The Religious Leaders and Civics Media Training has been delivered by the Australian Multicultural Foundation for Imams across Australia to further build their skills, confidence and networks in relation to working with media and understanding Australian governance. The training has been developed to enable Imams to represent their communities in ways that counter negative perceptions and ensure balanced reporting of issues, as well as contributing to dispelling myths and inaccuracies about different cultures and religions. The training brought together twelve Imams from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including new and emerging communities from Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland to participate in a 2 day training program in Melbourne.
There was a variety of presenters who participated in this project and they ranged from Imams to magistrates, academics and law enforcement agencies and they touched on many topics such as governance and law, marriage and family law and religion, multiculturalism and national security. The event also included intensive media training for television and radio delivered by Haystac Media, professional journalists and producers. The session also included an open and frank discussion with three of Australia’s prominent journalists and commentators such as Alan Howe, Barney Zwartz and John Masanauskas. The two day training program has met all expectation.
This project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship through the Diverse Australia Program. For more information, visit www.harmony.gov.au
As part of the Training Program the Australian Multicultural Foundation has developed the resource “Understanding Media: A Guide for Imams Working in the Community”.
Click here to download Understanding Media Guide (3109K)
For further information contact the AMF office on (03) 9347 6622