Courage to Care reached an historic milestone this week with the formation of new national body, Courage to Care Australia Ltd.
Founded in 1992, Courage to Care originally existed only in Victoria. In 1999 Courage to Care NSW was formed, ultimately expanding its operations to include programs in Queensland and the ACT. Courage to Care NSW and Courage to Care Victoria have existed as independent organisations ever since, offering similar programs but with separate boards, volunteers and operational staff.
Courage to Care Australia will function as an “umbrella” over the two state bodies. A joint venture between NSW and Victoria, the new company will have equal representation from each state. The newly formed board of Courage to Care Australia will comprise Judy Glick (Chair), Kathy Sharp (Vice Chair), David Klein (Secretary) and Abie Greengarten (Treasurer).
Courage to Care Australia Chair, Judy Glick, said that “Courage to Care Australia has been formed to foster collaboration and co-operation between the two state bodies. While Victoria and NSW will continue to operate independently, it’s hoped that this joint venture will create opportunities for sharing ideas and resources, developing joint initiatives, and avoiding duplicated effort. This will not impede on our strong supportive relationships at State level. When we’re talking to national funding bodies, we can now represent Courage to Care as a truly national organisation.”
The formation of Courage to Care Australia will increase efficiency and ultimately impact, allowing Courage to Care to truly create a generation of Upstanders.
About Courage to Care
Courage to Care educates young people about the dangers of prejudice, racism and discrimination. We do this by:
- Creating awareness of the dangers of discrimination, racism and prejudice
- Educating to challenge attitudes and behaviours
- Demonstrating that every individual can make a difference
- Transforming Bystander Behaviour into Upstander Action
Delivered by teams of skilled and dedicated volunteers and featuring inspiring testimonies from Holocaust survivor speakers, participants are encouraged to become aware of their potential to make a positive difference, offered practical tools for standing up against racism, bullying and prejudice. Participants are empowered to take positive action – in the schoolyard, workplaces, and in their communities.
The 2021 Gandel Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey concluded that higher levels of Holocaust knowledge and awareness are directly associated with warmer feelings towards minorities and disadvantaged groups.[1]
Recent research by the Scanlon Foundation Research shows that prejudiced attitudes towards particular groups in society are widely held and general concern about racism in Australian society is common, with 68 per cent of people holding negative feelings or attitudes towards one or more religious or non-European immigrant groups, representing a significant majority of Australians.[2]
A sharp increase in antisemitic incidents has already been reported in the few short weeks following conflict in Israel, clearly showing that the need to educate the next generation is greater than ever before.
Independent research shows that following Courage to Care’sUpstander Programs, teachers have reported an 86 % increase in students demonstrating Upstander behaviour.
Upstander Programs are currently delivered to schools in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, ACT and WA. This year alone Courage to Care has reached more than 35,000 participants nationally, with continued growth year on year.
couragetocare.org.au
[1] https://gandelfoundation.org.au/gandel-holocaust-survey/
[2] Source: scanloninstitute.org.au/report2021