from yaprap February-March 2010
Isabel Seidel
yaprap Feature Writer
I often get a real buzz when I walk through a shopping centre or mall and see lots of different people, young and old, interacting and gathering. To me this is what inclusion is about – everyone mixing together in harmony.
However, it’s not an ideal world and some people when they walk through a shopping centre and see a group of young people, think that they are up to no good. The media hasn’t helped the situation with all the negative stereotyping of young people. There has also been heaps of public debate and research around the issues of young people’s relationships to public space. I found that there is so much information to devour that I got bogged down in the problems concerning young people and public space. The research is important but perhaps more important are the projects that aim to prevent problems from escalating.
Two councils in Sydney - Waverley and Hornsby - have used research and their creativity to successfully develop projects that aim to make all people feel welcome in public spaces. Both projects promote inclusion and safety in different ways, with young people being the focus. The aim of this article is to discuss and compare the two projects and hopefully encourage youth workers to generate further innovative youth projects in public and private spaces.
So, where are the projects located?
Waverley Council area is located in the inner-eastern suburbs of Sydney, about 7 kilometres east of the Sydney CBD. The main shopping centre is Bondi Junction and it incorporates the bus-rail interchange as well as Westfield Mall with approximately 445 tenants.
Hornsby is 25 kilometres north of Sydney CBD, with the Hawkesbury River forming its northern boundary. Hornsby Mall is the main shopping centre with approximately 350 retailers, a large number of these located within the Westfield complex.
What were the projects' aims?
The Bondi Junction Youth Protocol was launched in 2005 and it is a set of guidelines developed for all those who use the public and private spaces around the entire Bondi Junction CBD including three shopping malls, a bus-rail interchange, an open space mall as well as all the businesses within the CBD boundaries. The protocol was unique in NSW because it widened the focus of previous shopping centre protocols to include both public and private space.
The objectives of the protocol include:
- Increased safety for all users of the Bondi Junction shopping centre
- Community acknowledgement of young people's rights to use public spaces
- Outline and define acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in the Bondi Junction area by establishing agreed guidelines so that young people can be confident that there will be a more consistent response from relevant security and store managers.
A couple of years later in 2007, Hornsby Shire Council’s “Including & Involving Young People in Public Malls In Hornsby” project was implemented. The project was different to Waverley because its focus was on the Mall. However, it was similar to the Waverley project in that it developed a mall protocol. It also employed a Mall Youth Worker to engage with young people and encourage them to participate in community arts projects. The project also included an infrastructure component such as the installation of fairy lights and a sound system in the Mall.
How were the projects implemented?
Waverley Council conducted community consultations in 2003 for its Community Safety Plan, revealing the need for safe recreational spaces for young people. Further consultations identified the need to reduce conflict in Bondi Junction between young people and the community and in particular shop owners and security staff. There were also concerns about under-age drinking, vandalism and other anti-social behaviours.
Similarly, in Hornsby there were concerns about anti-social and criminal behaviour for a number of years. The Hornsby Mall Safety meetings were trying to address these issues. The meetings were attended by Council and Westfield representatives as well as other stakeholders. One of the group’s main priorities was to install closed circuit television (CCTV). The group was very supportive of obtaining funding for the Council “Including & Involving Young People in Public Malls in Hornsby” project.
The community consultations gave the Councils a clear picture of what the problems were and helped shape the development of their project's funding applications. They targeted crime prevention funding opportunities. Funding for community-based crime prevention projects is often very competitive and successful projects always start from the development of a good safety plan. Both councils were rewarded for their hard work in developing their safety plans and putting forward innovative projects. The NSW Attorney General's Department funded the Bondi Protocol and the Federal Attorney General's Department funded the Hornsby project.
Once the funding was received, staff were employed to implement the projects. In Waverley they employed a project officer. However, in Hornsby because the project also involved direct youth work in implementing arts projects, a Mall Youth Worker was employed. Steering Committees were set up to guide the projects and provide advice and support to the project officers.
