State Election 2006: Increasing Multicultural Voter Participation

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1 spring edition 06 State Election 2006: Increasing Multicultural Voter Participation In addition, the VEC will send all enrolled Victorians an EasyVote card in October. As voting above or belowthe-line is new to the Upper House this November, the mail out describes how to vote correctly for the Upper House. It also details the voter s enrolled electoral Upper House region and Lower House district, and lists interpreter service telephone numbers. Voters are encouraged to bring their card with them when they vote. Keep a look out also for the new and educational interactive virtual voting experience that will be available from September in eighteen languages: Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian, Cambodian, Chinese, Croatian, Dari, Greek, Italian, Korean, Macedonian, Persian, Russian, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese. Saturday, 25 November is election day for all eligible Victorians and the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) is encouraging awareness of enrolling, voting and how to vote correctly among people from non-english speaking backgrounds. HOW TO VOTE CORRECTLY Research indicates that the level of informal voting is more prevalent in electorates with high numbers of non-english speaking voters. As a result, the VEC will be consulting with community leaders in Mildura, Shepparton, Wangaratta, Ballarat, Bendigo, Morwell and Melbourne throughout September. At these sessions, the VEC will provide election related information, reinforce the correct way to complete ballot papers to ensure the vote is counted, and answer any questions about the upcoming state election. inside this issue State Election 2006: Increasing Multicultural Voter Participation...1 Strengthening Multicultural Victoria ECCV releases state election platform...2 Executive Officer Report...3 Victorian Human Rights and Responsibilities Charter...3 Removing the Welcome Mat...4 Interview with John Pandazopolous...5 Interview with Jim Reiher...5 News Update...6 Government proposes citizenship changes...6 RMIF Update...7 Aged Care Update...8 CEGS Update...9 ECCV Reports...10 Snapshot of a Welcoming Strategy in Regional Victoria...11 Macedonian Immigrant Stories in Victoria on DVD...11 DiVersified: Victoria s Multicultural and Settlement Services Newsletter...12 Intern Update...12 Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria Inc. 150 Palmerston Street Carlton VIC 3053 Phone: Fax: for contributions michelle@eccv.org.au

2 page 2 Strengthening Multicultural Victoria ECCV releases state election platform By Phong Nguyen, ECCV Chairperson On November 25, Victoria votes for the next state government until Victoria is Australia s most multicultural state with 20% of Victorians speaking a language other than English at home and 43.5% of Victorians either born overseas or have parents born overseas. As such political parties and candidates battling for votes in the 2006 election need to pay particular concern to the needs of Victoria s multicultural communities. Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria has released its policy platform for the November 2006 Victorian Election: Strengthening Multicultural Victoria. Candidates and political parties with decent multicultural policies stand to gain much support from Victoria s culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities and other Victorians who support multiculturalism. ECCV s 2006 Victorian State Election Platform calls for: A comprehensive Victorian Government multicultural aged care strategy Significantly increased funding for interpreter services in hospitals and health settings A multicultural policing strategy The release of the CALD Women s Strategy and funded initiatives in this area Development of a diversity management strategy for increased productive diversity and cultural competence in the Victorian Public Service. Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria also calls on all parties and candidates to support the Multicultural Victoria Act 2004 and the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act This legislation has been crucial in strengthening Victoria as a multicultural and harmonious community. ECCV commends this policy platform to all Victorians and looks forward to working with the next Government of Victoria to strengthen Victorian multiculturalism into the future. We hope this document assists political parties in developing and finalising their election policies in the coming weeks. The policy platform is available for download from State Election 2006 Interpreter Contacts People who find it difficult to communicate in English can contact the Victorian Electoral Commission on an interpreter assistance telephone line for further information on the 2006 state election: Amharic Korean Arabic Macedonian Bosnian Persian Cambodian Russian Chinese (Cantonese) Serbian Chinese (Mandarin) Somali Croatian Spanish Dari Turkish Greek Vietnamese Italian All other languages

