StepOne: Where to Begin

First Steps

1. CONSULTATION AND COMMUNITY BUY-IN
   Set up a community harmony working group. This is DIFFERENT to an ‘access & equity’ or ‘ethnic affairs’ committee. It should include people representive of the whole community.
   
   
2. TAKE STOCK
   Do a community cohesion audit. Conduct a community harmony survey, and set some key local indicators. See links below examples from UK. 
   
   Resources:        
   Community Cohesion Indicators (UK)
   Community Cohesion Action Guide (UK)
   Social Capital Audit Cookbook (AUS)
   
3. MEDIA
   Local newspapers - build a good relationship with individual journalists. Help them understand the important role they play in building community harmony. Give consideration to funding a media campaign as a central aspect of your harmony strategy.  
   
   Resources:            SocialChangeMedia Guide
   
4. POLITICS MATER
   Enthuse your mayor and councillors and ensure bi-partisan buy-in. Their support is critical to the success and sustainability of your strategy.
   
5. JOINED UP APPROACH
   Set up a conversation across the whole of your local government. Community Harmony links right across council, and is not just the domain of community services. Think about how planning, health and other services connect. ‘Joined up’ also implies partnerships with community groups and other agencies in the area, as well as other levels of government, and where appropriate, partnering up with other LGAs. 
   
   Resources:           
   Australian Public Service Commission ‘Connecting Government’
   
6. SOCIAL JUSTICE BASICS
   Ensure the basics are in place. Access and Equity, EEO, Anti-Racism policies and practices embedded in your organisation.  
   
   Always ensure that an appropriate 'Welcome to Country' or 'Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners' ritual takes place at the beginning of any public events or activites.
   
   Resources:           
   State & Territory Anti-Discrimination laws
   Services for all: Promoting access and equity in local government (ALGA)
   HEREOC Guide to the Racial Discrimination Act
   Discrimination Comparison Chart (State legislation)
   Racismnoway
   AMSSA (Canada) Advantage Diversity Kit
   Wording for Recognising Traditional Owners (ANTAR Victoria) 

Next Steps

1. DEVELOP YOUR STRATEGIES
   Identify the issues you want to tacke. Identify your target audiences. Research best practice (the case studies on this site are a good place to start).
   
2. ESTABLISH PARTNERSHIPS & APPLY FOR FUNDING
   Link in and partner up with local community groups and other stakeholders. Apply for funding! See the funding pages for details.
   
3. ESTABLISH YOUR ‘BRAND’
   Momentum is built by fostering a ‘brand’ for your bundle of strategies. Give your strategies a collective identity with a catchy title..  
   
4. IMPLEMENT
   Implement your strategy. Don’t forget to build in a media campaign. It is also important to have stakeholder steering group involving members, local community groups and key decision makers. Their role is to guide your strategy and ensure council and community buy-in.
   
5. EVALUATE, EVALUATE, EVALUATE….
   Important to evaluate as you go, and at the end. Genuine evaluations (not just the type that make you feel good!) help improve your practice.
   
   Evaluation is best done against baseline indicators. You might consider using some from your community cohesion audit (step two above). Evaluation techniques can inclulde a survey, focus groups and in-depth interviews. The Social Audit Cookbook provides some good advice on these research methods. If it is a community wide anti-racism project, then media monitoring can also be a useful tool. 
   
   Resource:
   Evaluating Community Projects - A Practical Guide
   Toolkit to Measure: The Added Value of Voluntary and Community Based Activity