Should I be worried that someone I care about is headed towards violent extremism?
Violent extremism refers to a person or group who justify or use fear, terror and violence to achieve ideological, political or social change. This can include what most of us know as terrorism or hate crimes. Violent extremism can come from any side of the political spectrum, any religion, race or other grouping. While there...
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Looking after your mental health during COVID-19
Large scale crises don’t only affect those directly involved. In the case of the COVID-19 virus or any other major public health concern, many people may experience anxiety, worry or stress – as we are dealing with the unknown, and with implications that are out of our control. However, it’s important to remember that these...
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The Internet and violent extremism
According to the Office of eSafety Commissioner’s Online Hate Report, approximately 33% of young people reported being exposed to online content promoting terrorism. This is a worrying statistic, and while there is still ongoing debate about the link between exposure to extremist content and acts of violence, it’s important to understand the role extremist content...
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Developing cross cultural connections
Australia is a diverse, multicultural society. Approximately 29% of the population are born overseas. We come from over 300 different ancestries, and Australia is home to the world’s oldest continuous culture. Our different backgrounds define and unite us. Unfortunately, our differences are also used by some people or groups to divide us, and to create...
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Favourite blogs of 2019
Over the course of the past 12 months, Step Together has explored a vast range of important topics such as preventing the path to extremism, the power of storytelling in culture and how to encourage critical thinking. Below is a list of the blogs that have resonated the most within our community in 2019. ...
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Preventing the path to extremism
Step Together caught up with Peta Lowe this month, to talk about how we can all help in preventing the path to extremism. Peta worked in Juvenile Justice, from 2006 until recently, in a variety of roles across custodial, community and policy settings. Peta is currently Principal Consultant at Phronesis Consulting and Training, and specialises...
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The Power of Storytelling
Storytelling is a powerful tool in understanding others, ourselves, and the world around us. Stories can inspire and motivate, and help people articulate their thoughts and feelings. Stories can also help people to think critically, making them potentially less vulnerable to extremist viewpoints, and more open to understanding the complexities of other people’s journeys, beliefs...
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Encouraging critical thinking
In today’s digital age, we have more access to information than ever before, and fewer protections in place to ensure that the information we find is unbiased, factual and authentic. This makes the ability to think critically more important than ever. What is critical thinking? Critical thinking can be understood as careful thinking, and...
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Removing hate from the debate
Multicultural NSW recently launched Remove Hate from the Debate, a website designed to help people address online hate speech. Hate speech, as defined by the UN, is “any kind of communication… that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are”. This...
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Developing connections with young people
By Sarah, Youth Case Worker, NSW Sarah is a youth case worker with a community support organisation and has extensive experiencing delivering youth, mental health and community engagement programs across NSW. Step Together asked Sarah to share her insights for how support workers and community leaders can better connect with young people, particularly those who...
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