The Liberals and ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾s Government will fund the expansion of an innovative resilience program for school students to reduce religious, racial and cultural intolerance as well as providing funding to support the establishment of an interfaith youth and education centre for Newport’s multicultural community in Victoria.
The Government is providing $3 million to expand the Anti-Defamation Commission’s Click Against Hate program that develops inter-faith understanding.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the program would expand to reach an additional 500 schools thanks to the funding.
“This program teaches students to take action when they experience intolerance or if they see it happening to others,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“We cannot accept the recent incidents of racial and religious intolerance in our schools and broader community. All of us have a duty to stand up to racism and bigotry.”
Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the free program would reach tens of thousands of students over the next four years.
“It’s important to show leadership when it comes to confronting ugliness in our society and these initiatives will help,” Mr Tehan said.
“Expanding this program will help more schools develop strategies to respond to intolerance, so that students feel safe and be able to learn in an environment free of hate.
“Click Against Hate has a proven track record of providing students with valuable strategies and skills to stand up to hate, both online and in the real world.”
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the Government would also provide $850,000 to contribute to building an interfaith youth and education centre.
“This funding is supporting infrastructure critical to community harmony, strengthening multicultural ties in Australia,” Mr McCormack said.
“Our investment will make a real difference by delivering sports facilities, a library, a kitchen and classrooms to host workshops, seminars, language classes and sporting programs.”
The Member for Gellibrand Tim Watts and the Member for Chifley Ed Husic also attended the announcement and we thank them for their support.
