border crossing really changed my viewpoint. This is due to the fact that I got scared but I could not imagine what it would be like for those people fleeing their homelands.’

- ‘The personal stories allowed me to place myself in someone else’s shoes’,

What do you plan to do?

- ‘I will definitely be telling my friends and family about this and hope to tell them to come visit this place.’

- ‘I plan to explore the area further, and try to implement something at school where others can help.’

High school student visitor responses were consistent with ‘All visitor’ responses regarding levels of positive change. High school students repeatedly described their attitudes to refugees as having changed as a result of gaining personal insights into refugee experiences from Tour Guides and experiencing the kinds of fears and confusion that refugees must face when taking part in experiential tour activities such as being asked to choose the five items they would want if they had to flee suddenly from their home. Many students said they felt highly motivated to share what they had learned during the tour with friends and family and planned to maintain a heightened awareness and interest in refugee issues that they had gained from the tour.


The experiential nature of the tour was described by many students as having a profound influence on their understanding of the refugee experience which in turn increased their levels of empathy with refugees and people seeking asylum. High school students reported plans to support refugees and people seeking asylum in practical ways such as donating essential items, or being more welcoming to individuals who arrive in Australia from refugee and asylum seeker experiences.

High school responses to Question 4 (is there anything you plan to do…?) showed a much higher proportion of respondents (43.17%) indicating that they would take part in ‘advocacy’ than was indicated in ‘All visitor’ responses. Students described a wide range of forms of advocacy including raising refugee support issues via school councils and other school forums, sharing what they had learned about refugee issues with family and friends, approaching local members of parliament to advocate for refugee rights or becoming more active in school activities that already exist to support refugees. Many high school students planned to promote awareness in their own family and social circles of refugee issues. Many high school respondents linked advocacy to possibilities for fundraising to assist refugee support agencies such as the House of Welcome.

Before the visit/after the visit questions, high school student responses:

Question 1.1 ‘why people flee from their homes’

Before: 77.25%, ‘no knowledge’ to ‘some knowledge’After: 99.33% ‘some knowledge’ to ‘high knowledge’ (89.53 %high level)

Question 1.2 ‘the conditions in refugee camps and urban environments during a refugee journey

Before: 94.53% ‘no knowledge’ to ‘some knowledge’ After: 99.00% ‘some knowledge’ to ‘high knowledge’ (86.19% high level)

Question 1.3 ‘refugee and asylum seeker rights under international law’

Before: 96.84% ‘no knowledge’ to ‘some knowledge’ After: 99.50% ‘some knowledge’ to ‘high knowledge’ (59.17 high level)

Question 1.4 ‘difficulties that refugee and people seeking asylum may face when arriving in Australia’


Question 1.5 ‘ways that individuals can take responsibility to support the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum’



Open ended questions, high school student responses

Question 2 ‘Has anything changed for you from this experience (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs)?’

- Increased knowledge/awareness of refugee issues – 54.70%

- Increased empathy and insight – 34.56% - Moved to action to support refugees – 8.56%

Question 3 ‘Which aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?’

- Experiential – 44.87% - Tour Guides’ personal stories – 11.3% - Content/objects/data – 44.1% - All of it/everything – 9.3%

Question 4 ‘In relation to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, is there anything you plan to do or change in relation to your work, study or life in general?’

- Increased awareness of refugee issues: 31.18% - Advocacy: 43.17% - Volunteering/fundraising: 23.06% - Working with refugees/asylum seekers: 0%

to participate in other reflective activities, which are described in the “Debrief Stop” section.

3.3.2 Teacher

What changed?

- ‘I have more understanding of refugees’

- ‘Processing people, detention centres - you really are just a number. No-one cares ‘who’ you are or your history’.


- ‘The large photos & statistics’.

- ‘Personal stories from tour guides.’

- ‘The setup of houses, schools, etc to walk through.’


- ‘I will definitely continue advocating at my school and educating young people about this.’

- ‘We will continue to support refugee families’.

- ‘I am planning to do a day at school to simulate the conditions of RCIMN.’

- ‘I will investigate my own families escape from war and look at other ways of involvement at school as well as in-class discussions.’


School tours were attended by 108 teachers. Evaluation survey responses from high school and primary school teachers indicate positive change against all areas of survey questions, consistent with All visitor responses. Some variance occurred between overall visitor responses and teacher responses in each of the before the visit/after the visit questions with the exception of Question1.3, which indicated that teachers began the tour with much more knowledge about refugee experience than any other group of visitors. Consistent with the All visitor response, teacher responses to Question 1.3 regarding knowledge about ‘refugee and asylum seeker rights under international law’ indicated low levels of knowledge before the tour and much smaller proportions of respondents indicating high level of knowledge after the tour.


