Under the banner “Change Our Suburbs, Change Our City”, the Community Support and Health team reported the success of the Liverpool group action in achieving an undertaking from the newly elected Council to install dedicated pick-up and drop-off zones outside medical centres.
The Transport team has identified safety at the major interchange stations as key to its vision “for Sydney to have a world-class public transport system that is regular, reliable, clean, safe and easy to use … regardless of health, wealth, age and mobility”. Redfern, as the station that has the second most interchange opportunities, was part of a number of lighting audits undertaken in August and September. When the Transport team took the results to the City of Sydney it committed to making $75,000 worth of improvements.
Nina Zeng, a Sydney University student who spoke to the Assembly, contrasted Redfern to “my home station at Campsie [which] has been redeveloped. It’s well lit, well staffed, looks cared for” as she spoke of her reluctance to travel home by train after dark.
The third major action focuses around Social Inclusion. After inspiring stories from Scott and Chantel, who both overcame difficulties in their youth in Glebe when given opportunities for employment, we heard that an employment agreement to take on young people from the local housing estate in apprenticeships is close to being finalised.
Layla told of her experiences as a young Tongan woman going to the assistance of male friends who were regularly stopped and searched by police. Commissioner Andrew Scipione responded positively to the Alliance’s proposal of partnership programs for police and Alliance organisations, but with a “maybe … let’s look at the data” to its proposal for Search and Seizure Receipts.
Opportunities for future action brought the afternoon to a close, with more than 1,000 committing their involvement.
