association matters, associations matter
Welcome to this 'smallish' section of the website, the blue section.
The blue section stores some pages dealing with organisational matters, while it was also created as the home for our members: until 2017 only members could log in, browse through documents, send us their online proxy form, and access discount online shop.
This is the welcome page for the blue section of the website, and it's also the page that lists the blue pages that are not linked in the menu, and older pages that are not in the menu.
This page also describes some aspects of Project SafeCom's overall intent as outlined in the constitution, and, because the blue section is the organisational section for Project SafeCom as an association, it stores some of Project SafeCom's Annual Reports.
Finally, the page, because it's the 'hub page' for the blue section, explains how the website, the section colours and the menu buttons work.
All Project SafeCom activity has now ceased; the association was wound up in the year 2020. This website is being kept in place as a historical record and as a research instrument for the public, and for students, academics and researchers worldwide.
The Project SafeCom bank accounts are now also closed, but we've kept the PayPal account active. Any donations are welcome: they will be used for maintenance and payment of the website, and to ensure the continuing presence of this important resource.
14 November 2007: Project SafeCom's 2007 Annual Report - Expectations of the number displaced people inside Australia being on the rise, and World Systems theory arguing that a serious crisis may emerge during a breakdown of capitalism and the ensuing chaos... In the centre of the storm of planetary changes, so vast, so confronting, that it now captures everyone's attention, there's also talk of vast changes to our way of life, our mode of production, and of many of the core paradigms.
Project SafeCom is a community development project and an incorporated non-profit association based in Western Australia. It was established in December 2001. The vision of Project SafeCom is laid out in the constitution in summary form, but in practice this vision provides for a set of ethics, a direction for its values and social responsibilities.
The Constitution defines Project SafeCom as having an intent to establish a safe community for people of any race, gender, creed or nationality, who are displaced as a result of Wars or Political, Social, Climatological, Ecological and Geological upheaval and/or Disaster; and for other users as and when appropriate.
Below are some comments about the practical implementation of this vision, adapted from a 2007 work areas definition statement.
vision and ethics
Project SafeCom has marked its values, directions and ethical positioning to refugees, displaced people and various other vulnerable population groups by defining a vision of a rural, farm-based sustainable community in [Western] Australia which would act as a safe community for people of any race, gender, creed or nationality, who are displaced as a result of wars or political, social, climatological, ecological and geological upheaval and/or disaster.
no timeline
By capturing a community vision in this practical way - without stipulating a timeline for its implementation - Project SafeCom has defined its values of adherence to relevant International Conventions, environmental sustainability and, as its logo alludes to, values of care for land and care for people, while at the same time this notion of "intentional community" alludes to what may to a greater or lesser degree become a future community life form and community practice in an era where Australian city life and ecological/societal cohesion and equilibrium may be seriously affected by climate change.
what we do
Project SafeCom opposes the Australian Government's mandatory detention of asylum seekers and refugees and the restrictions placed on their basic freedoms and sense of dignity.
Since its implementation in 2001, Project SafeCom has opened up and refined its contribution to the national debate on human rights issues, aspects of the anti-terrorism legislation, asylum seeker/refugee treatment and policies, and the relationship with Australia's Indigenous people through frequent and impassioned media work, submissions to Parliament, communication with many individual MPs and Senators of all parties and sides of the House and Senate, and through regular community-based events, forums, debates between key stakeholders, and through movies, performing arts events and dramatised readings.
It has also represented detained asylum seekers and availed itself as a bridge between their interests and mainstream Australian media, and has been successful in achieving change of circumstances, and release from detention, for several individuals and families, using the method of bringing a previously untold story to the attention of the Australian public as well as the Federal government.
electronic
Through its online shop it brings relevant literature and movies to the attention of the public while at the same time using these sales as a form of revenue raising to assist its operations.
Project SafeCom's highly valued Daily News and Updates, a subscriber-based electronic newsletter, links many people in Australia's Human Rights lobby and sources them with the flood of print- and other media in its relevant mandated areas of refugee issues, anti-terrorism legislation, environmental and climate change policies, and indigenous issues.
8 February 2008: The End of Scott Street: moving out, moving on - Alas, all good things must come to an end. So, come January 2008, with many boxes in the hallway, we ended the Scott Street era. On the way to new openings, new possibilities, and towards the turning of a new leaf. This page brings together some photos taken at the Scott Street house, and the article from The Fremantle Herald announcing the closure of our time there.
28 December 2006: The 2006 Volunteer of the Year Trophy - Since we started our organisation in 2001, many people have helped Project SafeCom develop into the organisation it has become: and at the 2006 Christmas wind-up we took the opportunity to honour one of our volunteers.
6 September 2005: The Tipping Model for business - Robert Woodhead proposes a tried-and-tested method for providing compensation - the offering and acceptance of tips - and provides an example of a successful internet business using this model.
20 January 2002: Project SafeCom Membership information, what is a Membership? - Every officially Incorporated Association has a body of members. The members help decide on issues in the running and management, and they support the Association. This is one of our older pages, updated in 2006.
15 December 2001: Project SafeCom's 'looking after people' vision - What Project SafeCom in its future implementation vision has to offer to various groups in Australian society, or conversely, which groups of people have things to offer to Project SafeCom. This is one of the earliest vision implementation pages created for our website.