There were similarities and variance between high school teacher and primary school teacher responses to open ended questions. In answer to Question 2 a much higher proportion of primary school teachers (62.5%) indicated increased knowledge of refugee issues than was indicated by high school teachers or ‘all visitors’. A much higher proportion of primary school teachers indicated ‘experiential’ as the reason for the change than the proportion indicated by high school teachers or all visitors. A higher proportion of high school teachers (34.92%) indicated ‘tour guides/personal stories’ as the main contributing factor to the change.

In answering Question 4 ‘is there anything you plan to do or change in relation to your work, study or life in general’ 72.72% of primary school teachers indicated that they would increase their knowledge or awareness of refugee issues which was more than double the proportion of ‘all visitors’ indicating the same result when answering this question. High school teachers also indicated a much higher proportion of respondents than ‘all visitors’ that would increase their knowledge or awareness of refugee issues.

High School Teachers

Question 2. Has anything changed for you from this experience (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs)?


- Increased empathy and insight – 37.10% - Move to action to support refugees – 1.61%

Question 3. Which aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?

- Experiential: 30.16% - Tour Guides’ personal stories: 34.92% - Content/objects/data: 12.70% - All of it/everything: 20.63%


Question 4. In relation to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, is there anything you plan to do or change in relation to your work, study or life in general?

- Increase knowledge/awareness of refugee issues: 58.93% - Advocacy: 12.5% - Volunteering/fundraising: 19.64% - Working with refugees/asylum seekers: 1.79%

Primary school teachers


- Increased knowledge/awareness of refugee issues – 62.5% - Increased empathy and insight – 37.5% - Move to action to support refugees– 0%




- Increase knowledge/awareness of refugee issues: 77.72% - Advocacy: 9.09% - Volunteering/fundraising: 13.63% - Working with refugees/asylum seekers: 0%


3.4 Professional Development Tour ‘It was a very humbling and eye-opening experience. The challenges that refugees and asylum seekers face are so much more real, and I think that’s what changed for me. The stories, which were previously just so distant, are now so real.’ Council worker

3.4.1 All Professional Development Tours

Professional development tours were attended by 372 people working in a variety of professions including secondary and tertiary educators, Council staff, community workers and health workers from a wide range of health services. Project partner, the NSW Refugee Health Service, assisted in promoting RCIMN through its own channels and added a tailored activity to professional development tours to highlight issues of particular relevance for health workers. Overall professional tour responses indicated positive change against all areas of social impact consistent with overall visitor responses.

Professional tour visitors indicated higher in Questions1.1 – 1.5 ‘before the tour’ levels of knowledge/understanding than all other visitor groups. This may be linked to direct involvement in carrying out their work with people from refugee backgrounds.

Professional development tour visitor responses to open ended questions were largely consistent with overall visitor responses with the exception of responses to Question 4 regarding plans to do something to support refugees ‘through work, study or life in general’. Responses to this question showed a significantly smaller proportion than overall visitors responses indicating an intention to undertake ‘advocacy’ (21.12%) at the same time as a significantly higher proportion indicating an intention to ‘work with refugees’. The nature of ‘work with refugees’ was described in various ways including efforts to support paid employment for refugees or to develop daily work practice that better met the needs of refugees using their service. During the final RCIMN debrief session that took place with each professional tour, the importance of providing access to appropriate interpreting services was frequently identified by tour participants as an example of immediate improvement that could be installed in services for refugees and people seeking asylum.




- Increased empathy and insight – 36.16% - Move to action to support refugees– 9.23%






A further breakdown of professional tour responses to open ended questions revealed some significant differences in responses of Council workers and health workers to overall

3.4.2 Council Worker

What changed?

- ‘I feel a greater sense of empathy/compassion and feel I want to challenge the thoughts of people I know.’

- ‘(I have) improved level of empathy and understanding, more knowledge of how I could be more patient and aware of what people experience.’


- ‘The Tour Guides - bearing witness to their experience was painful and admirable. Facilitating the story telling which was profoundly respectful. The legal representatives describing the tour of visa situations were excellent’.

- ‘The boat (with the) crying baby really humanised it for me as a mother; food, living conditions in the camps too, shocking!’

