eBulletin | December

DECEMBER 2024 - ISSUE #51

The past year has been challenging for many people in our multicultural communities. Cost-of-living has been a major pressure point, and the consequences of overseas conflicts and humanitarian crises have undoubtedly had impacts locally.

It is more important than ever to dedicate ourselves to

building a cohesive society. I believe we can build unity while upholding the right to free speech and engaging in debate on the issues that matter to us as individuals and communities.

Being able to worship freely and safely is a fundamental human right and must be respected. The recent arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea was a heinous act that strikes at the core of our multicultural and multifaith state. ECCV condemns and rejects antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism in all forms. Diversity and difference are at the heart of what makes our state great.

ECCV has been the voice of multicultural Victoria since 1974, and, on a happy note, we were delighted to celebrate our 50th anniversary with so many friends old and new at our Annual General Meeting earlier this month. Thank you to all our guests, including guest speakers Lee Tarlamis MP and Hass Dellal AO, for joining us.

If you are curious about ECCV's history, you can watch a short film commemorating our organisation's 50-year legacy here, which features interviews with myself as well as ECCV co-founder George Papadopoulos, multicultural champions Marion Lau OAM and George Lekakis AO, and new ECCV CEO Farah Farouque.

Celebrating ECCV's history is also about celebrating our members, supporters and communities. It was wonderful to see a significant number of our members honoured at the 2024 Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence. Congratulations to all the individuals and organisations honoured at the Awards and to all the new inductees of the Multicultural Honour Roll.

Eddie Micallef

Chairperson

Full house at Fitzroy Town Hall for ECCV AGM

We were proud to host more than 100 guests at our Annual General Meeting at Fitzroy Town Hall this month, where we also celebrated our 50th anniversary. The event featured a video message from Multicultural Affairs Minister Ingrid Stitt MP, an address from Lee Tarlamis MP and a conversation between Hass Dellal AO and ECCV CEO Farah Farouque. See more photos and relive the evening's highlights here.

ECCV appointed to seniors advisory committee

ECCV will sit on the newly set-up Senior Victorians Advisory Committee along with three other sector members and eight community members. The Victorian government announced the establishment of the Committee last week. ECCV looks forward to advising the government on the experiences and needs of seniors from migrant and refugee backgrounds as part of the committee, and helping all Victorians to age well.

Victorian Anti-Racism Strategy launched

The Victorian government recently released its Anti-Racism Strategy, the first of its kind in the state and Australia. ECCV welcomes the Strategy and helped develop it as a member of the Victorian Anti-Racism Taskforce alongside other peak bodies and organisations advocating for First Nations, multi-faith and multicultural communities. Find out more about the Strategy in our media release here.

New report on multicultural service provision

Deakin University published a project report last month that looks at the shift in service delivery from community-specific to mainstream organisations. The 'Mapping Social Services Provision for Diverse Communities' report emphasises the importance of diversity and inclusion practices in the sector and a hybrid service provision model. ECCV was proud to be a partner on this research project. Read the report here.

ECCV part of UniMelb panel on digital inclusion

ECCV Policy Advisor Dr Jennifer Borrell took part in a panel discussion recently at the University of Melbourne exploring digital inclusion for older Australians and the role of Artificial Intelligence. Dr Borrell, who authored ECCV's report about the impact of the digital divide on older migrants, appeared on the panel with UniMelb researchers and representatives from Elder Rights Advocacy and SisterWorks.

Read our latest Annual Report

ECCV is pleased to share our Annual Report 2023-24 which was officially launched at our Annual General Meeting on 5 December. The Annual Report highlights our ongoing work supporting Victoria's migrant and refugee communities in a challenging year, where many in our diverse communities grappled with rising cost-of-living pressures and the impacts of global humanitarian crises. Read the Annual Report here.

Watch a short film of ECCV's 50-year history

For the past half-century, ECCV has been working with and for our state's migrant and refugee communities. The story of ECCV is also the story of multicultural Victoria, and we're proud to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2024. As part of marking this milestone, we produced a short film about our history and vision for the future. Watch it here. Let us know what you think of the video by tagging us on social media.