The University of Newcastle, Australia

The National Action Plan of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has recently recognised the success of the 'Crossing Bridges and Strengthening Harmony: Building Greater Understanding with Muslim Australians' project.

Through funding provided by the National Action Plan, staff from the University Counselling Service and International Division collaborated with members of the Newcastle Muslim Association, Northern Settlement Services (formerly the Migrant Resource Centre), Department of Education and Training and Newcastle TAFE to produce three resources:

• 'Welcome to Newcastle: Information for Muslim Students and Families' - a booklet with information about specific services and support in the local community.
• 'Understanding Islam' - a brochure with a snap-shot of information about Muslim beliefs and practices..
• 'Focusing on Islam: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions' - a web based, in-depth resource outlining Muslim beliefs and practices..

The aim of these resources was to increase community knowledge and understanding of Muslim beliefs and practices and to assist Muslim students and families to settle more easily in to the Newcastle community.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has recently funded a reprint of 10,000 copies of the resources so that they can be distributed to every university and Muslim Student Association across Australia as a model for the development of resources for their students.

Hard copies of these resources may be obtained by contacting Jeannette Walsh on 4921 5801 at the University Counselling Service or Ruth Gresham at Newcastle International on 4921 5767.

The resources are also available on the University web site. Information about the project is available through www.immi.gov.au/nap
Jeannette.Walsh@newcastle.edu.au Ruth.Gresham@newcastle.edu.au