3 page 3 Executive Officer Report By Peter van Vliet September has been a very busy month at ECCV with three important forums. On September 1 we released our Language Services for New and Emerging Communities Report. This significant report was prepared with the assistance of Kylie Astall of the University of Melbourne and made several recommendations for improved language services in Victoria, including greater funding for interpreter services in hospitals. Julie Gould, senior policy advisor from VOMA, spoke at the launch, also providing further detail on the Victorian Government s Interpreter Symbol and Card initiative. Five days later on September 6 we released our Multicultural Aged Care Strategy which challenges Victorian political parties to develop better multicultural aged care policies in the lead up to the next election. By 2011, 38% of Melbourne s seniors will be from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds that s right 38%. There has never been a more important time to develop a new multicultural aged care strategy. ECCV s policy called for more HACC funding for ethno-specific and multicultural agencies and more client choice in choosing HACC providers. Commonwealth funded residential aged care services incorporate comprehensive ethno-specific service delivery and client choice and its time HACC services did the same. On September 26 we plunged head first into the forthcoming State Election with the release of ECCV s Election Policy, Strengthening Multicultural Victoria, and a debate between all the major multicultural affairs spokespeople. Labor s Minister John Pandazopoulos began with an outline of his Government s achievements in multicultural affairs and outlined his support for the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act. Liberal Spokesperson, Nick Kotsiras, MP, spoke of the Liberal Party s affinity with multicultural affairs and promised an ECCV representative on the Victorian Multicultural Commission. Nationals Spokesperson, Jeanette Powell, talked about her own migrant experience and regional issues. Finally, Greens spokesperson Jim Reiher commended the ECCV s policy document and said he would recommend the Greens adopt most of its policies. We now look forward to the release of our main parties Multicultural Policies prior to the next election. Also on September 26, ECCV hosted the Victorian Multicultural Commission s consultation rounds. Appropriate funding for interpreters in our hospitals was one of the key issues raised by attendees. On October 2, ECCV with Multicultural Arts Victoria and Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council sponsored a Seniors Multicultural Concert in Ballarat as part of the Victorian Seniors Festival. Italian, Indigenous, Chinese, Indian and Sudanese performers charmed Ballarat seniors with some wonderful performances. Finally on Wednesday October 18, at pm ECCV will be holding a forum on the Federal Government s Citizenship Paper which we remain deeply concerned about. We hope you can all attend and ensure all our voices are heard in this critical debate. Victorian Human Rights and Responsibilities Charter On Tuesday July 25, the Victorian Parliament passed the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, becoming the first state in Australia to introduce such legislation. The Charter assures that all future legislation will be checked for possible breaches against the Charter. While it is a legislatively based, nonenforceable charter it does provide a benchmark for future Victorian laws. Of particular interest to ECCV members will be the provision for cultural rights in the Charter, which states that people have the right to enjoy their culture, declare and practice their religion and speak their language. Freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief are also enshrined in the Charter. It would be interesting to note if the new sedition laws are in conflict with the Charter. Attorney General, Rob Hulls, said, "a charter of human rights will mean when the Government makes important decisions, human rights must be taken into account. It will also compel government departments and agencies to have regard for human rights in their day to day operations". ECCV looks forward to seeing the Charter in action.