In Waverley the steering committee was called the Bondi Junction Community Safety and Young People’s Committee. The aim of the committee was to draft the protocol and included the following stakeholders: Waverley Police, shopping centre and security managers, bus and rail managers, chamber of commerce representative, local youth service providers, local residents, young people, rangers and other significant council members. The committee had the task of developing a protocol that covered three main areas which included:
- Privately owned land – shopping centres, shops and restaurants
- Public land – The Bondi Junction Mall, Waverley Mall, Clemenston Park and all the streets and roads
- Enclosed space - Bus-rail interchange
In Hornsby the steering committee had the same role as the Bondi Junction committee but a different focus - they concentrated on the Mall. The Mall Youth Worker was able to report on what was happening at the Mall and seek advice from members. The people on the committee included: police superintendent and crime manager as well as the Youth Liaison Officer, Westfield security manager, chamber of commerce, council representatives, PCYC youth program officer and club president, youth services and health representatives, high school representatives, member of parliament and representatives from the child and adolescent mental health services. The Council's Youth Outreach Team worked with the key stakeholders to positively engage with young people who used the Mall facilities.
What were the outcomes?
The protocol outlined the different types of unwanted behaviour and the consequences of such behaviour. The protocol also outlined young people’s rights and responsibilities and what they can do if they feel they have been unfairly treated. Once the protocol was accepted by the Council it was then officially launched and publicised through the media and information sessions which were held for target groups. The Protocol was produced in booklets for public distribution as well as wallet size cards to help increase penetration amongst young people.
The Hornsby project was able to employ a youth worker for 14 hours a week, who worked mostly in the evenings and carried available resources to hand out to young people. Training sessions were held for security and council rangers on developing better rapport with young people. A mall protocol was written and lights and sound installations were installed at the youth centre. Numerous arts projects were carried out such as workshops on aerosol, acrylic and oil based art, writing music, playing music, writing poetry, singing and dancing. Art exhibitions were held in the mall as well as live performances.
In both areas, reported incidents of violent and anti-social behaviour had dropped since the projects were launched. Many community members have acknowledged the value of young people and their right to enjoy public spaces.
Obstacles and lessons learnt
Getting the Mayors on board is a great bonus when encouraging other organisations and businesses to get involved, said John Gilbert, former Project Officer of the Bondi Junction Youth Protocol. He said that without the Mayor driving the project it’s a lot more challenging to get all the partners involved. Also, arranging the steering committee meeting times when young people are able to come along. John said that sometimes he had to go and pick up young people in the morning to get them to the meetings, but he stressed that youth workers must do whatever it takes to get young representatives there.
Hornsby Council used the method of action research to monitor how the project was developing. Action research involves observing what is happening, reflecting on how it happened and how it could change, ask questions about how you might do things differently, plan how you might do things and put those plans into action. The Hornsby Youth Collective, a group of young people who were affiliated with the project, was involved in the action research. For example, the young people participated in a series of workshops to express through art what the mall means to them. The artworks depicted both positive and negative themes. Action research gave the opportunity for young people to be involved in the development and review of the project.
Sharon Mizzi, Coordinator Youth Services at Hornsby Shire said implementing such a project would have been impossible if they had stakeholders who were not empathetic to the needs of young people. They had to make sure that the mall youth worker had a clear set of boundaries and knew how to work with the police and security without undermining them or the young people.
Where to from here?
The great thing about the Bondi Junction Protocol is that it is a living and breathing document that continues to be revisited. Waverley Council has just employed a new safety officer to follow up with stakeholders to see how the protocol is working and identify what the current problems are. As well, the council youth worker is going to identify what new recreational opportunities can be created for young people. So, there are new and exciting projects ahead in Waverley.
In Hornsby the project was such a success that the council decided to employ the mall youth worker at peak times to provide information, support and referral options for young people - and this limits the involvement of police. Both projects are wonderful success stories and demonstrate what can happen when inclusive approaches are adopted to solve problems in public and private spaces.
More information
Hornsby Council
- Sharon Mizzi, Coordinator Youth Services
- 02 9847 6536
- smizzi@hornsby.nsw.gov.au
Waverley Council
- Stephan Henderson, Community Safety Development Officer
- 02 9386 7971
- stephanh@waverley.nsw.gov.au