| A Multicultural Landscape: National Parks and the Macedonian Experience |
|
1. An example from NSW Fisheries
Community Liaison Officer appointed Part of the scope of this project was to consider initiatives taken by other agencies that negotiate ethnic diversity. I was frequently referred to an initiative of NSW Fisheries that in 1996 appointed Hai Chung as a Community Liaison Officer.
NSW Fisheries identified a particular need for educational programs conveying information to the Vietnamese community about bag limits, minimum catch size, environmentally protected zones, shellfish collection and other regulations. (These are issues also affecting some NPWS estates.) The Vietnamese community was targeted because of its extensive involvement in both recreational and commercial fishing. There was a perception that the state’s fisheries were being endangered because of this community’s unfamiliarity with the regulations. At the time of writing, 35 of the 57 vessels that comprise the Botany Bay commercial fishing fleet are run by Vietnamese operators. Their presence reflects the changing face of multicultural Australia. Previously, the fleet was dominated by fishermen of Greek heritage.
Role involves education rather than enforcement Hai Chung was initially employed as an Enforcement Officer, but in a shift that reflects the educative rather than adversarial nature of his position as it rapidly evolved, NSW Fisheries decided to make him a Community Liaison Officer.
Hai Chung regards cultural differences in attitudes to nature as fundamental to his work. In Vietnam, where the experience of war encouraged a survival mentality, it is assumed that any wild animal is available to anyone with the nous to catch it. Hai assures me that the majority of Vietnamese Australians are eager to comply with the regulations and are fearful at the prospect of large fines. His mission has been to convey information about fishing laws through community networks.
Ethno-specific education In the past four years NSW Fisheries, at the instigation of Hai Chung, has taken a large number of fairly inexpensive initiatives aimed at community education. These include: -
(1) Conducting workshops with Vietnamese community associations in Marrickville, Liverpool, Cabramatta, Auburn and Wollongong. He also targeted a number of Vietnamese women’s associations, arguing that although fishing is more popular among men, the women play an important role in conveying information.
(2) Giving workshops at Vietnamese language Saturday schools which are attended by many children. Experience shows that children are often influential in spreading messages to older members of the family.
(3) Working closely with Vietnamese language programs on SBS Radio. Community announcements in Vietnamese are aired at no charge. In addition, Hai has appeared frequently as a guest on talkback programs, fielding questions about fishing laws. He also organised competitions where correspondents gave written responses to quizzes about fishing regulations. One of these generated over 400 letters.
(4) Distribution of Vietnamese translations of press releases and copies of regulations.
(5) Fishing ‘clinics’ (ie schools) were organised for Vietnamese children. These free weekend classes, organised by NSW Fisheries and attended by children with their parents, taught all aspects of fishing from finding bait to tying a hook and also provided opportunity to familiarise students with regulations.
(6) Establishing a Fisheries information stand at the Vietnamese New Year Festival, held each year in February at Warwick Farm race course.
The merits of this approach are self-explanatory. Because Hai is working with his own community, speaking in Vietnamese, his understanding of how the community works, how knowledge is transmitted, when and why people get together, is much more comprehensive. NSW Fisheries claim the compliance to regulations is considerably higher as a result of this work. Little wonder the NSW Fisheries is frequently upheld as a model for other agencies in the cross-cultural field.