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This consultation was held in collaboration with the Office for Multicultural Interests, the Ethnic Communities Council Women's Sub-Committee, the Al-Hidayah Islamic School, the Somali community, Dar Al Shifah, the Muslim Women's Support Centre and the Australian Islamic College.

The meeting was organised by Ms Karen Goltz, Regional Health Promotion Public Health and Strategic Development Western Metropolitan Region, Department of Human Services and, and facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh (notes) and Susanna Iuliano from HREOC. It was attended by seven invited participants. Omeima interpreted the Arabic.

The meeting was facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh and Susanna Iuliano from HREOC and attended by 13 invited participants from the Canberra Islamic Centre.

The meeting was chaired by Ms Susan Booth, Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Queensland. It was attended by 15 invited participants. Dr Bill Jonas, Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, and Omeima Sukkarieh attended from HREOC.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Jocelynne A. Scutt, Commissioner, together with Ms Santi Mariso, Community Education and Liaison Officer and Mrs Pia Struwe, Investigation and Conciliation Officer with the Anti-Discrimination Commission, and with Mr Stuart Beswick of Multicultural Tasmania. It was attended by some 24 invited participants, two of whom were children (10/13). The Commissioner gave a short introduction. Then everyone introduced her/himself and said a few words about where they had come from and their interests.

These notes summarise three separate consultations attended by a total of 41 high school students in Years 7 -11 from three government schools in the Parramatta, Granville and Bondi school districts in the Sydney metropolitan area. Most students invited to take part in the consultations were of Muslim or Arabic-speaking background. Students were required to obtain permission from their parents in order to participate. The meetings were organised with the assistance of the NSW Department of Education and Training and participating schools.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission was established in 1986. The Commission's goal is to foster greater understanding and protection of human rights in Australia and to address the human rights concerns of a broad range of individuals and groups. We have a particular focus on race, sex and disability discrimination, as well as the rights of Indigenous Australians. It is an independent statutory organisation and reports to the federal Parliament through the Attorney-General.

Some participants had not experienced discrimination themselves. One woman mentioned that she had experienced significant prejudice but did not give details. However, she related the following experience of her son.

“In the month after September 11 we had a 20-fold rise in reports of incidents of racial vilification. So it peaked very much. September 11th came as a shock and people were extremely scared.

"I've noticed that in the smaller country towns, even though Muslims do get discriminated against, the towns are a lot better than the big cities. I've noticed it when I go home to Innisfail, which is 65 kms south of Cairns. When I go back home, I have no problem at all. I'm one of the only ladies who wears the scarf. You might see one every couple of months but really there's no-one up there who wears it. I've actually had a ladies come up and ask me 'Oh, why do you wear it? You look so beautiful with it on'."

Eight members of the refugee women’s group and two EMC workers attended the consultation which was facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh (transcript and translating) and Susanna Iuliano from HREOC. The Ecumenical Migration Centre was established in 1962 and became a part of the Brotherhood of St Laurence in 1999.

The consultation was organised by Houssam Abiad and facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh, HREOC (notes). Franco Parrella from the South Australian Equal Opportunity Commission also attended the meeting. Eight young people participated.

1. Australia: 36% 2. Lebanon: 10% 3. Turkey: 8% 4. Afghanistan: 3.5% 5. Bosnia-Herzegovina: 3.5% 6. Pakistan: 3.2% 7. Indonesia: 2.9% 8. Iraq: 2.8% 9. Bangladesh: 2.7% 10. Iran: 2.3% 11. Fiji: 2.0%

The meeting was chaired by the Deputy South Australian Equal Opportunity Commissioner, Ms Anne Burgess and facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (notes). It was attended by 21 invited participants.

The meeting was chaired by Ms Galila Abdelsalam, Aged Care Coordinator of the Islamic Women's Association of Queensland (IWAQ), and facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh (notes) from HREOC. It was attended by 81 invited participants from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Ms Hasnija Junuzovic interpreted the Bosnian and Omeima interpreted the Arabic.

The project was officially supported by the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Council of Australia, the Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria, the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, the Islamic Council of Victoria, the Islamic Girls’ and Women's Group, the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues, the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition and Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE. The support of all of these organisations was vital to the overall success of the forum.

Over the past year increasing trends of prejudice and harassment of particular groups in our community has continued to be an area of significant concern for me. As noted in the 2002-03 annual report, I launched the Isma project in March 2003 in response to increasing concerns expressed by Arab and Muslim organisations about the rise in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice in Australia.

Dr Bill Jonas, Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, opened the meeting with a brief presentation. Meredith Wilkie (notes) and Susanna Iuliano also attended from HREOC.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission summary report on national consultations with Arab and Muslim Australians was launched in Sydney today.