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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Perth library trials social worker program to help people in need
Libraries have always been sanctuaries. They're cool in summer, warm and dry in winter, have free wi-fi, comfortable seats and plenty of entertainment. But when librarians at Success library in Perth's south noticed a teenage girl spending long hours in the library each day, they wanted to help. "Librarians are very passionate about helping people," Cockburn Libraries adult services coordinator Deb Rigby said. "She wasn't at school and she didn't want to be at home because she was suffering from domestic and family violence and she didn't want to leave when the library was closing." Ms Rigby said the cost of living crisis had also brought more people to the library in search of free resources and internet, entertainment and to connect with community. "Librarians and library staff realised that a lot of people had unmet support needs and all they needed was some help in finding the right services and support for their needs," Ms Rigby said. "And they felt that they didn't perhaps have the training needed." The idea for a pilot project was formed. Ms Rigby said it was common for libraries in the US and UK to have social workers stationed in the library. But without funding, they had to think outside the box. With support from Cockburn Integrated Health and Communicare, two students from Curtin University have set up a desk in the library. It's tucked just inside the entrance and is staffed by the students a couple of days a week. Social work students Jenara Lane and Amber Proudfoot said they had so far been able to help dozens of people. "It's a drop in style service," Ms Lane said. "It's accessible to everybody, anybody who uses the library space can come in just have a chat with us, they might be looking for resources, they might need a support service perhaps and be looking for a referral. She said people saw libraries as safe spaces. "It is one of the few spaces left where you can go and feel comfortable and not feel obliged to purchase anything." Ms Proudfoot said similar programs had started in South Australia, Fremantle and Melbourne. "A lot of these supports are set up in a very clinical setting and that can be quite daunting for people to go into, whereas in the library setting everyone is accepted, it's a very culturally safe space for people to attend, it's free, it's warm, it's inviting," she said. The students have access to a quiet room, where they can go with a client to have a confidential chat. Success Library hopes to keep the program running, but libraries are already struggling with funding. WA Local Government Association (WALGA) president Karen Chappel said public libraries promoted social cohesion and wellbeing. "The shift in community expectations and needs is placing pressure on our public libraries, and while the services have changed, funding has not," Ms Chappel said. WALGA wants the state government to provide an extra $30million over four years to restore library funding to pre-2013 levels. "The State Government provides support for public libraries through the provision of funds for library resources, however this is out of step with the needs of modern libraries and is falling behind what is required," Ms Chappel said. Deb Rigby said the service was a natural extension of what the library already offered. "I think that it could be a model for other local governments to adopt," Ms Rigby said.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Western Australia's remote Islamic communities gather for Eid al-Adha
"Eid Mubarak" may seem a bit different in Western Australia's north-west, where community members gather in unconventional ways to mark one of the most important dates on the Islamic calendar. In Karratha and Carnarvon, worshippers, including some donned in high-visibility work uniforms, have no fixed place of prayer for Eid al-Adha. It is a far cry from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a majority-Muslim external territory, where the Athan or Islamic call to prayer blends with the sound of drums and violins to ring in the holy festival. On Saturday, belated Eid celebrations were held at a hired council venue in Karratha, about 1,500 kilometres north of Perth. Karratha Muslim Community Association president Imraan Koalia said not having a permanent place of prayer had been a real "sticking point" for the community. "We are looking for a dedicated space that we could call our home," he said. Mr Koalia described the Muslim community in Karratha as small but tight-knit, with people from all walks of life and corners of the globe. But he said the transience of the town could make it difficult to cater for all nationalities and cultures. "It's very diverse, very multicultural, very traditional as well. We're only a small community," he said. About 150 people came together for Eid festivities, which involved prayers, sharing gifts and treats, visiting families, jumping castles and face painting at the Tambrey football oval. Mr Koalia described the dissonance of celebrating and feasting as a community while people in Gaza remained under threat and could not enjoy the same freedoms. "It's a time for us when we come together as a Muslim community to remember Muslims all around the world, and especially those Muslims in Palestine and in Gaza," he said. The Carnarvon Muslim community is made up of 50 people. Most have travelled from Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan to work in the farming town. Like Karratha, there is no fixed space for worship. In the past, the civic centre has been rented to host Eid prayers. But this holiday, no communal prayer was held. It is a Sunnah for Muslims, which means it is highly recommended