Communities



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The administrative office of CONTACT Inc is centrally located on the Brunswick Street Mall in Brisbaneís Fortitude Valley. CONTACT Inc currently works in the South West Corridor of Brisbane and Sunnybank including surrounding suburbs, we also work in the Ipswich region.

We collaborate with:

  • Young People: CONTACT Inc defines young people as being up to the age of 35 years. Influenced by policy implemented by South Africa at the end of the apartheid era this definition is inclusive of participants who, because of life situations exacerbated by identification with particular cultural backgrounds, have inequitable access to community resources and life opportunities. This definition also recognises community values and relationship systems which define a young person as being personally, socially and economically dependent of his/her parents. At the time of the most recent census in 1996 young people aged 12 to 25 were 23.1% of Brisbaneís population. Statistics for the age group up to 35 was not available.
  • Young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders: There is wide diversity in cultural groups, strengths and issues for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. For example, in 2001 45% of Indigenous teenagers were not in full-time learning or Employment. Inala is the suburb with the most significant Indigenous population in Brisbane (BCC: 2000).
  • Young people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds: CONTACT Inc works both with recently arrived young migrants, as well as young people born in Australia with diverse cultural heritages. In Brisbane, 11.5% of all young people were born in a non-English speaking country, of which Inala has the highest population alongside suburbs such as Sunnybank Hills, Eight Mile Plains, Durack, Darra-Sumner Park and Runcorn (BCC: 2000). CONTACT Inc has a strong history of working with Polynesian and other culturally and linguistically diverse groups.
  • Young Refugees: CONTACT Inc works with young refugees who reside within the community (ie, post detention or off-shore arrivals). Young refugees have experienced varying forms of trauma or violent civil unrest and have been forced to flee their country of origin. These experiences contribute to the difficult process of settling in Australia (BCC:2000). Australia accepts approximately 12, 000 refugees each year (DIMIA: 2005) of whom about 40% are children and young people. (Beavis: 2002)

 

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