- ‘All of it an experiential treasury…the maze where we had to choose our own path.’


- ‘I will be more aware to accommodate cultural needs for real engagement with refugees and asylum seekers.’

- ‘I will look at strengthening employment pathways for refugees for upcoming projects.’

- ‘I will have a lot more patience, be very clear and keep the language simple.’

- ‘(I can support) volunteering, employing refugees.’

Professional tours were attended by 28 Cumberland Council staff whose responses indicated strong positive shifts against all areas of social impact examined by survey questions. For example, the proportion of Council staff indicating that they had a high level of understanding about ‘why people flee from their homes’ increased from 17.3% before the visit to to 86% after the visit.

Open ended questions indicated a strong positive impact experienced by Council staff consistent with overall visitor responses to most questions, such as increased empathy for refugees (39%). Council staff responses to some questions did vary from responses from other cohorts. In answer to Question 2 regarding ‘Has anything changed for you from this experience (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs’) a smaller proportion of Council staff indicated


‘increased knowledge of refugee issues’ (35.9%) while a much higher proportion of Council staff indicated ‘move to action’ at 23.53% compared to 9.23% of overall professional tour visitor responses to the same question.

In response to Question 4 ‘In relation to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, is there anything you plan to do or change in relation to your work, study or life in general?’, 22.58% of Council staff responses indicated ‘work with refugees/asylum seekers’, which was a much higher proportion for this response compared to 13.36% indicated in the overall professional visitor response to the same question. Council worker comments accompanying these responses indicated specific plans on the part of respondents to increase access by refugees and people seeking asylum to paid employment.

Council staff responses appeared to focus more on direct and practical ways to support people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds living in Cumberland. The variance in Council staff response from overall visitor responses and other professional tour responses is likely to reflect an already high level of engagement between Council staff and local refugee and asylum seeker populations and an understanding of and commitment to stated Cumberland Council principles of community engagement and service.

3.4.3 Health Workers

What changed?

- ‘I am shocked at my lack of knowledge/awareness of this issue. This has changed that and I want to know more and help ‘

- ‘It has made it more immediate, rather than just something you hear about for thirty seconds on the news.’


- ‘Their stories, all the tour guides were so strong and positive. It was beautiful to see.’

- ‘Taking an actual journey - beginning to end.’

- ‘All of it helped, having real life photos displayed and real life people engaging with us.’


- ‘I will be writing to my MP, looking into volunteer opportunities, reading Behrouz Boochani’s book’.

- ‘(I will) remind health workers about the humans they work with.’

- ‘Educate clinicians across our health district.’

- ‘Take trauma experience into consideration.’

- ‘I will reflect on how I would work differently in assessing safety of children.’

‘I realised just how strong and resilient refugees are.’


Responses from participants in professional tours for Health workers indicated strong positive shifts against all areas of social impact examined by survey questions. Variance of significance occurred in responses to Question 3 and Question 4. In response to Question 3 ‘Which aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?’ 33.33% of health worker respondents indicated content/objects/data which was a much higher proportion than was indicated by overall visitor and overall professional respondents. In response to Question 4 ‘In relation to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, is there anything you plan to do or change in relation to your work, study or life in general?’ of 48.72% of health workers indicated increased understanding and awareness of refugee issues which was a much higher proportion than indicated by overall visitor respondents. A significantly lower proportion of health worker respondents (23.08%) than overall visitor respondents indicated ‘advocate’ in response to the same question. These variant responses appear to describe an interest in learning information (objects, content, data) that may be practically applied in the workplace including practical ways to apply increased ‘understanding and awareness’ of refugee issues in daily work practice.


3.4.4 General public

What changed?

- ‘I learnt about Australian policies and the different types of visas and challenges.’

- ‘It changed a lot of aspects in my life…seeing and learning all the things in the tour has opened up my perspective in understanding the community, sense of belonging and the humanity.’

- ‘As a result of the tour, I have learnt much and feel more connected to the people who are seeking help from Australia. Refugees and asylum seekers are now part of my future plans. ‘

- ‘The entire tour was extremely useful and eye-opening’.

- ‘I have very little experience with refugees so being able to talk to people with real experiences and listen to their stories was really wonderful.’


- ‘A standout was the information around conditions in refugee camps and also learning the time people spend in them.’

- ‘It was the individual tour guides and their stories which broke barriers.’


- ‘I will do more research, learn more, lobby my government representatives to change immigration and refugee policies.’