4 page 4 Removing the Welcome Mat Peter van Vliet, Executive Officer The Howard Government s recent citizenship paper raises some important issues for Australia s future. Few things are more important to a person s identity than their national citizenship. Being an Australian citizen is like being part of the great Australian family. It carries rights as well as responsibilities. Citizenship gives you an Australian passport, more opportunities for employment and importantly a vote in elections to decide who governs our nation. For a good part of the twentieth century Australia operated a white Australian policy with an immigration test designed to keep non-british people out. In our more recent history we have had a non-discriminatory immigration policy. Now the proposed stricter English language test raises the possibility of the White Australia Policy being reborn as the Anglo-Australia Policy. That is if you don t have very good English you can forget about Australian citizenship. At face value it sounds popular and appears to have public support. But who will miss out? The local Greek barber with broken English who has been serving the local community proudly for decades can forget about it. My older Italian friend, Giovanni, who emigrated around fifty years ago and has two children born in Australia who are public officials serving our great nation, would have had to have waited much longer to be able to call this country his own. A refugee from a war-torn African nation with severe learning difficulties will probably miss out. Like some troubled European nations, Australia could end up with permanent non-citizens a possible underclass of discontent. Up until now Australia wanted people in the citizenship tent not out of it. The federal government has previously spent millions of dollars trying to get people to become citizens. They recognised people were more likely to contribute if they were part of the family rather than in the guest house out the back. But now the shutters are going back up. There may be a stricter test for English and a new test for so called Aussie values. The waiting list for citizenship is set to blow out from two to four years because people are apparently being handed citizenship like confetti. As the Tampa episode shows, the reality is Australia s immigration program has never been more tightly controlled. Australia is in the grips of a huge ageing and skills crisis. Tradespeople are set to become millionaires and soon getting a plumber will be like trying to see a heart surgeon. Our seniors population is going through the roof due to the ageing of our baby boomers. With these serious, looming economic issues Australia should welcome new citizens, not shun them. We need to maintain our economic prosperity. We will need more tax payers to help support our rapidly growing number of Australian retirees. But the Government now wants to replace the welcome mat with an arrow to the guesthouse out the back. Australia may well be the economic loser as migrants head to countries where they re made to feel welcome. Debating Australian citizenship is important but let s be careful not to let go of the good things that have helped make Australia great. Mastering the English language should be a goal we all aspire to so we can lead more productive lives in Australia. Even native born Australians should keep their English skills up. But let s not use a stricter English test to create insiders and outsiders in our society. Australia will be the poorer for it.

5 page 5 Interview with John Pandazopolous Minister for Gaming and Racing Minister for Tourism Minister Assisting the Premier with Multicultural Affairs What does your job involve? Growing the tourism industry and racing industry. Limiting the level of problem gambling. Growing support for multicultural affairs and better service delivery. What is your vision for Victoria? To achieve full recognition that our strength lies in our diversity and that languages other than English are an essential part of our economic competitiveness. What are you passionate about? Multiculturalism, tourism as an economic driver, a fair go. What do you do to relax? Read, travel. What is your favourite sport? None, I like them all. Have you read a good book lately? No, too busy in lead up to election. Who would be at your dream dinner party? Martin Luther King, John and Robert Kennedy, Gough Whitlam. What is your favourite restaurant? Any of the Vietnamese restaurants in Springvale. Where is your favourite place in the world? Australian coastline and the Greek Islands. Interview with Jim Reiher Greens Multicultural Affairs Spokesperson. What does your job involve? My job in the Greens involves being spokesperson for Multicultural affairs. That includes making Victoria a more harmonious society where diversity is celebrated and where cultural differences are valued. What do you hope to achieve in your new job? I want the Greens to adopt a thorough multicultural Victoria policy statement which has been significantly moulded from the ECCV "Strengthening Multicultural Victoria 2006" document. What is your vision for Victoria? A healthy, harmonious and vibrant multicultural state that genuinely celebrates diversity and demonstrates tolerance and respect to all. What are you passionate about? Besides multiculturalism? Conservation issues; social justice; anti-war; and I cant leave out that I love my family, my children and my grandchildren! What do you do to relax? I go to the beach - weather permitting - and sit in the sun, or take in a good movie, or go for a walk. What is your favourite sport? I love to Ten Pin Bowling, but I quite like watching AFL. Have you read a good book lately? "Make Poverty Personal" by Ash Barker. Who would be at your dream dinner party? Olivia Newton John, Bob Brown, and Clint Eastwood! What is your favourite restaurant? Tulip Thai in Beaconsfield. Where is your favourite place in the world? Besides Melbourne... hmmmm... Hard to say... a few wonderful places... Rome, Berlin, Loch Ness in Scotland..

