The Culture Exchange

An Amnesty International & Western Bulldogs Community Foundation initiative

Words by Narelle Mulrooney and Macaylah Johnson

Loreto College Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education and Outreach Officer, Macaylah Johnson, is a panellist for The Culture Exchange, a program designed to build culturally inclusive workplaces and communities, and to tackle racism through allyship.

A partnership between Amnesty International and the Western Bulldogs will see the joint delivery and facilitation of The Culture Exchange program across the Bulldogs’ heartland in the west of Melbourne and Victoria.

Macaylah helped launch the program at an event hosted at VU Whitten Oval, Melbourne on 10 December, 2021.

The panellists involved at the launch event included:

1. Monica Forson (Footscray), Senior Adviser - Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

2. Macaylah Johnson (Ballarat), Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Education and Outreach, Loreto College

3. Lunorphare Folly (Ballarat), Youth Commissioner - Victorian Multicultural Commission

The trio shared lived experiences, answered questions and gave insights to an audience of a range of community members from across the west of Melbourne.

Allies can play a key role in tackling racism, as well as advocating for inclusion of people from marginalised or underrepresented groups, using their position to counter inequality. But what does good allyship look like in the community, in our schools and workplaces? How can allies use their privilege to amplify the voices of others to achieve real change as we step towards a world without racism? The program aims to address these questions and more.

Hosted by VMC Commissioner and Amnesty International campaigner, Shankar Kasynathan, the program will explore successful allyship for groups such as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Insights will include:

• Acknowledging privilege

• Listening to lived experiences

• Calling out inequality

• Amplifying diverse voices

• Understanding cultural load and identity strain

• Workplace diversity

Macaylah Johnson conductsa traditional Smoking Ceremony with students at Loreto College.

‘The partnership will create important conversations,’ Shankar Kasynathan said. ‘We want to create an Australian society that upholds everyone’s fundamental human rights and ensures every single person has the same opportunities irrespective of race.’

‘We look forward to working with the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation to facilitate safe spaces across the west of Melbourne and Victoria where people can talk openly about the racism that still exists in our society, and what we can do about it.’

Simon Rodder, Western Bulldogs Diversity and Youth Manager said ‘We are so excited and honoured to be entering a partnership with Amnesty International, particularly in tackling such an important issue in our community. As a Club, we have a longstanding commitment to supporting our community and using our profile to advocate for change. Sometimes this is done through players but most of the time it is done through partnerships and community-based programs.’

‘Our players have a strong commitment to equality, supporting leaders in the LGBTQIA+ space, tackling racism and supporting our First Nations communities.’

‘Our program-based work focuses on the grassroots, and creating experiences that connect and inspire people living in the west. We have a commitment to not only elevating messages but providing ongoing opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds to succeed. I must admit the past couple of years have been challenging in community development work but we have still been able to do some great work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities (NAIDOC Week event and our Nallei Jerring Program, all part of our RAP) and New and Emerging Communities with events (Cultural Diversity Week and Refugee Week) and ongoing programs (our GOAL Mentoring Program). We are also proud to be the first sporting club in Australia to have developed an African Action Plan which, after community consultation, works with leaders across the west to support educational and employment outcomes.’

‘In all these events and programs we engage players as much as possible to be part of the program and connect to community. Players are part of our programs, working groups and events, and we’re hoping they can be involved in this project from 2023.’

The program continues in 2022 with workshops at local high schools and councils across Footscray, Ballarat and the Grampians region.

Macaylah Johnson, Lunorphare Follyand Monica Forson take the stage at thelaunch of The Culture Exchange program.