- ‘Volunteering with RACS, engaging in more conversation with people from refugee backgrounds.’

- ‘Do more advocacy and spread the message to personal and professional networks.’

- ‘I work in Human Resources and will look into reaching out to agencies for employment.’

170 visitors attended general public tours on the Celebration Day event. General Public tours required booking and were attended by many different types of visitors including people of all ages including children, different types of work background and different levels of contact with people from refugee backgrounds. Evaluation survey responses were completed by 56 visitors indicating positive change against all areas of survey questions largely consistent with ‘All visitor’ responses.

General public tour visitors indicated slightly lower levels of knowledge/understanding than ‘All visitors’ against all questions 1.1 – 1.5 ‘before the tour’. The variance was slightly stronger against Question 1.2 in regards to knowledge of conditions in refugee camps or urban environments with 26.79% of general public visitors indicating that they had no knowledge before the visit compared with 18.58% of All visitors for the same question.

‘The tour was incredible. It was scary, it had heart, I deeply appreciated hearing from the refugees and loved their stories.’



Open ended questions from General public visitors were largely consistent with All visitors with the exception of Question 4 (In relation to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, is there anything you plan to do or change in relation to your work, study or life in general?).

A much lower proportion of visitors indicated ‘advocacy’ as part of their plan.

Question 2 Has anything changed for you from this experience (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs)?

- Increased knowledge/awareness of refugee issues – 44% - Increased empathy and insight – 34% - Move to action to support refugees– 10%

Question 3 Which aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?


Question 4 In relation to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, is there anything you plan to do or change in relation to your work, study or life in general?



3.5 Tour Guide Evaluation Survey

Twelve Tour Guides completed a Tour Guide evaluation which contained 15 questions that addressed the overall experience of Tour Guide delivery and issues of employment and training in particular.

The survey included scaled questions and some open ended questions allowing for individual comment. Tour Guide responses were highly positive in relation to all areas of questioning. The experience of applying for employment such as a formal job interview, and processes of commencing employment such as Working With Children Checks and registering for taxation and superannuation were identified as new and valuable areas of understanding for Tour Guides. The possibility of gaining further assistance with employment including jobseeker training or links to job opportunities was rated highly by Tour Guides with almost all requesting to be informed when such opportunities arise in future. Tour Guide training was valued highly by almost all respondents with an increase in communication skills, public speaking and increased confidence all being identified as resulting from tour delivery and training.

Employment

Five Tour Guides, almost half of those responding, indicated that the work in RCIMN was their first job in Australia and eight respondents indicated that they were taking part in RCIMN for the first time.

In response to Question 4 ‘What parts of applying for a job in Australia were new for you?’ nearly a third of respondents (four) selected ‘job interview’, and ‘superannuation fund’ with one respondent commenting that ‘in my country no super’. Three respondents indicated that a ‘Working with children check’ was new for them. Writing a job application and getting a tax file number were each identified by one respondent respectively.

Almost all Tour Guides (eleven respondents) indicated that they would like to receive support in seeking further employment while ten respondents answered ‘yes’ to wanting to receive job linked training. Six respondents said they would like to be referred to employment programs that would increase their job seeking skills while one respondent did not wish for such referral.

Training

Almost all Tour Guide responses indicated that training had been ‘great’ (six respondents) or ‘fantastic’ (five respondents) with a single respondent rating it as ‘OK’.

In response to ‘what training did you find most useful for your role as tour guide?’ each of the separate training events, the Welcome Dinner and training day one, day two and day three were rated by respondents as ‘useful’ or ‘very useful’. A particularly high number (ten respondents) rated the training day three as ‘very useful’. This was the final day of training and the only day that training took place after the RCIMN had been installed.

In response to the open ended question ‘How do you think the training can be improved to prepare you as a Tour Guide better?’ there was


no proportionally significant answer. However, when viewed across all questions the duration and length of training was raised several times. Two respondents requested more time to practice onsite delivery, one respondent asked for more training and one asked for shorter training days. In answer to a question about the duration and length of training, the majority (ten respondents) indicated ‘just right’ while two suggested that the training had been too long (one commented that training could have been delivered over a one-week rather than a three-week period; a second commented that the length of a single training day could be reduced by dividing it into two smaller sessions).