6 page 6 News Update Peter van Vliet, Executive Officer Victorian Workcover Authority: Multilingual Telephone Service The Victorian Workcover Authority has announced multilingual telephone services to assist workers with a work related injury or illness. Talking Your Language will give workers with low level English proficiency the opportunity to listen to pre-recorded information about how to make a Workcover claim and what support they might receive. Callers can then be transferred to an interpreter if required. The service is available in Arabic, Cantonese, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese. Workcover have also released a poster in those languages advertising the new service. Those wanting further information should contact the Talking Your Language line on Victorian Government Lists Achievements The Victorian Government has recently released their achievements in multicultural affairs (better late than never!). The document lists some of the important breakthroughs in providing decent multicultural services. Particular highlights were the Multicultural Victoria Act coming into operation, the Australian Football Multicultural Project, $2.85 million in VMC grants, the regional skilled migration strategy and the CALD women's project (still to be released). Some notable concerns included the Department of Infrastructure (includes public transport) and the Department of Education and Training spending just 1% of their advertising budget on ethnic advertising well below the State Government's 5% target. On September 26 at ECCV George Lekakis from VMC held a consultation around the document. More funding for interpreter services was raised as an issue. Minister John Pandazopoulos noted, this report demonstrates what a vital role both VMC and VOMA have played in strengthening community harmony and supporting Victoria s culturally diverse communities". Government proposes citizenship changes In September, the Federal Government released the discussion paper, Australian Citizenship: Much more than a ceremony. The paper considers the merits of introducing a formal citizenship test. The Federal Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Robb, states in the Discussion Papers foreword that it is important that immigrants develop English skills and understand and are committed to the Australian way of life and our shared values and that a formal citizenship test could be an important part of ensuring people are ready and willing to fully participate in Australian society. The paper poses four key questions: 1. Should Australia introduce a formal citizenship test? 2. How important is knowledge of Australia for Australian citizenship? 3. What level of English is required to participate as an Australian citizen? 4. How important is a demonstrated commitment to Australia s way of life and values for those intending to settle permanently in Australia or spend a significant period of time in Australia? The Howard Government also announced plans to extend the waiting period for eligibility to Australian citizenship from two to four years. The Opposition have not as yet indicated their support or opposition to this proposal. ECCV remains deeply concerned about the discriminatory nature of these proposed changes and is preparing a detailed submission to government. This submission will also be informed by our Citizenship Forum jointly hosted by the ECCV and supported by 3ZZZ on Wednesday October 18 from 5 to 6.30pm at ECCV. All welcome

7 page 7 RMIF Update Molly Peterson Regional Skilled Migration Officer The Regional Migration Incentive Fund (RMIF) forms part of the Victorian Government s Skilled Migration Program and works to strengthen regional communities in Victoria through the attraction and retention of skilled migrants. The RMIF strategy was initiated in 2004 and has seen $3 million dollars committed to supporting skilled migration in regional Victoria over a three year period. The RMIF strategy operates in eleven regional communities in Victoria Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Gippsland, Horsham, Mildura, Shepparton, Swan Hill, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Warrnambool. Working in partnerships with RMIF Coordinators, local Ethnic Communities Councils and other key stakeholders in the strategy, the ECCV aims to strengthen the RMIF strategy and provide practical support, assistance and advice to each participating region. For the period of the ECCV RMIF strategy will be guided by the broad themes of welcoming communities and migrant retention. Regional visits have proved important for understanding the local dynamics of the RMIF program, and I will have visited each of the participating regions by December At present I have visited seven of the regions, attending meetings with RMIF Coordinators, members of local Ethnic Communities Councils and other community stakeholders. The meetings have been great value in terms of understanding the ways in which the RMIF strategy operates on the ground, and also exploring ways in which the ECCV can support the great work already undertaken in regional Victorian communities. I appreciate the warm way in which each region has welcomed me and look forward to traveling to the remaining regions in the near future. The recently produced Guide to Welcoming Committees and Activities for Regional Skilled Migrants aims to provide practical advice and also to share examples of strategies which have worked well supporting new arrivals. All of the activities and initiatives mentioned in the guide have worked to reduce the levels of social isolation experienced by newcomers and their families. The creative and resourceful ways in which regional communities are addressing the needs of skilled migrants and their families is very impressive, and the guide is underpinned by regional examples. Although the guide has been developed for the specific purpose of supporting skilled migrants and their families many of the learnings apply to other new arrivals in regional communities. If you would like a copy of the Guide to Welcoming Committees and Activities for Regional Skilled Migrants or more information on the RMIF strategy please contact Molly Peterson on (03) or via , molly@eccv.org.au. September launch of the ECCV Report Language Services for New and Emerging Communities in Victoria This report presents some key findings regarding language services available to new and emerging communities in the health, legal and regional areas, identifies areas of unmet demand and outlines some key issues with language service provision in these areas. The report concludes with twelve recommendations to improve language services provision in Victoria, including a key recommendation for increased funding in the health sector for interpreters. Pictured (Left to Right): Julie Gould Senior Policy Adviser Language Services Strategy, VOMA; Peter van Vliet Executive Office ECCV; Phong Nguyen Chairperson ECCV and Samia Baho, Multicultural Centre for Women's Health.

