Describes the Living in Harmony Partnership initiative developed in the Family Court of Australia and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), designed to improve services to diverse clients. The Partnership’s drive focused on Australian family law and the legal system in general. Participants represented the nationalities of Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia. The goals were to improve cross-community relations, promote appropriate referrals between multicultural and ethno-specific services, and find ways that the Court could strengthen community leadership as well as family units. Over 45 agencies, both governmental and nongovernmental were involved in consultations and community education workshops. Specific programs included are: (1) Melbourne’s Horn of Africa Bilingual Educators Program, (2) engagement of the Iraqi and Sudanese communities in Victoria; (3) Parramatta’s approach to using community facilitators with diverse immigrant groups; (4) Tasmania’scommunity engagement with African immigrants through playback theatre; and (5) Adelaide’s partnership aimed at improving awareness among Court staff of the legal issues involved in settlement of immigrants from the Horn of Africa.