Skills development

When asked ‘What new skills do you have after this project?’ almost half of the respondents (five people) indicated that an increase in their communication and public speaking skills had resulted from their participation and one quarter of respondents (three people) indicated an increase in ‘confidence’. Additional skills that were identified by single respondents were ‘improved English’, ‘teamwork’, ‘multi ethnic team’, ‘workplace rules and regulations’ and ‘more knowledge about refugee situations’.

Overall experience

On a scale of 1-5 Tour Guides rated the overall experience of being involved in RCIMN as ‘good’ (one respondent) ‘pretty’ good’ (one respondent) and ‘fantastic’ (nine respondents). One respondent rated the experience as ‘horrible’, due to their expectations about the amount of work they would receive when working on the project.

When asked about the impact of taking part as a Tour Guide, a wide range of responses were given that referred to general, positive feelings rather than anything specific. Two respondents nominated the opportunity to explain personal refugee experience to members of the public as being an important personal impact. One respondent indicated ‘triggering some memories’ which may be an indication of a negative emotional or psychological impact.

When answering Question 12 ‘The project has improved my connection to’…: Ten respondents identified an increased connection with Council staff, 7 indicated increased connection to the local community, 5 indicated greater connection to refugee issues with accompanying comments: ‘have a better understanding of the refugee and asylum seekers issues’; ‘I have in depth knowledge of global crisis’; ‘Learned about visas for people on boats’.

When asked if they would like to continue to be involved in RCIMN the majority of respondents answered ‘yes’ (10) with only one respondent answering ‘no’. In answer to ‘Do you have any suggestions on how the tours or camp design could be changed/improved?’ no single suggestion was indicated by more than one respondent. The four responses covered a wide range of issues: ‘more mass media coverage’; ‘some stops need more support’; ‘want job in community because it’s my career’ and employ more tour guides.


‘The aim is to bring awareness of who/what the refugee communities are about and their resilience to make Auburn home.’ - Project partner.

3.6 Project partner survey

Five project partners completed a survey regarding their participation and contribution in RCIMN 2019 including service providers and local community groups representing people from refugee communities.

Partners made a variety of procedural and project on-site contributions to the project including financial support; support with recruitment and management of Tour Guide employment; participation in the Celebration Day activities including performance, food stalls and information stalls about refugee issues; promotion of the tour to particular interest groups such as health workers; participation in RCIMN tours including taking part in segments of RCIMN Professional Development tours for health workers, supporting the delivery of certain tour stops and conducting the debriefing tour stop for primary school students and some professional tours.

In describing their reasons for taking part, project partners described a close alignment between their own organisations’ work and the aims of RCIMN, raising awareness about the human experience of refugee journeys, reducing stigma and negative stereotypes of refugees and people seeking asylum. Building communication between their organisations and increasing the access of people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds to services that better suit their needs were described as important motivations for project partner participation.

Project partners identified significant gains from supporting the project in 2019 including strengthened partnerships with Council and local community organisations, promotion of a culture of welcome to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as building community connection by ‘actively listening to people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds to learn more about their resilience and strong determination to succeed’. Project partners observed an ‘improved cultural awareness’ amongst visitors to RCIMN and increased empathy for the refugee client, that would lead to better access by people from refugee backgrounds to the services they need through practical supports such as use of professional interpreters or use of an Appointment Reminder Translation Tool. The impact of the tour prompted health care managers to plan for more staff to do a tour in future with one provider budgeting for 20 staff to attend RCIMN in 2020.

A number of project partners suggested extending promotion of the project strategically to increase visitation from people working in relevant service provider agencies, and also suggested some practical, procedural changes to support community organisations that take part in the RCIMN Celebration Day. A suggestion was made that ‘all people should have free access to join the tour’ along with a suggestion for further funding to be sought from state or federal government sources.


3.7 Debrief stop feedback

In the final Debrief stop of the tour all visitors were invited to share questions, reactions and insights into refugee experience that had resulted from their participation in the RCIMN tour. Participants watched a short video telling stories of primary school age children in a local public school (a 2018 project between Guilford Public School, RCIMN, SPARK and The Welcome Studio) about their own refugee experiences. Hearing the young children’s insights of their refugee journeys including the sadness of loss as well as their joyful stories of arrival to safety in Australia, provided a positive close to the tour and added to the sense of awareness and connection with the human experience of refugee journeys that the RCIMN tour aims to build amongst visitors.

Facilitated discussion took place in the Debrief stop and all adult and high school visitors were invited to complete a Visitor Evaluation Survey for collection and analysis.

