The Adelaide Mosque in the centre of the city is historically significant to all South Australians and plays an important role in the wellbeing of the Muslim community from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

With the leadership of Adelaide Mosque Islamic Society of SA Inc (AMISSA), Adelaide Mosque has been heritage listed. AMISSA hosts social and networking events, provides school holiday programs for children, parental capacity workshops, family wellbeing outings, and other activities to meet community needs, prevent social isolation and ensure sustainability of the religion and cultural practices.

In December 2022, AMISSA held a Family Picnic to launch its new Bridging the Gaps project that aims to close the generation gap between younger and older members of the Muslim community from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

The picnic was an opportunity to observe intergenerational interactions while providing information about the project ahead of seeking participants. One of the wins from the day was two young people volunteering to step up to lead the project with the project officer.

The project will encourage older people to embrace self-advocacy and a strengths-based perspective, claiming their own narrative and building confidence and participation. It will support the younger generation to recognise the value of senior community members, relate to their lived experience and build meaningful, long-term connections, free of any stigma.

The project will use an ‘adopt a grandparent/grandchild’ approach, encouraging partnerships through story telling. Interviews with the seniors will be collected and compiled into a virtual and a paperback storybook for sharing with the general community, who can learn more about the cultures and traditions of older community members.

To find out more, visit Adelaide City Mosque.

The Bridging the Gap project is supported by a Positive Ageing Fellowship Grant from Office for Ageing Well, SA Health.