Member Spotlight: Inner Sydney Voice

Marika Kontellis is the CEO of Inner Sydney Voice.

1. Inner Sydney Voice started 50 years ago, tell me about its history and why it was set up.

It was started by a small group of committed locals who had a fire in their belly. And really believed that local involvement from citizens could really shape communities.

A group of movers and shakers got together and asked what do we want our city to look like going forward? What are we worried about? How important is preserving heritage? How important is it to build social connectedness and inclusion of people who were little bit different? What about recognition of Aboriginal people and the land that we were on?

They fought and eventually got a $3,000 grant to run this organisation, and the rest is history.

2. What are the big issues you’re working on today?

We will always be an organisation that includes, engages, represents and supports people who are marginalised and living in poverty.

We are focused on improving and enabling civic engagement, particularly by people who would otherwise not be included in any decision making. We’re working with people living in some of the social housing estates, people experiencing marginalisation, some of our CALD communities in and around newly developed areas, particularly Chinese speakers in Green Square, for example.

We’re tackling an issue through a consortium that is impacting on everyone, which is loneliness and social isolation. We’ve done a big piece of work around that, and are going to be rolling out a pilot across five places in the district in the region, with some of our partner organisations, which is exciting.

3. What are the things that you’ve done to support your communities through heatwaves? 

Heatwaves is one of the disasters that wasn’t talked about up until recently, and it is the number one killer. Our model is a peer-to-peer training. We’ve trained 36 locals living with a lot of complexity, but who are so committed to adding value to their own neighbours.

They undergo training around understanding what a heatwave is, what it does to your body, and where to go for help. We’ve got checklists and goodie bags for people, including fans and ice packs. There are tips around how to keep your place cool. People who live in substandard housing conditions and those experiencing homelessness are far more at risk of heatwaves.

One of the strategies we tell people is “open your front door, lock your screen door, to get a breeze through your apartment”, and the peer workers have come back to let us know that Homes NSW have taken the screen doors off because it’s deemed a fire hazard. So, people are sweltering in their flats. They can’t afford air conditioning. We hear the real-life stories of what it’s like to be in a heatwave. We advocate that people go to the public libraries and the shopping centres to stay cool, and they say well, that’s fair enough. But what happens when they close and you have to go back home?

4. Inner Sydney Voice is partnering with NCOSS to hold a Local Connect forum in Redfern this month on 24 February. How important is it to have a united community? 

I often say, no one has a monopoly on strengthening communities. In fact, if everyone played a role in strengthening communities, then it just multiplies and multiplies. Our message is really clear that local communities need to drive the issues, and position solutions. And organisations like NCOSS and others should rely on local communities for that information and their broader state-based and national advocacy programs.

One of the things that we’re seeing play out in communities is the issue of social cohesion. We’ve had an increase in racism, we have an increase in exclusion. We’ve got an increase in conflict on the back of stuff that’s happening nationally and internationally. These are real issues that are impacting on our local communities.

The role of those who are close to the ground and are hearing these stories from people, is to actually develop some solutions and try and drive some change. And one of the ways to do that is through our peak agency, which is NCOSS. So, I really welcome the Local Connect forum, where we will get some of the local thinkers and doers around a table to unpack some of these bigger issues and how they’re playing out in our local community.