Chairperson’s Message

It has been wonderful to enjoy some well-earned freedoms and be able to reconnect with family and friends over summer, thanks to the vigilance and sacrifice of all Victorians during the difficult lockdowns of 2020.

 This is shaping up to be a busy and exciting year for the ECCV, after a period of significant growth. In 2020, our expertise was sought from State and Federal Government agencies and organisations wanting culturally-responsive approaches to community issues.

The ECCV’s expanded team is working on a range of collaborative policy, planning and community outreach programs and projects, from the aged care and disability sector to the state’s COVID-19 health response. We are proud to be helping to provide a trained bicultural workforce to engage with and respond to the changing needs of our multicultural community.

The ECCV welcomed December’s report by the Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass, which found that the extraordinary COVID-19 hard lockdown of the Flemington and North Melbourne public housing towers in July 2020 breached residents’ human rights and was contrary to law. Many of the issues raised in the Ombudsman’s report about the speed and severity of the lockdown, with no advance notice or explanation to residents, were in line with our submission to the Ombudsman’s inquiry.

 We have been encouraged by the steps the State Government has taken in recent months to address some of the issues faced by residents and the lessons learnt, including an investment in new social housing, investment in new community facilities and a commitment to capturing resident voices early and consult with organisations that work with these communities to find solutions to community-level problems.

 Through our knowledge, experience and strong member networks, organisations such as the ECCV have an increasingly important role to play informing future responses and improving services through a multicultural diversity, equity and inclusion lens.

 We look forward to sharing updates on the upcoming FECCA conference in November, which will bring together community representatives from across the country at a critical time.

 We are also pleased to be providing a pathway for next-generation leaders to develop their knowledge and skills of governance and leadership in our culturally diverse community through the ECCV Intercultural Young Advocacy Leadership (IYAL) Group. Following a successful pilot of the program, we are currently calling for applications from young people from culturally diverse backgrounds to join the IYAL group, which will add another important voice for multicultural Victoria.

 The Scanlon Foundation’s recent Mapping Social Cohesion report and handling of Collingwood Football Club’s racism report demonstrate there is still much work to be done to tackle racism and discrimination, counter prevailing negative attitudes about some CALD communities in Australia and rethink the basis of Australian identity in our increasingly diverse multicultural community.

Eddie Micallef

Chairperson