In addition, all school students were invited to take part in activities that provided further qualitative insight into their experience. Although this additional feedback did not form part of formal evaluation findings, observation revealed certain response patterns and augmented insights gained from the Visitor Evaluation Survey.


Primary school feedback

Primary school students were invited to leave post-it note comments on the wall in response to three separate questions:

- What is one thing you learned today?

- What is something which surprised you?

- What is a good story you heard today?

Students responded to the questions of their choice. Each day the often highly personal comments were collected and shared with the Tour Guides providing them with a heartwarming insight into the learning that was taking place for the young people with whom they had shared their stories.

Question: ‘What is one thing you learned today?’

- ‘Today I learnt that even if you are a child of a refugee you are still known as a criminal.’

- ‘We are very lucky to have a home with air conditioner and hot shower/baths and warm beds. And lucky to have fresh food from supermarkets and shops.’

- ‘That refugees have more hardships and burdens than anyone in the world should.’

- ‘I learned that some things may hurt a lot, a question can affect a person and it feels like you’ve been stabbed in the back. We need equal rights’.

Responses to this question largely mirrored comments about what was ‘surprising’ with an implied empathy about refugee experience. There was frequent reference to experiences of everyday life in refugee camps and the overall difficulty and trauma of refugee experiences. A notable difference between messages regarding this question and others was the frequent comparison that students made between the comfort and certainty of their own lives with the difficulties, loss and fear experienced in the life of refugees. There were repeated comments by students that they should be ‘grateful’ for their own comforts and privilege.

Question: ‘What is something which surprised you?’

- ‘I was surprised by how many children are refugees…I was also surprised by the visas TPV and SHEV. I hated how they were treated.’

- ‘The way that they get treated and how others can take away precious things so easily.’

- ‘I was surprised that the girl came to Australia without her grandparents and didn’t know if they were ok.’

Students responded in large numbers to this question with surprise being expressed across almost all of the insights into the refugee experience that had been shared in RCIMN. Surprise was repeatedly expressed by students at the conditions in refugee camps such as lack of food, privacy, and education, the global proportion of children who are refugees, the duration of refugee journeys, the length of time that people are forced to spend in refugee camps and the kinds of conditions that people experience


in detention after seeking asylum in Australia or with temporary visa status. Many students described shock at the loss of the familiar objects of everyday life and the destruction of family. Many expressed shock at conditions in immigration detention centres such as detainees being identified by a number assigned to them by Australian authorities rather than by their name.

Many comments included drawings of people on boats, stick figures carrying guns and people caged behind bars.

Question: ‘What is a good story you heard today?’

Significantly fewer responses appeared to be placed against this question compared to other feedback questions. The intended purpose of the question was to measure the success of the tour in dispelling negative stereotypes of refugees and to encourage students to consider ways that ordinary people can help refugees and people seeking asylum. However, in most cases students appeared to have interpreted the question as one asking about which story or form of storytelling had the most impact. Frequent responses cited the ‘boat story’, the violent behaviour of the border guard or the conditions in the camp as ‘a good story’.


High school group feedback

All high school students were invited to complete an individual Visitor Evaluation Survey (see Visitor evaluation survey responses) and to leave a post-it note message for Tour Guides if they wished.

Question: ‘What would you like to say to the tour guides after your experience at RCIMN today?’

‘Real

Experiences

Friends

Universally

Good

Efforts

Eternal

Stories’

(message left by school student)

The highest and most consistent number of responses made to this question, inviting them to communicate directly with Tour Guides, was an indication that a key RCIMN objective to increase a sense of connection between refugee and broader populations was achieved at a high level. Student’s responses to this question demonstrated a strong sense of empathy having grown from their participation in the tour. The post-it notes became a direct and highly positive communication from students to the Tour Guides, frequently providing heart-warming feedback. Responses were largely congratulatory and thankful. Many student messages wished the Tour Guides good luck with students commenting that they would ‘never forget’ the stories that Tour Guides had shared. Many commented on what they saw as refugee courage and bravery. Often the comments were addressed to individual Tour Guides, especially those who had shared details of their own youth or whose role in the experiential activities had been particularly affecting (eg the border guard).

