114 · Suzanne D. Rutland
and life cycle events.^58 Project Abraham has taken a different approach
from “Together for Humanity,” as the latter does not seek to explain each
of the religions but rather takes basic moral principles and shows their
commonality across the faiths.
The Living in Harmony program has a number of strengths. It draws
on grassroots support and expertise, with each project being sponsored
and operated by specific some paid workers, but each project also draws
on the organizations that foster community building and social cohe-
sion. The government funding provides the possibility of principle of
volunteerism. At the same time, the government’s approach is really one
of minimalism and tokenism. The total amount allocated is tiny in pro-
portion to the overall federal budget, but at the same time the concept is
effective “pork barreling,” as the government wins support from com-
munity groups and appears to be dealing with the problem of racism.
A major problem of this approach is that funding is allocated on an
annual basis and there is a less than 10 percent success rate each year.
Each group that plans to apply has to start work in February, submit
the application by the middle of the year, but only find out in October
whether the application has been successful. Thus a lot of time is spent on
applying for funding. In addition, each group does not know until close
to the end of the academic year whether the funding will continue. The
pressure of the annual process of grant application results in burnout,
with groups deciding not to continue. In this way, effective programs and
the cumulative knowledge are lost. Another problem is that the Ministry
for Immigration and Citizenship is not a popular post, and there has been
an ongoing changeover of ministers, with most having little knowledge,
understanding, or commitment to the program.^59
Individual religious and ethnic associations have also worked to
sponsor Jewish/Muslim dialogue. Within the Jewish community, this
has been done through the Jewish Boards of Deputies and Community
Councils in each state. For example, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies
runs a program with Affinity Interfaith Dialogue called “Youth Encoun-
ters” that brings students from religious-based schools of the three Abra-
hamic faiths together for an intensive day after undertaking an educa-
tional program in their own faith, as well as “Journey of Promise: YOU,
ME, aUStralian,” which was a joint program of ten Jews, ten Muslims,
and ten Christians, also sponsored by a Living in Harmony grant. As