Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria (ECCV)

The Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria (ECCV) mission is to work to ensure that we remain a member driven peak body committed to empowering people from culturally diverse backgrounds. We strive to give voice to multicultural Victoria. We strive to advocate for human rights, freedom, respect, equality and dignity for ethnic and multicultural communities and in building a socially cohesive and inclusive Victorian community.

The organisation advocates and lobbies all levels of government on behalf of multicultural communities in areas like human rights, access and equity and improving services. As our core business we advocate on any issue that is of concern to our members.

We are proud to have been the key advocate for culturally diverse communities in Victoria since 1974. 

Recent News

Chairperson’s Message: NAIDOC Week – 7th – 14th July

Dear Reader,

Happy NAIDOC Week!

ECCV, the Voice of Multicultural Victoria, stands firmly with First Nations people in their quest for recognition, self-determination and restitution as acknowledged in this year’s NAIDOC Week theme “VOICE. TREATY. TRUTH. Let’s work together for a shared future”.

We applaud the Victorian State Government for advancing treaty negotiations with Aboriginal Victorians. The disproportionate social and economic disadvantage that Aboriginal Victorians continue to experience is our collective responsibility to redress.

This year, ECCV dedicates a flagship event, the Walter Lippmann Memorial Oration to the United Nations 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages.

Language and culture are critical determinants of health and social connectedness. We acknowledge their importance to Aboriginal Victorians, the oldest continuous culture in the world who are striving to reclaim their language and culture and own this proudly as their unique identity.

As migrant Australians, we understand the significance of language and culture in defining who we are. ECCV highly values and respects the right of all Victorians to celebrate, share and practice safely their cultural and linguistic heritage.

I strongly encourage all Victorians to find out more about NAIDOC Week. This is a valuable opportunity to connect with our Aboriginal fellow Victorians and find out more about their cultures.

You can find more information about the many exciting events being held within Victoria and throughout Australia as part of NAIDOC Week by visiting the NAIDOC website at https://www.naidoc.org.au/

Warm regards,

Cr. Kris Pavlidis 

ECCV Chairperson

ECCV holds Federal Pre-Election Community Forum and audience Q & A to canvas major parties Multicultural policies

ECCV Chairperson, Cr Kris Pavlidis, said her organisation was very pleased to hold a Federal Pre-Election Community Forum recently, so that people, at the grass-roots level, could ask questions of candidates from the major parties about their multicultural policies.

The Forum was held at the Brunswick Town Hall on Monday 6 May. The three political representatives were: Adam Pulford, the Greens candidate for Wills, Peter Khalil, Labor Member for Wills, and Senator Scott Ryan, Liberal Senator for Victoria.

Cr Pavlidis said the Forum provided an ideal opportunity for members of the public and community leaders to have a greater understanding of the major parties’ multicultural polices and to ask questions on issues of importance to them.

Each of the panellists was given approximately ten minutes to provide an overview of their respective parties’ policies, and after that there was a Q & A session where audience members were able to ask panellists specific questions.

ECCV says political parties need to promote a ‘fairer’ migration program

‘Citizenship’, ‘Islamophobia’, ‘Social Cohesion’, are poignant themes, which emerged at the recent community forum hosted by the ECCV in the lead up to the Federal election

ECCV in the news: ECCV urges voters to assess multicultural policies of parties during election

ECCV in the News: “Push grows for Liberals, unions to put One Nation last in outcry over racist speech”

#FactNotFiction:  Join our Anti-Racism Campaign

Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) is proud to have launched #FactNotFiction at a community state pre-election forum held on Thursday 15 November.

Cr Kris Pavlidis Chair of the ECCV stated “The ECCV thanks the State Labor Government for their generous support of this new anti- racism leadership initiative.”
Now, more than ever, we need to take a strong stance against racism and continue to celebrate the goodness and diversity that lives within our community and is integral to our neighbourhoods.

We call on our political leaders to make statements based on rigorous evidence and not play to populist prejudices. We can and we must do better. 

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