An additional reflective activity aimed to encourage students to use any change in attitude or increased sense of personal connection with refugees that they have have gained from the tour to further support and engage with people from refugee communities. The activity asked high school students to work in small groups to reflect on what they had learned during the tour and to create a realistic post-visit plan diagram under the heading ‘This is what we can do to help refugees…’. Students in each group recorded the plan using their phones to refer to back at school. Activities that high school students most consistently listed on the plans were:


• volunteering – help out with English classes or helping refugee students with homework

• fundraising or collecting supplies (eg money, food or personal hygiene supplies) to support refugee families via community or school events

• awareness raising - using social media, tell friends and family, ‘educate your school’ via events, seminars

• advocacy - including lobbying local members of parliament,

• making active connection and friendship with people from refugee backgrounds and make them feel welcome and supported.

Discussions with teachers

While students were completing debrief activities, individual discussions were held with teachers accompanying the classes. Teachers described RCIMN as providing them with highly practical and concrete ways to deepen student knowledge and understanding about refugee experience and human rights. Many teachers saw the participation in RCIMN as an important way to help their students bridge gaps in understanding that result from their more secure and relatively privileged backgrounds and those of refugee families. Some teachers combined the RCIMN visit with a tour of Auburn for their students to gain a view into the cultural diversity of Sydney that they may not have previously accessed. Many teachers structured the RCIMN visit into a set of lessons with a specific curriculum focus using the pre visit materials that had been provided as well as a range of curriculum specific learning activities. A teacher from a local school for girls returned to RCIMN on the same day as the class visit to bring posters showing plans that students had made following their visit to support the United Nations Refugee Convention.


4. ConclusionRCIMN 2019 was highly successful, attracting over 2000 visitors with school students accounting for the largest number of visitors. Visitor evaluation surveys completed by 1064 respondents indicated significant positive social impacts resulting from their attendance in a tour.

Evaluation of RCIMN 2019 demonstrated that key project aims to develop greater understanding and support for refugees in Australia and to create a greater sense of connection and engagement amongst the local communities and individuals who took part were achieved at a very high level across all visitor and stakeholder groups. Visitors shared deeply insightful comments about the learning that had taken place as a result of their attendance and what had made the tour so effective. Many described being deeply moved by RCIMN with some visitors citing a reversal of previously held negative attitudes about refugees and a new understanding of the human experience of refugee flight as a direct result of their participation in a tour.

A raised awareness of refugee issues and a determination to share that awareness in one’s own circles and in the broader community was an expressed intention by large numbers of visitors across all types of tours. Visitors repeatedly reported in the visitor evaluation survey that the tour had helped them to learn about refugee and humanitarian crises in a completely different way from previous understanding that they had from popular media.

Most visitors and project partners commented on the powerful impact that meeting Tour Guides and hearing their stories had on dispelling negative stereotypes of refugees and people seeking asylum. A frequent visitor comment was that taking part in the RCIMN refugee journey had been life-changing. People across visitor groups commented on a new or increased awareness of the difficulties and trauma that people from refugee backgrounds continue to face and expressed a sense of connection and increased sense of personal responsibility to do more to support people living in their communities who have made refugee journeys or are seeking asylum.

In debrief discussions and recorded on visitor evaluation surveys, people who attended professional development tours identified practical ways that they would provide better services to refugees and people seeking asylum. School students listed actions they could take together via school channels to raise awareness of refugee issues, advocate for refugee rights and fundraise to support organisations such as the House of Welcome or the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS).

‘How do I help?’

Before and after questions in the visitor evaluation survey measured change in visitor understanding in relation to project objectives. While visitor responses pointed to very high levels of change regarding the human experience of refugee journeys at every stage, there was a smaller positive shift in relation to Question 1.3 ‘Regarding refugee and asylum seeker rights under international law’ and Question 1.5 regarding ‘ways that individuals

4. Conclusion


can take responsibility to support the rights of refugees’ with the large majority of visitors indicating that they had ‘some knowledge’ rather than ‘high level of knowledge’ after the tour. Many visitor survey comments and discussions that took place in the final debrief stop conveyed a wish for more detailed information about these two areas. As in previous years a two sided A4 leaflet titled ‘3 Things You Can Do’ was given to visitors at the close of the tour providing a brief list of suggestions for how people could support refugees and people seeking asylum by volunteering, fundraising or raising awareness with links to a number of project partner organisations past and present. The 2019 leaflet added web links for the Refugee Council of Australia and the Kaldor Centre for International Immigration Law as appropriate and reliable sites for information about asylum seeker rights under national and international law that is easily accessible, accurate and up to date. The impact of a visit to RCIMN would be strongly enhanced by providing a more extensive set of information and practical ideas for ways to help people from refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds or ideas for making connections with refugee communities or agencies that support them.

