$100K grant for safer schools
The Safe Schools Coalition Victoria (SSCV) will receive a $100,000 one-off grant from the state government.
SSCV coordinator Roz Ward said the grant would keep the program running for another 12 months.
“It’s good news that we can keep this very important program running,” Ward told the Star Observer.
“We just need to ensure that funding continues.”
Ward said it was crucial the program be given recurrent funding to encourage more Victorian schools to take part in the anti-homophobia initiative.
“It’s difficult with a program like this, to target schools across Victoria and especially rural Victoria if we have to reapply for grants every year,” she said.
Since its launch last year, SSCV has enlisted 31 schools across Victoria to encourage anti-homophobia environments for students to learn.
SSCV has also developed a resource booklet – Supporting Sexual Diversity in Schools – which has been sent to every school in the state.
The program operates in partnership with the Foundation for Young Australians and was born out of the Rainbow Network, a coalition of people who work with same-sex attracted and transgender youth.
The SSCV was initially funded to the tune of $80,000 for one year by the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Ward said the Rainbow Network also needs urgent funding to continue its work – its current funding is due to run out at the end of the month – and hopes the Baillieu Government’s promise of $4 million to deal with suicide prevention strategies for same-sex attracted youth will come to the rescue.
Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon said the Government intends to continue the Safe Schools program, saying all students should be educated in safe school environments.
“Our support for Safe Schools Coalition Victoria is an important step in ensuring that school communities have the resources and confidence to challenge homophobia and respect diversity,” Dixon said.
“It is vital that we work together to tackle and reduce homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism within school communities and ensure schools are safe and supportive places for all young people.”
Supporting the grant, Prahran MP Clem Newton Brown said homophobia could have “potentially tragic” consequences for young people.
“We have a duty of care to all young people to make sure that they are safe, accepted and happy as they go through their school lives, regardless of their sexual orientation.” Newton Brown said.
It is a shame The Safe Schools Coalition Victoria will not be getting long term funding from the Liberal/National Party. They are doing ground breaking work creating a safe culture at schools for students to be themselves straight or gay.
Perhaps if the Education Minister, Martin Dixon, and Prahran MP Clem Newton Brown, attended some of these schools, they might not of cut the GLBTI community from access to billions of dollars in government run services, and had thousands of people sacked, and denied jobs at these services, simply due to their sexuality. These are people doing the jobs that look after you when you cannot wash yourself, the people who feed and clothe you at a homeless shelter, those who look after people with a disability. People who work hard in aged care services, and those who work in many schools, hospitals, and even pharmacies. The good people who work with youth who are in trouble and living on the streets, those of us that foster a child out of love.
Remember Clem and Martin next time you pay for your bills, that our community pays it for you, remember when you look at your love we cannot marry, remember next time you checkout that we gave you that money. What is the maths, we get denied access to billions while you give us back $100,000?
Telling Gay GLBTI students to wear a yellow star, and telling us to wear a pink triangle, when accessing government services, is an attack on the fundamental basis of our society –the great Australian Ethos of a Fair Go. So Clem and Martin I ask you both not do the Judas on us. Not pretend to be nice and warm, and then stand giggling while we are nailed to a cross.
If you were both really committed to the ideals you talk about, why did you not walk three metres across the floor of parliament, why did you drive those nails into our hands and feet. Why do you crucify GLBTI people? You made us unwanted martyrs.