Dandenong a ‘model of peace’

By Nathan Johnston
FORMER foreign minister Gareth Evans has described Dandenong as a model of multicultural peace.
Mr Evans is now the president of the International Crisis Group, an independent, nonprofit, multinational organisation working to prevent and resolve global conflicts.
He was in Dandenong last week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of housing and youth support agency Westernport Accommodation and Youth Support Services (WAYSS), the organisation he officially opened in 1995.
The former Holt MP said at last week’s event that he often used Dandenong in his new role as an example of how different cultures can live together peacefully.
Housing minister Candy Broad and his Holt successor Anthony Byrne joined him at the celebrations.
The notforprofit community agency provides transitional and longterm accommodation for people that are either homeless, or at risk of homelessness.
Ms Broad said WAYSS received almost $6 million each year from the State Government and had assisted more than 24,000 people across Greater Dandenong, Casey, Cardinia, Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula in the last financial year.
“Every Victorian deserves a decent opportunity in life, and WAYSS has been a key player in responding to accommodation needs and acting as a support network,” Ms Broad said.
WAYSS was formed after the amalgamation of the Westernport Regional Youth Housing Group and the Westernport Regional Housing Council in 1995.
The agency is working with Victoria Police and the Department of Human Services to provide a family violence crisis service at Narre Warren Police Station.
WAYSS is also involved with the Outer South Homelessness Service System Development Project, which provides a coordinated approach to people seeking help from homelessness support agencies in the area.
“WAYSS has grown over the past 10 years from the original focus on youth housing to a broad range of services, including family violence, women’s homelessness and transitional and longterm homes for local people,” Ms Broad said.
“This is a 10th anniversary well worth celebrating and I’m delighted to do it in such distinguished company.”