The state of disaster declared by the Victorian Government on the 2nd August is a heavy blow to us all.
Chair's Message
The thoughts of the ECCV Board and staff are with members of the wider Victorian community, who are further impacted by the restrictions to prevent an escalation in COVID-19 infections.
As the devastating impacts on several residential aged care facilities have shown us, the short term pain that we are being asked to share at this point in time, is to ensure that long-term consequences to our families, friends and neighbours are avoided. We ask all our members and stakeholders to support their communities to comply with Victorian Government restrictions so that we can all get through this difficult time.
The outbreak of COVID-19 infections in a number of aged care facilities in Victoria has been of profound concern to ECCV. ECCV is collaborating with the VMC to host a meeting with Multicultural Aged Care service providers and senior representatives from State and Commonwealth government departments to hear first hand about the work that multicultural communities are undertaking to keep older people safe and informed through the pandemic. The meeting will also consider further actions that can be taken to enhance the COVID-19 response by more effectively tapping into the resilience and connectedness of our communities and seniors in particular.
In light of COVID-19, ECCV has decided to postpone some of its key events for 2020. These include ECCV’s biannual State Conference, which was scheduled to be hosted in the City of Greater Shepparton in November, as well as one of our hallmark annual events – the Walter Lippmann Memorial Oration. While we are disappointed that these events will not progress as planned, given our collective priorities in the current public health emergency this is in the best interests of all concerned. We look forward to these important events returning in 2021.
ECCV’s policy and advocacy work has been in overdrive during the last month, and I’d like to thank the dedicated hard work and quality output of the ECCV staff. Publications over this period have been aligned with the Board’s current strategic priorities including a submission to the Aged Care Royal Commission into Quality & Safety, a series of Issues Briefs relating to COVID 19, on a range of important subjects including, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Racism and the vulnerable position of Migrant Workers. ECCV has also completed its submission to the Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ECCV thanks its members and stakeholders for their considered inputs over the last 5 months in making these papers possible. You will find links to the various submissions in this newsletter.
Finally, ECCV has commenced its membership renewal process for 2020-21 and we are asking all our existing members to continue to support the organisation, and for those who are yet to join to consider doing so. ECCV is the pre-eminent member based peak body for ethnic and multicultural Victorians, and we are only as strong and effective as our members. Working together has never been more important as we collectively seek to navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that the needs, interests and aspirations of multicultural Victoria are met as part of our State’s response and recovery.
For more information or questions about the benefits of being an ECCV member, please write to us at membership@eccv.org.au or call 0431 091 738
Warm regards
Eddie Micallef, ECCV Chairperson
It’s Our Time: Backing Women To Stand For Council
ECCV will be working with social impact marketing firm Ellis Jones and a range of partners including LGPro (Local Government Professionals), the Australian Local Government Women’s Association, the Victorian Local Governance Association and the YWCA to provide our unique expertise to the Victorian government's It's Our Time campaign.
Expected to launch in mid-August, the It’s Our Time campaign aims to inspire women to get involved in local government and nominate for election. The push will include the provision of online resources including webinars.
Watch this space in the weeks ahead for more details.
Talking self advocacy with ECC Shepparton & District
ECCV's CALD Disability advocate speaks to Betul Tuna from the Ethnic Communities' Council of Shepparton & District about all things self-advocacy in this video podcast.
Drawing on her lived experiences of physical disability and being from a Greek background, Athena talks about how she hopes to make a difference in Shepparton, where she has lived for the last 30 years.
ECCV are looking for a Policy & Advocacy Manager
ECCV is looking for a highly credentialed Policy & Advocacy Manager to join our growing team.
The Policy & Advocacy Manager leads a key portfolio for the ECCV, driving the organisation’s policy work and advocacy strategy across multicultural Victoria.
Guided by ECCV’s strategic priorities, the position produces and oversees the development of a range of evidence-based positions that can translate into agreed actions with the aim of influencing change and improving outcomes for culturally diverse Victorians.
Welcome to the team!
We are delighted to welcome Riccardo Armillei as Advocacy and Policy Advisor.
Riccardo comes to ECCV from The Salvation Army, where he was the Advocacy and Policy Advisor on issues of human trafficking and modern slavery in Australia.He has over a decade of research experience with immigration policy, human rights and the rights of discriminated minorities.
We are delighted to welcome Nimo Hersi as Disability Advocate for CALD communities.
Read moreBorn in Somalia, Nimo has years of experience working with a number of organizations, such as Women’s Health. She has worked as a bi-lingual worker and interpreter supporting women with financial literacy.
Policy Issues Briefs: Impacts of COVID-19 on mental health, employment, social cohesion
With the global pandemic making business as usual almost impossible, the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) has produced four policy issue briefs that analyse the impacts of the pandemic on the mental health, employment challenges, and risks around social cohesion, for Victoria’s migrant and refugee communities.
ECCV's Submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety
In this submission ECCV invites the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (RCACQS) to re-imagine a new context for aged care, one that is centered on community based integrated care and takes into consideration identified priorities.
ECCV's Submission to Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
inquiry submission
An emergency response of such scale and complexity as the one required due to the COVID-19 pandemic calls for recommendations that will help us all to advance together, and it is with this intention that ECCV presents this submission to the state Parliament’s Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
ECCV consulted with community members, executives from our regional partners, our member organisations and individuals, as well as, the Victorian Multicultural CEO Network to inform the recommendations and findings of this submission.
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Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV)
Address: Suite 101, 398 Sydney Road, Coburg, VIC 3058
Tel: 9354 9555
Email: eccv@eccv.org.au
Website: https://eccv.org.au