We are delighted to present our Annual Report 2021-22.

With robust grassroots engagement and collaborative relationships with stakeholders, ECCV continued to be a strong voice for Victorians from migrant and refugee backgrounds. We are proud to have advocated tenaciously to ensure the voices of multicultural communities are centred in a variety of areas from COVID-19 recovery to disability inclusion, from positive ageing to mental health reform.

We delivered several new projects in 2021-22, including the Recognising and Respecting Carers project that identifies and builds the capacity of ‘hidden’ carers in multicultural communities, and supporting the Victorian’s Power Saving Bonus program as a community partner. Our team of bicultural workers have gone from strength to strength, helping to build connections and engage communities with an emphasis on empowering seniors, carers and people with disability from migrant and refugee backgrounds to live well.

Another significant collaboration was co-hosting the FECCA 2022: Advancing Multicultural Australia national conference in June, which was attended by a record-breaking 900+ patrons from across the country. It was a pleasure to partner with our federal counterpart, the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia, on a two-day event that brought together community leaders, policymakers, sector specialists, academics and lived experience advocates to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing multicultural communities.