Impact case study database

Sykes’s research into PNG household composition led to the founding of the PNGCC in Cairns, the largest city in the northern regions of Queensland. PNG families do not form an enclave or neighbourhood in Cairns. Instead their residences are widely spread throughout the small towns of the city’s hinterlands. They do not connect by internet in this region where broadband provision is weak, but it is common to meet with other families while shopping in the city. The PNGCC is located in Raintrees Shopping Centre with its affordable shops and medical and dental services. It is a short drive to the government offices of Cairns and very near to St Francis Xavier’s Church where news of the Centre’s activities is shared through the Catholic community and PNGCC directors use the church office facilities to support their work.

Sykes’s research into the wide dispersal of PNG residences was used first to draft a policy for PNG people written by [Text removed for publication], whose ardent interest in the well-being of the Papua New Guineans in Australia shaped his work as a Diocesan priest at St Francis Xavier’s Church. When he relocated from PNG to Australia, he sought support from his Bishop for the large mobile community of unknown numbers of PNGs, now on his doorstep in the north of Queensland. The Diocese of Cairns chose to support the proposal and open a PNG community centre.

Pathways to Impact

Development of the proposal for a PNG Catholic Centre

Sykes shared key research findings over three public presentations in 2014, all to larger groups of PNG men and women who were members of different churches in the area (Catholic, Seventh-Day Adventist, United-Methodist, and Salvation Army). These presentations addressed: a meeting of 30 PNG women who represented various social groups in the region (including popular clubs and sports); a meeting of 8 church leaders working with PNG families; and a meeting of 60 PNG women and men from the wider PNG community. In these meetings, Sykes discussed PNG transnational households and their multi-residential composition across Australia and PNG, and sometimes into the South Pacific, southeast Asia, Europe and North America. She highlighted the ways that people moved between the households, and the urban lifestyle of Cairns and Australia more widely, which created the need for a strong PNG community beyond the immediate family unit.

Additional meetings were held in 2014 to discuss Sykes’s findings in more detail, with aged care providers and several local government civil servants who knew the challenges facing the most vulnerable PNG people, such as the PNG widows of white Australian men who lacked support from their husband’s family and friends, and had only weak or no connections with members of other PNG families. These PNG individuals might ‘fall through the cracks’ between PNG households, and be overlooked by organizations that typically support mostly elderly white Australian women. Sykes’s research created the opportunity to speak about the issues raised by her research more generally and recognise the need for preliminary reports pertaining to the problem of care for the aged. During late 2014, Sykes held three one-to-one meetings with [Text removed for publication] in order to discuss her research findings in more depth. He used these discussions to develop his proposal to the Diocese of Cairns for a PNG Centre. The [Text removed for publication], states that ‘ together [Sykes and [Text removed for publication] ] recognized that the research evidence pointed to a need for a PNG Centre to draw people into a community’ [A] in order to support the wellbeing of all members.

Impact

Opening of the PNG Catholic Centre

The Centre was envisaged as a meeting point for all PNGs in the region. The Diocese’s support included:

1. Allocating a portion of [Text removed for publication] time to assist the PNGCC Director.

2. Dedicating office space and administrative support at St Francis Xavier’s Church to support the Centre; and funding the refurbishment of the physical space at Raintrees shopping mall.

3. Making a formal commitment to the saying of a ‘PNG’ mass once a month to strengthen the spiritual community. The mass is said in Tok Pisin (one of PNG’s three official languages) and is attended regularly by 150–200 people in St Francis Xavier’s Church.

Continuing impact of the Centre for the PNG population

The significance of the Centre is felt today in the role it plays as a physical space bringing PNG families into a community of mutual support. [Text removed for publication] describes the vision of the PNGCC ‘ to help the PNG community more broadly, simply by providing a space to meet for all Papua New Guineans. The Centre supports families who might attend regular events, and other Papua New Guineans who might simply drop in for a friendly chat’ [A]. This significance can be evidenced in various ways:

1. Daily community events hosted by the Centre: Arts and Crafts Groups; PNG Music Groups, PNG Mother’s Group, as well as groups that offer spiritual community (such as Friday rosary). [Text removed for publication] notes that regular attendance is upwards of 40 people in some of these events, but they also welcome drop-in guests. Although the Centre does not keep a formal membership, its Facebook website is followed by 690 members of the community, and is used to share details of events, community discussions, videos and photos [B].

2. The reach of the PNGCC is extended by the work of Centacare, the Social Services agency of the Catholic Diocese of Cairns, whose communications between other service providers and the wider network of PNG families support community building at a wider level [C].

3. For example, project RA Nalisa Neuendorf [F] used the PNGCC to organise a 2018 workshop for the Centacare programme, ‘Our Place’, because it is the only space dedicated to hosting regular PNG community meetings. Neuendorf returns regularly to help out at the Centre, and to support what is now a successful community-building programme [C].

4. The casual style of the PNGCC [B] helps to solidify the PNG families into a community of mutual support. The Centre welcomes anyone that drops by, offering them informal casual conversations and referrals. For example, widowed PNG women began to drop into the Centre for companionship in the different mid-week groups, often on recommendation of funeral directors and health care professionals and workers who knew they needed friends.

The PNGCC nurtures general wellbeing in all these ways. In their work, the Centre’s leaders focus on key issues for sustaining, supporting and building community.

Capacity building

Sykes’s research enhanced the capacities of the community to research its own interests. Each of the two Research Assistants in Cairns completed doctorates and found employment in research and higher education. While working with Sykes, the Research Assistants learned techniques for mapping social networks, as well as interviewing skills. Later they were both re-employed on an ARC grant to study ageing amongst PNG expats in Australia [D]. Vincent Backhaus turned to questions of second-generation migrant socialisation and education, and completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge. He now heads the Centre for Indigenous Education at James Cook University (JCU), having first established a programme to facilitate retention of second generation Indigenous and Pacific Islander students in secondary education [E]. Nalisa Neuendorf received her PhD (JCU, 2020) with Sykes as an external supervisor, becoming the second PNG woman to complete a PhD in Anthropology [F]. Neuendorf worked in the community services sector throughout the project and facilitated community-building workshops for Centacare in Cairns. She is now employed as a researcher at the PNG International Medical Research Institute in Goroka, conducting projects on community-based responses to domestic violence as a health crisis.