The National Muslim Youth Summit, aimed at finding practical solutions to key issues concerning young Australian Muslims, was held in Sydney in December 2005.

The Foundation established the summit in collaboration with the Australian Government’s Muslim Youth Sub-group and the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

Almost 70 young Australian Muslims from around Australia were invited to focus on finding practical solutions to areas of identity, relationships, employment, education and training, and discrimination.

The young people were brought together in a spirit of inclusiveness to develop strategies and solutions benefiting the wider community.

The Foundation’s Executive Director Hass Dellal said: “We were encouraged by the honesty and the positive contribution made by the delegates. The delegates identified six core issues and then developed solutions aimed at rectifying these problems. Then they embarked on a campaign to present the solutions to the Government for its National Action Plan on community relations”.

The six core issues identified by the delegates included a perceived conflict between Muslim and Australian identity, inter-generational conflict, marginalisation, unemployment, the media, and community building.

Many of the solutions involved practical strategies such as recruiting Muslim police and making childcare available for Muslim women. Other solutions were aimed at instilling confidence in the community by relaying accurate information to the community and appealing to religious leaders to improve the sense of unity among the Australian umma.

Click here to download the National Muslim Youth Summit Communique.

Click here to view the National Muslim Youth Summits 2007 Report published by the Deparment Of Immigration and Citizenship