National Action Plan

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National Action Plan

In July 2006, all Australian governments, through the Ministerial Council on Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (MCIMA), endorsed the National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security (NAP)

The Australian Government allocated $35 million to implement the NAP. Spread over four years (2006-2010), the program concentrates on four key areas: employment; education; integrating communities and enhancing national security.

The Australian Human Rights Commission was one of seven Commonwealth agencies which received funding for projects under the NAP. To deliver these projects, we have established the Community Partnerships for Human Rights program.

The beginnings

The NAP had its beginnings on 23 August 2005 when the Prime Minister (then Prime Minister Howard) met with a number of Muslim community leaders.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) asked MCIMA to develop a national action plan that built on the recommendations of this meeting, and on similar meetings between state and territory government leaders and faith and community leaders. The Australian Government established the national Muslim Community Reference Group through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in September 2005 to assist with this process.

The Group and its Sub-Groups worked for twelve months to gather literature and undertake consultations. The results of this work informed the development of the National Action Plan, which was endorsed in July 2006 by MCIMA. The final report of the Muslim Community Reference Group was released in September 2006.

The NAP is coordinated by the Multicultural Affairs Branch of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIaC)