Inclusion
Hyper, with the City of Swan, is committed to promoting inclusion within events created by Hyper and within the City of Swan area. The City of Swan is a less affluent, culturally and linguistically diverse area. Hyper has attempted to recognise and encompass these factors with the Hyper Access and Inclusion Plan (much of which was developed in response to issues of previous Hyper-festivals). The lower ticket prices of the festival are another way of responding to these issues.
Young people with disabilities and mental illness
Young people with disabilities (particularly intellectual disabilities) have historically found it difficult to participate in young people's events such as Hyper. It is important to make sure that these young people have the support that they need to be able to attend the hyper events and feel included. It is essential to make sure that the venue is fully accessible for people with a physical disability. At the 2007 and 2008 events, the City of Swan worked in partnership with DADAA Inc and Swan friendship club to provide support workers for a group of 20 young people who would not otherwise have been able to attend the event. The City also worked with DADAA to put on an art exhibition at the Bank Gallery to represent the work of young artists with disabilities.
Young women
Young women are excluded from many aspects of youth culture and society and 'public space' as a whole. Most funded youth activities and clubs are dominated by young men and boys and this is reflected in the activities at the main Hyper event e.g. skate comps, M.C. comps, Graf art. In addition, the performances at Hyper have historically not equitably represented women. The hip-hop stage in particular has in the past not adequately represented female performers. In 2007 a group was formed called 'girls gone hyper' to try and address some of these inequities and they organised for some top hip hop dance performers to come over from Melbourne to perform on the hip hop stage, which made a significant difference to the gender balance of the performances and inspired young women in the audience. The M.C. on the main stage was also a woman, which made the event more equitable.
In 2008 / 2009 a group of young women got together and developed the ‘GOS’ – Girls on stage project which supported young women to gain skills in singing, modelling and on stage performances. The project consisted of a weekend full of workshops with professional women in the music and events industry.
The 2010 festival has enlisted a young Muslim women’s group to develop an art piece that will be incorporated into the event, which is an attempt to raise awareness of Hyper within diverse groups and to increase the variety of people participating in Hyper.
Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and Trans-sexual(LGBT) young people
It's difficult to know how many young LGBT people attend or perform at hyper and hyper events, participate in its organisation or if young LGBT people feel comfortable being themselves at the events. It’s possible that young people on the event team might feel scared to bring up issues relating to LGBT issues for fear of being 'outed' or facing homophobia (as is often feared in groups). In 2005 the freedom centre youth project ran a stall at the main Hyper event and brought some young LGBT people along and at that event there was an open mic MC competition on the hip hop stage. No boundaries were set over the use of oppressive and discriminatory language and some of the MC's persistently used homophobic and sexist language, which was clearly inappropriate and upsetting for young LGBT people in the audience. The issue was noted by City of Swan staff and the following year (2006) the MC's were given a contract to sign which included a clause prohibiting the use of discriminatory language. This contract continues to be used to address this issue.
Aboriginal / Islander young people
Last year the real program were involved in a Heist event leading up to Hyper at Swan City youth club. The event involved local Indigenous performers and Aboriginal art work. It has been pointed out that in order to be culturally sensitive it is important to remember that Aboriginal young people do not always like being in situations where they are the centre of attention and often feel more comfortable performing in groups at events or not having formal performances and instead having a more informal space.
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Young people
The City of Swan has not previously carried out adequate consultation with CALD youth. It is important that the City and the event team develop appropriate partnerships and carry out consultations with CALD groups in the local area to find out what CALD youth need in order to be able to participate in and be represented in Hyper. This year is the first year to run a project specifically to develop the relationships of different culturally diverse groups which feeds directly into Hyper Festival though showcasing the products that have come from the workshops. CALD is a major focus area for Hyper now and will continue to support the involvement of CALD young people in it’s events and projects.