School visits

There were particularly high numbers of school students visiting in 2019 despite very little promotion of the project to schools, with many making return visits thereby indicating a strong school interest in RCIMN and a high level of satisfaction with the outcomes of the visit. Due to capacity constraints it was necessary to decline booking requests for approximately 600 students additional to those who did attend the tour. The high rate of return visits and the large number of students that some individual schools booked (such as all tours on one day booked by a single school) to attend reduced the overall number of schools that could attend as well as the possibilities to extend the learning that takes place from tour attendance to schools that have not previously attended.

Tour guide employment

Tour Guides clearly described highly positive outcomes from participating in RCIMN. In addition to the profound psychosocial benefits that most Tour Guides described as a result of their participation, benefits associated with employment were significant. Through their successful recruitment in a formal employment process Tour Guides were supported to learn about Australian employment systems, build their self confidence and through training and leading tours, develop skills that increased their ability to gain employment. In previous years Tour Guides have gone on to successfully apply for employment that was strongly supported by the learning that took place for them in RCIMN and the ability to list local employment on their resume.


5. Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood 2019: Visitor SurveyThank you for being a part of the Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood tour. We are interested in learning about your experience of the tour to make sure it is a useful and relevant experience for all visitors.

1. Please circle the statement (a, b or c) to describe your level of knowledge BEFORE and AFTER the tour:

BEFORE the tour:

1.1 Regarding why people flee from their homes

a. I had no understanding at all

b. I had some understanding

c. I had a high level of understanding

1.2 Regarding conditions in refugee camps or urban environments during a refugee journey

a. I had no knowledge at all

b. I had some knowledge

c. I had a high level of knowledge

1.1 Regarding refugee and asylum seeker rights under international law




1.3 Regarding difficulties that refugees and people seeking asylum may face when arriving in Australia




1.4 Regarding ways that individuals can take responsibility to support the rights of refugees




AFTER the tour:

1.1 Regarding why people flee from their homes

a. I had no understanding at all

b. I had some understanding

c. I had a high level of understanding

1.2 Regarding conditions in refugee camps or urban environments during a refugee journey




1.1 Regarding refugee and asylum seeker rights under international law




1.3 Regarding difficulties that refugees and people seeking asylum may face when arriving in Australia




1.4 Regarding ways that individuals can take responsibility to support the rights of refugees




4. Surveys


1. Has anything changed for you (e.g. your knowledge; feelings; beliefs) as the result of the tour experience?

2. Which aspect of the tour made the change/s happen?

3. As the result of your participation in the tour today, is there anything that you plan to do to support refugees and people seeking asylum in relation to your work, study or life in general?

Section 2: Please tell us a little about yourself

TYPE OF VISIT:

School tour:

High school student High school teacher Primary school teacher

Professional tour:

Health worker Teacher Council staff

Other: _____________________________________________________

General public tour:

Gender: Female Male

Suburb/Postcode: ___________________________

Country of birth: ____________________________

Do you speak a language other than English at home? Yes No

If yes, what language do you speak? ____________________________________


Section 3: Your Contact DetailsWould you be happy to be contacted in 2-3 months’ time to discuss the impact that Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood has had on your personal or work life?

Yes No

If yes, please provide your contact details below:

Name: ____________________________ Phone number: _________________________________

Email address: _______________________________________________________________________

Would you like to subscribe to the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) mailing list? If yes, we will provide your full name and contact email to RACS.

Yes No

If yes, please provide your contact details below:

Name: ____________________________ Email address: ____________________________


5.2 Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood 2019: Partner SurveyThank you for being a project partner of the 2019 Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood project.

Please take a few minutes to answer these questions about your organisation’s role in this project. The information collected will help to identify areas to build on for future years.

To be completed by one representative per partner organisation. This is an anonymous survey. No personal information will be collected.

1. How did your community/organisation take part in Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood? (please explain who/what/how)

2. What were the aims for your community/organisation in being involved in this project?

3. In relation to the aims or your community/organisation, what were the results from taking part (e.g. partnerships, volunteers, supporters, etc)?

4. What helped to make those results happen?


5. What will the effect of those results be?

6. What would you like to see happen further/following from this year’s delivery of RCIMN?

7. Do you have any other comments?

© Cumberland Council 2019

Cumberland Council PO Box 42 Merrylands NSW 2160

E [email protected] | W cumberland.nsw.gov.au | P 8757 9000

refugee camp in my neighbourhood

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