and should be practised, but is not strictly obligatory. Shzahaer Iezayed Abdullah bin Mahalan, who goes by Lang, moved to Carnarvon from Malaysia eight years ago. He spent his Eid working at the kebab shop. "I just talked to my family in Malaysia … I really miss them when Eid comes. But the only the thing I can do is video call them," he said. Lang said most people were too busy to organise the prayer. "They're working in the plantation, some in the petrol station, everywhere they're working. So we don't have any time," he said. But that did not entirely squash the festivities. "Sunday … we can make Eid party for us. We're just discussing … like who's doing cooking, who's doing the preparation?" Using a WhatsApp group, the community planned gatherings and supported each other. More than 2,300km north-west of Carnarvon, the call to prayer could be heard along tropical beaches and blue lagoons as Eid al-Adha kicked off in Australia's most remote Muslim community. Many residents of the Indian Ocean territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands observe the festival, although their traditions have developed in isolation from the mainland. Haji Adam Anthony, the islands' senior imam, said the special variety of Islam practised by the Cocos Malay merged distinct cultures from across the world. "The Clunies-Ross brought the peoples from different places to Cocos." The islands were discovered by the East India Company's Captain William Keeling in the early 1600s. But it was not until the 19th century that trader John Clunies-Ross began populating them with indentured workers from British Malaya, China, India and other places. Haji Adam said Islam took strong root among these settlers, who congregated on Home Island when the Clunies-Ross fiefdom passed into Australian control. Cultural markers from homelands as distant and diverse as Indonesia to Scotland still feature in contemporary ceremonies. Worshippers marked Eid with traditional dancing, tamarind drum playing and performances on the Cocos biola, a fiddle which the Clunies-Ross family is often credited for bringing to the territory. Haji Adam explained the harmony between disparate traditions and Islam made the Cocos (Keeling) Islands unique. "[Without] using drum or violins and so forth … we lost our culture and tradition," he said. "The elder people still like to keep this."
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Heritage honour for ships sunk in Battle of the Coral Sea
It has been more than 80 years since they came to rest 3,000 metres down on the ocean floor, but their pristine markings have been remarkably well preserved. In 1942, American ships the USS Sims, the USS Neosho and the USS Lexington were patrolling the Pacific as part of the Battle of the Coral Sea when on May 7 and 8 they were struck by Japanese torpedoes. The USS Sims, a Destroyer, was escorting the fleet oiler, USS Neosho, when Japanese aircraft landed multiple direct hits, including a suicide dive from one fighter plane. Two bomb strikes exploded in the Sims' engine room, buckling the ship and causing a massive explosion that sank the vessel. The next morning, the aircraft carrier USS Lexington attacked Japanese forces who, minutes later, fired back. The ship suffered two direct torpedo strikes, followed by an explosion from one of the internal fires that ignited petrol vapours. The strikes caused significant damage, but it was American torpedoes that finally sank the vessel to prevent it from being captured by the Japanese. It was a devastating loss, with 635 US servicemen losing their lives and just a few surviving. The wrecks laid undisturbed for 75 years, more than 3 kilometres down in the Coral Sea, about 1,000km east of Far North Queensland. Rediscovered in 2018 by a team led by US billionaire Paul Allen, the shipwrecks and war graves will now have extra protection. The federal government announced on June 1 that they had been added to the National Heritage List. Federal Minister for the Environment Murray Watt said the site was of national significance in Australia's history. "The Second World War was a time of such terrible and unimaginable loss suffered by so many and the Battle of the Coral Sea was central to keeping Australians at home safe," he said. "By including the site on the National Heritage List, we can ensure greater protection for a number of historic shipwrecks, while preserving a significant piece of world history for future generations." Richard Scully, from the University of New England, said heritage protection was crucial because some WWII warships had already disappeared from the Pacific. He said it was important to remember that, as well as having historical value, these were war graves. "Now that we know where these graves are located means we can protect them," Professor Scully said. "We can register them as heritage and we can continue to do justice to the men who fought and died." Professor Scully says the remarkable preservation also gives a vivid insight into the experience of the battle. "The Lexington, an unarmoured warship essentially being attacked from the sky, was burning in the sea before it was scuttled." Professor Scully said it was also important to raise the profile of the conflict in Australia's collective memory. He said the Pacific War was sometimes the poor cousin to the European war, with the war against Hitler holding the imagination more than the Pacific War. "This is Australia's war in so many ways, and I think it is important to remember that." He said the battles in the Coral Sea to defend Australia and New Guinea were remarkable. "This is the first naval battle in history where the opposing warships never saw each other. "It was fought entirely by aircraft flying off aircraft carriers over the horizon, locating the enemy and attacking them."