8 page 8 Aged Care Update Jaya Manchikanti Policy Officer Aged Care For the last 16 years, the first day of October has been recognised globally as the International Day of Older Persons. The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, stated on 1 October 2006: The theme of this year's International Day of Older Persons is "Improving the Quality of Life for Older Persons: Advancing UN Global Strategies". It is a call to all communities to work for policies and programmes that will enable older persons to live in an environment that enhances their capabilities, fosters their independence, and provides them with adequate support and care as they age. That means ensuring housing, transportation, and other living conditions that allow people to maintain their independence for as long as possible, and 'age in place' yet remain active within their own communities. Equally important, it means recognising and respecting the dignity, authority, wisdom, and productivity of older persons in all societies, particularly in their roles as volunteers and multi-generational caregivers. And that, in turn, means promoting a more positive image of ageing. On this International Day of Older Persons, I call on Governments, the private sector, civil society organisations, and people everywhere to focus on building a society for all ages as envisioned in the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, and in line with the Millennium Development Goals and wider global development agenda. Together, we can and must ensure that people live not only longer lives, but better, more enriching, rewarding, and fulfilling lives. ECCV is playing its part in improving the quality of life of CALD older persons. ECCV was involved in Victorian Seniors Festival week, 1 8 October, and organised a multicultural concert which was held at the new arts venue in Ballarat on 2 October. The concert featured Indigenous, Sudanese, Indian, Chinese and Italian performers recognising the cultural diversity of that area. On a policy level in aged care, ECCV launched its Multicultural Aged Care Strategy on 6 September. Approximately 80 people attended the launch. The document was sent to all relevant State Ministers and bureaucrats in order to assist them in their policy formulation on aged care issues, including prior to the upcoming State election on 25 November. In summary, our multicultural aged care strategy included the following recommendations: 1. Improve the quality of care and support for CALD seniors and their carers 2. Make residential aged care more culturally responsive 3. Streamline and strengthen culturally appropriate service responses in HACC, including more client choice in HACC services 4. Strengthen the capacity of ethno-specific service providers 5. Increase positive ageing campaigns aimed at CALD seniors 6. Give CALD elder abuse prevention more prominence and 7. Support the undertaking of more research into CALD seniors ECCV has also been actively involved in the development of a new State government framework on the Assessment of people requiring Home and Community Care services. This is an important piece of work, as assessment is the crucial first step that needs to be undertaken properly in order for seniors to receive appropriate services. ECCV has been attending DHS reference group meetings and, additionally, we organised a consultation session for the ethnic sector on 20 September to discuss the draft framework. ECCV provided a written response to the government after our consultation and strongly recommended that the assessment of CALD seniors needs particular cultural and linguistic attention, otherwise CALD seniors would not receive appropriate services. Our five-page detailed written response that includes a number of strategies can be found on our website ( under aged care.