10 December 2001: What is Project SafeCom: implementing a rural community vision - This page is a bold vision dating back from the early days of our organisation, and written within the context of how things could have developed using community and education funding models available during the Hawke & Keating era.
7 December 2001: Kidz Privacy: Are you younger than 18 years of age? - a page about the US COPPA legislation. Although this is a relatively short page, hardly ever seen, it's linked off the membership application page, and it's about children's privacy and how Project SafeCom deals with it.
7 December 2001: Information sheet and guidelines for incorporation - The "official" part of forming a Corporation is about complying with the legislation and getting to know the legislation. Luckily the Department of Fair Trading has a lot of online resources, and we happily confess....
The website has six topic sections marked by their colors. From any page you can jump to any of the sections using the menu bar at the top. List bullets with the same colours help you identify the 4-5 line page summaries that you'll find throughout the website. Below are the section descriptions, showing these bullets, following the order of the top menu bar.
The red section was developed as part of our 'election campaign' during the 2004 Federal election. It carries the nick-name "Fixing Australia", because Project SafeCom's Blog was set up as part of that section.
The blue section is the section for organisational matters and the section of our Association matters; it includes the 'closed section' for our organisation's members.
They grey section is our human rights section. With about 400 pages, the grey section is by far our largest section, dealing with Australia's refugee and asylum seeker issues, indigenous issues, the campaign for a Bill of Rights, Australian media issues, and the Iraq War.
The olive green section, nick-named 'sustainable earth' contains some environmental issues and the climate change debate in Australia. Issues about climate change and 'environmental refugees' are also stored inside this section.
The 'sustainable shelter' section presents some ideas for alternative housing and low-impact shelter and living environments.
The orange section was created as a response to Australia's draconian Anti-Terrorism legislation proposed during the neo-conservative government of John Howard from 2003 to 2005 - and its implications for citizens' rights and freedoms.
The white field at the right side of the top menu bar is not a section: if you're one of our members, it brings you to the page where you can log in to the members-only section.
The page summaries for the Blog are marked with this little swirl to mark it as distinct from the usual 'red' section page summaries.
All pages that deal with indigenous issues or speeches written by indigenous leaders are marked with this tiny Aboriginal flag.
surfing this website
A brief explanation of the coloured sections of our website. Note that all the menu button images below are "clickable": they bring you to the places we describe!
If you're visiting our website for the first time, we welcome you! You may like to know that you're in the presence of 2,000 to 4,000 others who are visiting the site today (figures of April 2008). And if you're one of our returning visitors, you may already be excited: since January 2008 we've re-edited the entire website, and it's more attractive and comprehensive than ever!
using your mouse
Move your mouse over any of the menu buttons below and in all menus: an explanation of what the page is all about will show.
Currently you're in the blue section of our website. While it's not a big section, it's an important one, because the web pages here are dealing with some more formal organisational matters: we're an Incorporated Body by law, so we show some information for members as well as our supporters.
The blue section is also the place where our paid-up members log in to the password protected section, which also is the place for our Members-only Shop. Members who live in far-away places can also complete an online form in that log-in section to send us their electronic proxy form when we have General meetings.
So while this section is small, the grey section counts hundreds of pages about Australia's undermining of International rights for 'unannounced' boat refugees and asylum seekers; our treatment of Indigenous people; Australia and "the Iraq War", the state of our media and our need for a human rights charter.
Exploring all sections of our website will be easy by using the "What's New" page as your starting point (bookmark it!), because that page not only links to all archived pages since 2001, but it also lists every new page we create, usually on the very day we create it.
In addition, throughout all six sections of the website you'll find this documentation button, leading you to hundreds of background documents, action flyers, petitions, research papers and briefing papers for and from Non-Government Organisations, churches or affiliated church groups, refugee activist groups, Federal Members of Parliament, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations, sustability groups and climate change organisations.
We use smart "inverted" colours in the menu buttons when you are already at the page listed amongst the buttons in the menu. A good example of 'inverted colours' is here in the orange section - where the menu on the section hub page shows a bright cyan: the inverted colour of the colour orange.
and there's some more
We've also made sure to include some more buttons on every page of this website:
Project SafeCom is of course an Non-Government Organisation, or an NGO, and entirely independent as an organisation - and proud at that - but that also means we're self-funded: we pay all our bills and we generate all the money we need to pay those bills ... a never-ending quest!
So, by including the row of four red and green buttons as displayed here on every page of our website, we ask you to visit our online Shop, our page for making donations, while you also should enjoy visiting our Events page - since our beginnings in 2001, we have organised forums, film events, speakers' events and theatre fundraisers.
orders and payments
Our international preferred payment agent for all books and videos in our online Shop and for donations is PayPal. All products pages have an instant PayPal payment button installed for our visitors' convenience. While we are clearly a "not-for-profit" organisation, your donations to us are under Australian law not tax deductable.
So, our income is generated from the sale of products via the website, the proceeds of local events and fundraisers, from donations and periodical pledges, and from membership fees. You don't need to live in Australia to become a member: while we have paid-up members in all Australian States, we also have members who live overseas, like in the USA. All our members get our acclaimed News and Updates, and qualify for a discount on all products from our online Shop.
Enjoy your visit to our website!