The 1996 National Gathering of the Australian Nonviolence Network was held at Commonground (near Seymour, Victoria) from Thursday 25 April to Monday 29 April, 1996. About thirty people of all ages gathered at Commonground over those five days to share stories, discuss issues, sort out network business, make new friends, and have fun. This article describes the proceedings, and reports on decisions made at the Gathering, including some preliminary plans for next year's Gathering.

General description of the Gathering

Much of the organisational work relating to the 1996 Gathering was carried out by a collective of four people: Anthony, Glen, Kate and Mark (Karen and Robert also assisted in the early stages). Our responsibilities included preparing the agenda, facilitating sections of the Gathering, and ensuring that Gathering support tasks such as child care and dish washing happened.

The agenda we designed was rather different to that of the previous few years! We had perceived a shift in what people wanted from the Gathering: less time on the organisation-building that had been the focus of past Gatherings, and more time catching up with friends, sharing stories, and discussing interesting aspects of nonviolence. The long lunch times, optional workshops, and relatively short session spent on Network decision-making reflected the more relaxed tone of the Gathering. In retrospect, it seems that we 'read the mood' fairly well, although some participants would have liked more time spent on Network business, including more time to hear people's feelings about changes happening in the Network.

Most of the Gathering participants were from Victoria, although some came from interstate: Philip and Ralf from Adelaide, James and Louise from Diamond Head, Katrina from The Channon, Jason from Brisbane and Kevin from north Queensland. Thursday and Monday were social days, allowing people to get to know
each other (or reconnect with old friends) outside of the formally structured time. Young people (including Hannah and Jimmy Jack) were cared for by Damien, Phil, Philip, Ralf, Rowan and others while their parents participated in Gathering sessions. And Chris and Ellen, assisted by volunteers, provided astonishing mouth-watering vegan food which everyone loved!

Welcome and story-sharing

Friday morning began with a colourful and noisy welcome featuring a big blue parachute, which had been painted the previous day with all the continents of the world. Each person told us their name, where they were from, and a little about their involvement in nonviolence 'stuff'; each person also brought to the circle a symbol of some gift that they brought to the Gathering, or to making a better world. Glen facilitated us in forming support groups (groups of three or four people that met at different times over the weekend to provide personal support to their members), and breathed a sigh of relief as the process went smoothly.

The focus for Friday afternoon was story-sharing. We formed small groups, in which each of us had a chance to tell a story from our own life. Funny, sad, inspiring, honest - each person's story had its own unique qualities, and the stories fitted together to form a mosaic of our lives, our struggles and our visions. We regathered and each group told us some of the key lessons and insights from their stories. Then on Friday night, we saw some of the stories acted out for us: each group presented a key story (or a combination of stories) that had been
told in that group. It was a very moving and joyful night! Some images that stand out in my memory are of Kevin impersonating a television set, Jennifer and Donna in Lolly Land, Paul completely entangled in toilet paper, the disabilities meeting, and myself finding the key in my underpants I came away from the night struck by the power of theatre as a way to communicate about the things that are important to us.

Network business

The Annual Gathering is the key forum in which people from the Australian Nonviolence Network come together to make decisions about the future of the Network. At the 1996 Gathering, Saturday morning was the time we had set aside for making such decisions.

The process we used began in small groups, where each person had a chance to talk about their experiences of the Network (for example, how useful or supportive they had found it); how they would like the Network to be; and what they (or the Network as a whole) could do to look after the Network and make it work best for them. Unfortunately, time was too short to really do justice to these questions. We regathered and reported on our group discussions. There was a strong sense that people valued and wanted to retain the existing forums and communication tools of the Network, such as 'Nonviolence Today', 'The Web' (Victoria's nonviolence networking newsletter), the national Phone Linkup and the Annual Gathering. However, people also raised many ideas for ways in which the Network could evolve. Debate about "what is nonviolence?"; greater valuing
of "non-action" contributions and of work happening outside the Network; library/resource spaces in places other than Commonground; regional gatherings; and more full-time nonviolence workers, were some of our ideas.

We then proceeded to a discussion of the overall future of the Network. The core issue underlying this discussion was how we want the Network to operate; in particular, what degree of organisational structure we want. Is our vision of a highly structured organisation with, for example, national principles and systems of communication? Or more of a loose network based on personal relationships, in which individuals and groups work out principles and means of communication at a local level? Over the last few years, a great deal of hard work has gone into creating structures designed to help the Network function nationally: the Network Facilitation Collective, the Centre for Nonviolence at Commonground, and the national principles. However, there was a sense at the 1996 Gathering that many people had come to prefer the less formal 'network' model of organisation. This feeling was reflected in the three decisions that emerged from our discussion:

1. We do want, and will have, an annual national gathering, organised by a Gathering collective.

2. The Network will no longer have a nationally decided set of principles. (Individuals and local groups may devise their own autonomous sets of principles.)

3. The Network Facilitation Collective and the Centre for Nonviolence at Commonground will be laid to rest.

Later on Saturday, interested people met to discuss in more detail the laying down of the Collective and Centre. The following items were discussed at that meeting:

1. Equipment

The Centre for Nonviolence has three major pieces of equipment: a photocopier, a laser printer and a fax machine.

