A newly published Western Sydney University report highlights Catholic Mission’s Interfaith Encounters program as a vital response to the issue of racism, including Islamophobia and antisemitism, and increasing racialisation of religion in Australia in recent years.
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Interfaith Encounters
The Interfaith Encounters program creates safe spaces where young people from different cultural and religious backgrounds can explore common values, build friendships, and learn from one another’s unique perspectives.
Increasing racial and religious tensions in Australia, with rising incidents of Islamophobia and antisemitism, highlight the need for community-driven responses that promote inclusivity, compassion, and unity across diverse backgrounds.
Catholic Mission’s Interfaith Encounters program provides a practical component to the study of religion, enhancing understanding of cultural and religious diversity and building confidence in standing against discrimination.
The program provides the platform for students and staff to develop new friendships, celebrate difference, deepen faith, and promote peace and social cohesion.
Workshops and hands-on learning experiences equip young people with the skills to address racism and prejudice, empowering them to become advocates for dialogue and understanding within their schools and communities.
Each inter-school program is preceded by partnership meetings with staff from each school and a focus group held with students to co-develop the specific program.
The inter-school program:
- Creates connections between schools and community organisations to support them in proactively furthering harmony in their own communities.
- Offers students access to a range of religious, spiritual, and ideological worldviews through face-to-face encounters.
- Provides experiential learning opportunities that support students in critically analysing possible misunderstandings and distrust between people of different faiths, cultures, and ideologies, and furthermore, leads them to identify ways in which they can effectively respond and be active participants in building social cohesion.
Evaluation Report
The report, conducted in collaboration Western Sydney University’s Centre for Western Sydney and Challenging Racism Project, highlights key outcomes:
- Increased appreciation for cultural diversity.
- Improved interfaith understanding.
- Greater confidence to combat discrimination.
With its focus on empowering youth through workshops and hands-on learning, the program equips participants to address prejudice and lead change within their schools and communities.
Delivered in partnership with Together for Humanity, the Centre for Western Sydney and the Challenging Racism Project, the program is a model for fostering social harmony.
To learn more about the program’s impact and explore how communities can adopt similar approaches, download the full report from Western Sydney University.
Together, we can bridge divides and build a brighter future for all.
Funding for the Interfaith Encounters inter-school program has been provided by the NSW Government through Multicultural NSW under its COMPACT program. The program is led by Catholic Mission and delivered in partnership with schools and both faith based and secular community organisations.
Catholic Mission is continually seeking funding and partnership opportunities to support a wider reach of this program and we welcome enquiries and donations.
For further information please contact:
Catherine Towiro
Interfaith Encounters Program Coordinator
PH: 02 9919 7800
Direct: 02 9919 7823