ECCV Newsletter Winter Edition 2009
It makes me very sad that the recent spike in crimes against members of ethnic communities, primarily visiting Indian students and the resultant media frenzy, may have diminished our state’s standing as a beacon of multiculturalism, harmony and diversity.
Some of the commentary has been valid; some of it verging on hysterical. In any case, ECCV has been one of a number of government and community representative bodies working together to develop a co-ordinated approach to race-based issues in the justice system. We want to ensure that the disappointment we have all felt in the face of these incidents is not allowed to erode the tremendous good that cultural diversity represents to Victoria or diminish our outstanding success in nurturing it over decades.
On that note, issues of ageing and aged care continue to become a growing concern for more and more Victorians of diverse cultural backgrounds and it is pleasing to see agencies and service providers working harder to ensure that their message of health and wellbeing reaches communities from non-English speaking backgrounds. The decision to extend ECCV’s own Multicultural Multi-active Seniors (MMS) Project for another 12 months only underlines the level of need among CALD communities and the enthusiasm to be involved in the process.
A similar energy and resolve has been a hallmark of Victoria’s community language sector with 2009 marking the 20th Anniversary of the Ethnic Schools Association of Victoria (ESAV). The vital infl uence of this organisation was given deserved recognition during the recent Community Languages Conference, and I add my own note of appreciation to everyone involved in maintaining this vital element of our state’s social and cultural fabric.
On a different note, ECCV’s efforts to broaden our membership base continue with particular attention being paid to the emerging Karen and Chin communities. I was privileged to meet some of the members of these communities at ECCV’s Refugee Week forum, which gave refugees from Burma the chance to speak about their own experiences in their own words. The confi dence, camaraderie and common sense of purpose spurred by the evening only underlined how important community groups are to the ability for a society to accommodate expansion and evolution over time.
As we head into the second half of the year, I encourage all members to keep up their good work on behalf of their own constituents and remain actively engaged with ECCV as we prepare for a number of national events, including the Conference of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) in Shepparton at the end of October and the Parliament of the World’s Religions in December. Both gatherings put multicultural Victoria squarely in the national and international spotlight and promise to be ideal environments to explore prevailing issues of diversity and the means with which they are best addressed.
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