Here you will find publications relating to Addi Road and reports published by us relating to the work we do and the community here in the Inner West.

For annual reports, governance documentation and other administrative material please see the Governance page.

Soon after it opened in 1976, then-Immigration Minister AI Grassby called the Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville ‘one small world in Australia’. He was describing a remarkable multicultural experiment. A handful of determined migrant groups banded together and worked with artists, environmentalists, activists and social workers to create their own community centre. They made a place for festivals and performances, for sharing culture and language and for helping others; a creative refuge in an English-dominated world.

This is a place that has seen many transformations. Once boggy land with a creek that ran into Gumbramorra swamp, it was transformed into a market garden, and then into an army depot that for sixty turbulent years was a focal point for war, peace and protest.

One Small World brings to life the enthusiasm, hope and purpose that have marked Addison Road in all its years. Many people know the Centre today for its vibrant markets, selling street food and organic vegetables. This book reveals how a rich and fascinating history has made the Centre the special place it is today; how one small world has helped shape a community and reflected a changing nation.  

Sue Castrique is a researcher and writer who works in Marrickville. She is the author of the prize-winning publication, Under the Colony’s Eye: Gentlemen and Convicts on Cockatoo Island, published in 2014. Her essay, ‘On the edge of Gumbramorra swamp’ was runner-up in the Wildcare Nature Writing award in 2016 and forms the first chapter of One Small World. Sue’s book is available for purchase at the ARCCO office in Hut 1 for $30 or by post from programs@addiroad.org.au.

RRP: $29.95 plus $10 shipping and handling (Australia only).

Here you will find publications relating to Addi Road and reports published by us relating to the work we do and the community here in the Inner West.

For annual reports, governance documentation and other administrative material please see the Governance page.

Soon after it opened in 1976, then-Immigration Minister AI Grassby called the Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville ‘one small world in Australia’. He was describing a remarkable multicultural experiment. A handful of determined migrant groups banded together and worked with artists, environmentalists, activists and social workers to create their own community centre. They made a place for festivals and performances, for sharing culture and language and for helping others; a creative refuge in an English-dominated world.

This is a place that has seen many transformations. Once boggy land with a creek that ran into Gumbramorra swamp, it was transformed into a market garden, and then into an army depot that for sixty turbulent years was a focal point for war, peace and protest.

One Small World brings to life the enthusiasm, hope and purpose that have marked Addison Road in all its years. Many people know the Centre today for its vibrant markets, selling street food and organic vegetables. This book reveals how a rich and fascinating history has made the Centre the special place it is today; how one small world has helped shape a community and reflected a changing nation.  

Sue Castrique is a researcher and writer who works in Marrickville. She is the author of the prize-winning publication, Under the Colony’s Eye: Gentlemen and Convicts on Cockatoo Island, published in 2014. Her essay, ‘On the edge of Gumbramorra swamp’ was runner-up in the Wildcare Nature Writing award in 2016 and forms the first chapter of One Small World. Sue’s book is available for purchase at the ARCCO office in Hut 1 for $30 or by post from programs@addiroad.org.au.

This research was commissioned by the Addison Road Community Centre Organisation (ARCCO) and the Marrickville Multicultural Interagency (MMIA). The aim was to gain insightinto: the nature of poverty experienced by Marrickville
residents from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds; the effects of funding cuts on service providers;
and the factors that create and perpetuate inequality.

At the same time that inequality is widening, the community service sector – those organisations at the frontline supporting people experiencing poverty and disadvantage – has experienced major losses. The NCOSS State of the Community Service Sector in NSW report found that one in three of the organisations surveyed had been affected by a loss of funds from the NSW Government in the past 12 months, and one in five had lost funding from the Federal Government.

Mind the Gap aims to illustrate, within the context of our local area, the human stories that lie behind these broader statistics and to investigate the impacts of widening inequality and funding cuts on people and services. Its purpose is to increase awareness among government policy-makers of CALD experiences. More than 30 per cent of Marrickville’s residents were born overseas and speak a language other than English, and the area’s Aboriginal population is increasing. Because people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are among those most likely to be in the lowest income group3 we have focused on their experiences.

The Mind The Gap report can be downloaded here >> Click to download.