[Commpsych] FW: FYI -Australian Government announces policy shift and recognises Macedonian community

Tue Feb 14 06:34:47 WST 2012

Dear All

It may be of interest to you when working with Macedonian people that the Australian Government has recognised that the term 'Slav' Macedonian is a discriminatory and racist term and has withdrawn its usage

Kind Regards

Vicky

________________________________
From: Maya Kyp [mkypuros at gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, 13 February 2012 7:40 PM
To: Maya at Melbpc. Org. Au
Subject: FYI -Australian Government announces policy shift and recognises Macedonian community

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.<http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=737c5bfd7845d70c57aced6a3&id=f9fa622e02&e=4c975ea84f>

[Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC)]<http://macedonianhr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=737c5bfd7845d70c57aced6a3&id=b9d61fe930&e=4c975ea84f>

Australian Government announces policy shift and recognises Macedonian community

13 February 2012

The Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) is pleased to announce that after a sustained lobbying campaign, the Australian Government has finally withdrawn its discriminatory and racist "Slav Macedonian" Directive which renamed the Macedonian community in 1994.

In a letter dated 9 January 2012, the Acting Chief of Staff to the Minister for Foreign Affairs wrote:

"I can reaffirm that the 'Slav Macedonian' Administrative Circular is no longer operative in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). As is standard practice with inoperative Administrative Circulars, it has been cancelled and the document archived. Similarly, DFAT has advised me that the 'Slav Macedonian Directive' is not in use in other agencies, including the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Australian Bureau of Statistics."

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship also confirmed this position in a subsequent letter to the AMHRC on 11 January 2012:

"As stated by...[the] acting Chief of Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I can confirm that this department does not actively use the term 'Slav-Macedonian'. For example, the Translating and Interpreting Service National now only uses the term 'Macedonian'. We acknowledge the concerns of the Macedonian Australian community in relation to this matter."

This victory marks the end of a significant and long-running campaign by the AMHRC to gain governmental acceptance of the Macedonian community's right to self-identification. The campaign began in 1994, and saw hearings before the High Court of Australia, the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission and the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade. Its culmination was recently reached after an intensive series of exchanges, involving meetings and correspondence, with senior Cabinet Ministers (including the Prime Minister), members of parliament from all political parties and various Government Departments.

The Australian Government's announcement of the official end to its offensive nomenclature policy marks a return to the long successful policy of Multiculturalism, a position the AMHRC has long advocated. This is a victory that will be beneficial to the maintenance of the human rights of all Australians.

Whilst the AMHRC is pleased with the Australian Government's current shift in policy toward the Macedonian Community, it now reiterates its call upon the Government to take the next logical step and recognise the Republic of Macedonia under its official and democratically chosen name.

FOR A DETAILED CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE.<http://macedonianhr.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=737c5bfd7845d70c57aced6a3&id=de41c085ba&e=4c975ea84f>

Media Liaison:

  *   Jason Kambovski – 0414 640 916 (English language media)
  *   Dr Chris Popov – 0409 107 848 (Macedonian language media)

________________________________

Established in 1984, the Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) is a non-governmental organisation that informs and advocates before international institutions, governments and broader communities about combating racism and promoting human rights. Our aspiration is to ensure that Macedonian communities and other excluded groups throughout the world, are recognised, respected and afforded equitable treatment. For more information please visit www.macedonianhr.org.au<http://macedonianhr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=737c5bfd7845d70c57aced6a3&id=8b566acc35&e=4c975ea84f>, email info at macedonianhr.org.au<mailto:info at macedonianhr.org.au> or via +61 3 9329 8960.

Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee Inc.
Suite 106, Level 1, 55 Flemington Road
North Melbourne, Victoria 3051 Australia
Ph: +61 3 9329 8960
Email: info at macedonianhr.org.au<mailto:info at macedonianhr.org.au?subject=AMHRC%20web%20inquiry> | Web: www.macedonianhr.org.au<http://macedonianhr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=737c5bfd7845d70c57aced6a3&id=cc2d8099d0&e=4c975ea84f>

[Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp]<http://www.mailchimp.com/monkey-rewards/?aid=737c5bfd7845d70c57aced6a3&afl=1>

This email, including any attachment, is intended solely for the use of the intended recipient. It is confidential and may contain personal information or be subject to legal professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use, disclosure, reproduction or storage of it is unauthorised. If you have received this email in error, please advise the sender via return email and delete it from your system immediately. Victoria University does not warrant that this email is free from viruses or defects and accepts no liability for any damage caused by such viruses or defects.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.curtin.edu.au/pipermail/commpsych/attachments/20120214/77d3c482/attachment.htm 