Today in Sydney, Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett urged Australian children to pick up a video camera and raise awareness for youth homelessness. This request coincided with Blanchett being in Sydney to launch The Oasis: Homeless Short Film Competition to coincide with Young Homelessness Matters Day.

The national competition asks students to make a three-minute short film about homelessness.

"Film and theatre and the visual arts I really strongly believe have an exceptional and unique capacity to spread important social issues and help produce change in our community," Blanchett said at the launch.

"I'd like to encourage school students - both primary and secondary - to not only pick up a camera and participate in the competition but to use the education resource and to delve into the issues and make outstanding films.

"Films that raise awareness tell really inspiring stories and provide solutions that not only touch our hearts, but provoke us into making real action."

The winners, announced in November, receive $25,000 for their school.

The competition is part of the five-year Oasis initiative that began in 2008 when the AFI award-winning documentary The Oasis screened on the ABC, and the National Youth Commission report on youth homelessness was released.

The documentary, about a homeless youth refuge called Oasis in inner-city Sydney, was watched by more than 1.1 million viewers.

Blanchett is also co-artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company and says the 15 competition finalists will be screened there later this year - the same place the Oasis documentary had its premiere.

"(So) get going, pick up those cameras and inspire us," she said.

To enter, or for more information, go to www.theoasismovie.com.au

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com