9 page 9 CEGS Update Ania Sieracka CEGS Officer In the last year of CEGS implementation many funded agencies are focusing on documentation of the developments instigated by CEGS. Across regions many working groups have formed to facilitate and resource work documenting CEGS achievements. Most of them analyse developments initiated by the strategy on a regional scale and some are considering examination of wider, cross regional achievements. Their work encapsulates areas ranging from an audit of bilingual and bicultural workforce development to assessment of initiatives that enhance cultural awareness to documentation of inter-agency referral protocols and development of a generic version of community care clients handbook. In a traditional spirit of CEGS, participants of these working groups represent a variety of organisations funded for the strategy, including local governments, migrant resource centres and ethnic agencies. This work further strengthens alliances between those agencies and introduces a long-term change to organisational perception on inter-sectoral collaboration. ECCV has been involved in supporting those efforts through involvement in work of individual working groups and the provision of feedback at planning stages. In addition, to contribute further to these efforts ECCV would like to compile the majority of the CEGS achievements in the form of a resource document. This document will gather all the good models and initiatives developed by the CEGS strategy in one resource. We hope that the resource will become a useful source of information for all agencies that provide services to aged migrants. In the long term it will also enable those who are involved in the implementation of the strategy to illustrate to the funding bodies and the wider aged care field what models were developed through working relationships instigated by CEGS and how effective they were. CEGS Evaluation Progress Report In August, the Australian Healthcare Associates (AHA), the consultants responsible for the evaluation of CEGS, met with the Executive Officer of ECCV as well as the two ECCV CEGS Sectoral Project Officers (the previous and current incumbent). The aim of these meetings was to seek ECCV s feedback on the strategy. This feedback will add to data collected from all funded agencies. In the long term it will inform the report from AHA on the evaluation of CEGS that is expected to be released in late November. In addition in October, ECCV assisted the evaluators in organising a feedback workshop for the CEGS Ethnic Project Officers. This workshop provided Ethnic Project Officers with a forum to share their opinions with the evaluators on the strategy that were not included in the evaluation questionnaire. Currently the evaluators are also waiting for examples of case studies from the field that would inform their deeper understanding of the strategy and inter-sectoral initiatives it developed. I would encourage all Ethnic CEGS Project Officers to share stories that illustrate the practical developments of CEGS with Norma Currie from AHA. If you would like further information on any of the discussed issues please contact me on or ania@eccv.org.au. urally Equitable Gateways Strat

10 page 10 ECCV Reports Language Services for New and Emerging Communities in Victoria This paper considers language service provision for new and emerging communities Language Services for New and Emerging Communities in health care, legal in Victoria services and regional areas. The report finds that while the provision of language services in ECCV Policy Discussion Paper no Victoria is good in many areas, much work needs to be done to provide adequate language services to new and emerging communities. The report finds that despite good work by the Victorian Government, providing an adequate training and supply of interpreters in new and emerging languages remains a challenge and funding for adequate interpreters in health settings needs to be addressed. The full report can be found at: Strengthening Multicultural Victoria ECCV's election platform for the November 25 state election includes proposals for multicultural policies in aged care, language services, new and emerging communities, community harmony, multicultural policing, CALD women, multicultural youth, Strengthening Multicultural Victoria ECCV 2006 Victorian State Election Platform Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria Inc. Statewide Resources Centre 150 Palmerston Street, Carlton VIC 3053 T F CALD regional policy, CALD alcohol and other drugs policy, disability and mental health, arts and culture and diversity in government. Key recommendations include greater interpreter funding in hospitals, a multicultural aged care strategy, a multicultural policing strategy and continuation of regional migration initiatives. ECCV is also calling on all parties and candidates to support the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 and the Multicultural Victoria Act The full report can be found at: A Proposal for a Multicultural Aged Care Strategy This strategy outlines key statistics around Victoria's multicultural older community, including the fact that by 2011, 38% of Melbourne's seniors will be from CALD backgrounds. The strategy includes a detailed series of A Proposal for a Multicultural Aged Care Strategy For Victorian Political Parties in the lead up to the 2006 State Election Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria Inc. Statewide Resources Centre 150 Palmerston Street, Carlton VIC 3053 T F recommendations in residential aged care, home and community care, positive ageing and elder abuse. Included in the recommendations are more client choice in HACC and more funding for ethnospecific service delivery in HACC to meet the huge growth in demand from CALD seniors groups. The full report can be found at: A Guide to Welcoming Committees and Activities for Skilled Migrants Produced by Molly Peterson of ECCV's Victorian Government funded Skilled Migration Program, this report outlines how to create welcoming committees and activities for skilled migrants and their families in regional areas. It provides useful tips and A Guide to Welcoming Committees and Activities for Regional Skilled Migrants September 2006 Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria Inc. Statewide Resources Centre 150 Palmerston Street, Carlton VIC 3053 T F insights into welcoming committees and activities including case studies of activities that have fostered welcoming communities in regional Victoria. The full report can be found at:

