Media Releases

Former Premier Steve Bracks announced as patron of ECCV

Dec 1, 2023

MEDIA RELEASE The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) is pleased to announce the appointment of former Victorian Premier, the Hon Steve Bracks AC, as our new patron. The appointment was announced at last night’s ECCV Annual General Meeting, where Mr Bracks...

Statement from ECCV Chair on Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

Oct 26, 2023

We are deeply concerned by the ongoing situation in Gaza, which has led to the devastating loss of lives, the displacement of families and communities, and the widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure. Just as we condemned Hamas for its October 7 attacks and...

Unity in the Face of Conflict: Supporting Jewish and Palestinian Communities in Victoria

Oct 13, 2023

With its vibrant and diverse multicultural communities, Victoria, shines as a prime example of harmonious coexistence in our world. It's our shared responsibility to preserve this cultural mosaic even when confronted with global conflicts that can sow division and...

ECCV statement on the Israel-Hamas conflict

Oct 9, 2023

The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) is deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. We strongly condemn the indiscriminate and abhorrent attacks carried out by Hamas on Israel. Our hearts go out to all those affected by the violence...

ECCV launches Victorian Multicultural Voices for ‘Yes’ campaign

Aug 15, 2023

The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) today joined forces with Yes23 and the Multicultural Australia for Voice alliance to launch the Victorian Multicultural Voices for ‘Yes’ awareness campaign. The campaign will harness the power of multicultural...

ECCV leading campaign to build multicultural support for ‘Yes’

Aug 14, 2023

The Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV) is joining forces with Yes23 and the Multicultural Australia for Voice alliance to raise awareness about the upcoming referendum among Victoria's migrant and refugee communities. This partnership effort will highlight...

ECCV welcomes proposed gambling harm protections

Jul 17, 2023

MEDIA RELEASE The Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV) welcomes the reforms announced yesterday to protect Victorians from gambling harm. Targeted measures are needed to address problem gambling in multicultural communities. ECCV CEO, Mo Elrafihi said: "We...

Introducing our new CEO

May 30, 2023

Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria (ECCV) Chairperson, Eddie Micallef, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mo Elrafihi as Chief Executive Officer. Over the past decade, Mo has provided strategic public policy advice to the Victorian Government. He has worked...

ECCV welcomes Budget investment in multicultural communities

May 23, 2023

The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria welcomes the investment in migrant and refugee communities in the Victorian Budget 2023-24. The budget delivers more than $77 million for a range of initiatives for multicultural businesses, community infrastructure,...

ECCV congratulates the Andrews Government on election win

Nov 28, 2022

ECCV congratulates the Andrews Labor Government on being elected for a third term. We will continue to work very closely with the Government and bring to its attention the issues affecting Victoria’s multicultural communities. ECCV chairperson Eddie Micallef welcomed...

Welcoming Labor’s $3.5 million pledge for ECCV

Nov 16, 2022

ECCV welcomes Premier Daniel Andrews' commitment that a re-elected Labor Government will invest $3.5 million to support and strengthen the work of ECCV. Mr Andrews acknowledged the critical role ECCV plays as the peak body representing Victoria’s multicultural...

Media Release: Coalition pledges increased funding for ECCV

Oct 26, 2022

State Election Forum: Coalition pledges increased funding for ECCV to strengthen support for multicultural communities ECCV held a successful State Election Forum at Brunswick Town Hall last week, where overwhelming support was received for our State Election...

Media Release: Improving emergency management

Oct 21, 2022

Multicultural communities can't continue to be an afterthought when it comes to emergency management. The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) welcomes the $500,000 investment in the Multicultural Emergency Management Partnership (MEMP), announced yesterday...

ECCV State Election Platform launched

Sep 12, 2022

The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria has released its policy platform for the upcoming Victorian Election. ECCV’s State Election Platform 2022 is calling on all parties to learn from the experiences and systemic gaps exposed by the pandemic and take action to...

Advancing Multicultural Australia – #FECCA22

Jun 15, 2022

Australia’s premier national conference on multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion is taking place this week in Melbourne, bringing together more than 850 multicultural leaders and changemakers, young and emerging voices, academics and other key thought leaders from...

ECCV Victorian State Budget Analysis 22-23

Jun 2, 2022

Overview The 2022-23 Budget was delivered on 3 May 2022, almost a year after the 2021-22 Budget. This year’s Budget is designed to address almost two years of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant investments in healthcare and service delivery....

ECCV co-hosts key gathering of regional ECCs

May 27, 2022

On 26-27 May at the Ballarat Welcome Centre, ECCV co-hosted a gathering of the state’s key regional Ethnic Communities' Councils (ECCs) in partnership with the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council (BRMC), the peak multicultural agency in the Central Highlands...

Budget response: Mixed bag for multicultural communities

May 4, 2022

ECCV welcomes the strong emphasis placed on investment in health infrastructure, mental health, employment and education in yesterday’s Victorian Budget, but is concerned that a more targeted approach will be needed to ensure funding reaches migrant and refugee...

Improving access to after hours primary healthcare for CALD communities

Nov 25, 2021

People from linguistically diverse communities risk missing out on care Melbourne’s primary health care system can be difficult to access for people from culturally diverse backgrounds, potentially endangering care for some of the city’s most at-risk communities, a...

Emiliano Zucchi Appointed as CEO of ECCV

Nov 25, 2021

ECCV is pleased to announce the appointment of Emiliano Zucchi to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Emiliano comes to ECCV from Northern Health, where has been the Director of the Transcultural & Language Services (TALS) department and the Narrun Wilip-giin...

Media Release: ECCV supports proposed Nazi symbols ban and anti-vilification protections

Sep 2, 2021

The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria commends the Victorian Government for its leadership in proposing to ban public displays of Nazi symbols and its commitment to strengthening the state’s anti-vilification protections. ECCV Chairperson Eddie Micallef has...

Culturally Responsive Mental Health Paper Released

Jun 15, 2021

Call for a New Framework for a Culturally Responsive and Safe Mental Health System in Victoria The impact of the failures of the state’s mental health system on the mental health and wellbeing of Victoria’s migrant and refugee communities and recommendations for a...

ECCV State Budget Response

May 20, 2021

ECCV Welcomes Victorian State Budget investment in multicultural communities, mental health and COVID-19 response ECCV has welcomed the Victorian Government’s $23.7 million investment in new initiatives for multicultural communities in today’s State Budget, including...

Welcoming Moray & Agnew Corporate Partnership

May 18, 2021

ECCV today announced a new partnership with leading national law firm, Moray & Agnew, who will be providing pro bono legal advice to ECCV to support its work advocating for Victoria’s migrant and refugee communities. Moray & Agnew will be offering legal...