Decision: These items will remain shared assets of Commonground and the Network. They are based at Commonground for the time being, but could be relocated at some future time - any such relocation to be negotiated between Commonground
and the Network.

2. Money

The Centre for Nonviolence account contains about $5000 - $6000. Some of this money has "strings attached", e.g. $500 is earmarked for Third World solidarity, and $1500 to support international visitors coming to Australia. Decisions: (a) Ed McKinley will continue to administer the account. (b) Up to $2000 will be used to support Louise Finnegan to attend the International Fellowship of Reconciliation conference in August 1996; Louise will let us know how much she needs.

(c) The remaining money is available to support nonviolence work. Anthony, Jo and Robert are contact people for this, and are responsible for initiating appropriate decision-making processes to deal with proposals for use of the money. They can be contacted by phone: Anthony Kelly: (03) 9481 6724. Jo Barter: (053) 481 342. Robert Burrowes: (03) 9482 4973. Written proposals can be sent to P.O. Box 167, North Carlton, Victoria 3054, Australia.

3. Mail

The Centre for Nonviolence still receives mail. Decision: All Centre mail will be sent to Anthony Kelly to deal with as appropriate.

4. Phone Calls

The Centre for Nonviolence receives a few phone calls per month. Decision: Glen Ochre will deal with phone calls initially; calls that Glen doesn't want to or cannot deal with will be referred to Mark Cerin and Karen Rosauer in Melbourne.

5. Leaflets

About 200 of the Centre for Nonviolence leaflets are left. Decision: Ed will hoard these for us.

6. Library

The Centre has a small library of books and periodicals, and many files of nonviolence materials.

Decision: The library and files will remain at Commonground for the time being, to seduce passers-by.

We recognised the immense effort that a number of people - particularly Bryan,
Glen, Jo, Kay, Margaret and Robert - have put into setting up and maintaining the Collective and the Centre for Nonviolence over the past three years. Many of us felt sad about laying down these parts of the Network that we created with such hope.

Workshops and discussion groups

One of the more difficult tasks faced by the 1996 Gathering organising collective was deciding how (and whether) to allow time in the agenda for discussion of issues around patriarchy and gender oppression. These issues had arisen at the previous two Gatherings, bringing up strong feelings for many people. Prior to the 1996 Gathering, some people were indicating that they were "sick of the patriarchy debate", and didn't want to spend any time on it at the Gathering; others saw it as a central conflict in the Network, and felt that the Gathering was an excellent opportunity for the Network as a whole to move towards resolving it.

We decided to steer a middle course: the patriarchy discussion was included on the agenda, but as an optional workshop session running on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Louise prepared and facilitated this workshop; about twelve people participated. People reported that it went well, although some felt that people found it hard to feel safe enough to be truly honest about their thoughts and feelings around this issue.

Three other optional discussions, organised by Gathering participants, also took place over Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. The 'counselling for social change' discussion looked at questions such as, What makes counselling political? How can counselling be most effective in liberating people? And how can we care for ourselves as counsellors or listeners? The nonviolent community safety forum, organised by Anthony, Jacqui, Jo and Karen, focused on exploring the meaning of safety, looking at examples of nonviolent community responses to violence, and envisioning safe communities. And the discussion on "promoting nonviolence - bridging the gap" centred around the issue of how (and if) nonviolence should be made attractive to people, including what type of language
works best in promoting it.

People enjoyed the opportunity to talk about issues which really interested them. One problem with the process, however, was that there was no time for report-back to the Gathering from each workshop, and so our understanding of what had occurred in the workshops we didn't attend remained patchy.

Evaluation and next Gathering

On Sunday afternoon we conducted a cost share to cover the costs of the Gathering; the process went smoothly and people enjoyed the experience! We then evaluated the 1996 Gathering. The participants appreciated the many positive features of the weekend, including the food, theatre, the nonviolent games on Saturday night, the sunshine, and the atmosphere of support and respect. There were also things that people felt could have been better: more support was needed for people coordinating tasks, some good people were not present at the Gathering, and there could have been more time for discussion of changes in the Network. Some people felt that the Network needed to make a greater commitment to resolving the issues around patriarchy.

We also talked about what we would like from future Gatherings, and decided that the 1997 Gathering will be held at Commonground once again. It was suggested that the 1998 Gathering be held in a different state, to give greater access to people from outside Victoria.

The coordinating collective for the 1997 Gathering consists of Anthony, Kate, Louise and Mark (ably assisted by our wonderful support people Donna, Glen, Ralf and Rowan). If you have any ideas or requests for this Gathering, please contact us: Anthony Kelly: (03) 9481 6724. Kate Lewer, Commonground: (057) 938 257. Louise Finnegan: (065) 597 490. Mark Cerin: (03) 9898 4143.

Hope to see you there.

Mark Cerin

P.S. Anita, Jasmine, Liz, Vanessa, Vanessa and Wendy were also at the Gathering!