11 page 11 Snapshot of a Welcoming Strategy in Regional Victoria The Goulburn Valley Ethnic Professionals Association The Goulburn Valley Ethnic Professionals Association was formed in October 2005 and strives to provide valuable support and information to its diverse membership. Recognition of the need to support skilled migrants and new arrivals in the region led to the development of the organisation. The GV Ethnic Professionals Association maintains close ties with the Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District. Membership is open to anyone who would like to join and the association boasts a mix of new arrivals as well as those who have been in the region for some time. The diversity of membership in the association is indicated by the various occupations held by members, including but not limited to, agriculture scientists, pharmacists, accountants, health promotions workers, service providers, university lecturers, food science and technology specialists, engineers and other various specialisations. As Sigrid van Fondern noted, with the exception of the Americas, the association boasts of members from almost all continents of the world. Some of the services the association provides include mentoring, conflict resolution, cross cultural training in the workplace, and advocacy. In addition to organising family gatherings the association has hosted sessions on community strengthening and workplace related information. Committee meetings are held in the first week of each month on a Tuesday and strive to create a welcoming environment in which families are strongly encouraged to attend. This environment provides opportunities for socialising, networking and also an informal sharing of experiences and advice. Anyone who is interested in the GV Ethnic Professionals Association is welcome to attend the monthly meeting at the local Community Centre, in Shepparton, or alternatively contact Sigrid van Fondern on Macedonian Immigrant Stories in Victoria on DVD Spase Velanovski, President, MCWA Macedonian Immigrant Stories in Victoria released in July, is the first multimedia project undertaken by the Macedonian Community Welfare Association (MCWA) to promote the recognition of and respect for the contributions of the Macedonian community in the wider Australian community. The DVD is a compilation of nine edited interviews of Macedonian immigrants living in Victoria capturing their sentiments on topics such as homeland, journey, settlement and new homeland. Interviews are either in English or Macedonian and subtitled and accessed either through a thematic or character menu. The content includes personal photographs, folklore items, a map of Macedonia and a brief overview of 20th century history of Macedonia and Macedonian immigration. Project Co-ordinator and President of the MCWA, Spase Velanovski, said the project was developed in partnership with the Department of Visual Art, Design and Multimedia at Victoria University and funded by the Victorian Multicultural Commission through the Heritage Grants Program and Hybrid at Victoria University. The DVD is available for $15 by contacting Diana Sterjovska

12 page 12 DiVersified: Victoria s Multicultural and Settlement Services Newsletter Michael Abdilla, DiVersified Editor Settlement Planning and Information Unit DIMA Victoria Ph: michael.abdilla@immi.gov.au DiVersified is produced quarterly by the Settlement Planning and Information Unit of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA), Victoria. The free newsletter is circulated in hardcopy to approximately 3000 readers, and in softcopy to more than 1000 readers throughout Victoria. DiVersified is also available online on the DIMA website at: DiVersified facilitates information sharing among individuals and organisations who play a key role in the provision of settlement services in Victoria. DiVersified s focus is on services, resources and information pertinent to newly arrived migrants and refugees. Articles are sourced from DIMA, state and local government stakeholders, community organisations, service providers and others. The newsletter contains articles about DIMA, Settlement and Government News, Community Updates, Language Services, Rural and Regional Updates, Upcoming Events, Publications and Resources and Migrant Resource Centre Updates. If you wish to subscribe to the newsletter or contribute an article (usually words in length) please settinfo.vic@immi.gov.au. DiVersified continues to receive positive feedback, however we welcome your comments and suggestions for improving the content and layout. For further information or to discuss a proposed contribution, please contact the Settlement Planning and Information Unit on or via to settinfo.vic@immi.gov.au. Intern Update Charissa Feng, University of Melbourne I was at ECCV for two weeks during my September holidays working on a policy paper on multicultural policing. It was a pretty intense internship with lots of work, but I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and interviewing police officers and community workers during my research phase. This internship definitely challenged a lot of my assumptions, and got me thinking three dimensionally about the issues migrants and communities face. A bit about my background: I was born and raised in Singapore and came to Melbourne in I left for the US shortly after, and did an exchange year in the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. It was an awesome exchange year, and definitely got me thinking about the relationship between multiculturalism and the media in the US and in Australia. The contribution deadline for the next issue of DiVersified is Friday 27 October, 2006 for publication in early December.