Congratulating all Victorians throughout this state for their tireless and ongoing work in combatting and containing the COVID 19 pandemic.
Message from Chair
It is heartening to see consecutive days of zero community transmission cases in our beloved state.
This is because of the hard work and sacrifice of each and every Victorian. It is particularly uplifting to see that trends are suggesting that we may be able to celebrate Christmas with family and friends in a COVID-safe way.
This week is NAIDOC Week. ECCV is honoured to celebrate Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander, culture, history, knowledge and achievement as part of our strategic goals. In NAIDOC Week, we acknowledge the ongoing efforts of First Nations peoples to retain the right to natural and cultural assets on this ancestral land, and offer our continuing support. ECCV cannot advocate for respect for culture and diversity, if we are unable to foster respect for the diversity of cultures among Australia’s First Nations peoples.
This is because of the hard work and sacrifice of each and every Victorian. It is particularly uplifting to see that trends are suggesting that we may be able to celebrate Christmas with family and friends in a COVID-safe way.
This week is NAIDOC Week. ECCV is honoured to celebrate Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander, culture, history, knowledge and achievement as part of our strategic goals. In NAIDOC Week, we acknowledge the ongoing efforts of First Nations peoples to retain the right to natural and cultural assets on this ancestral land, and offer our continuing support. ECCV cannot advocate for respect for culture and diversity, if we are unable to foster respect for the diversity of cultures among Australia’s First Nations peoples.
As part of a range of other important initiatives, I am delighted to announce that ECCV has released a policy paper, which focuses crucially on the provision of health literacy and language services during the pandemic.
Through community consultations, surveys and focus groups, ECCV has gathered a clearer picture of how culturally diverse Victorians see the role of professional interpreting services in navigating and accessing the health system.
Separately to this, there were great discussions and insights shared to drive collaboration in the community sector at the ECCV Member Forum held in October. As a member-driven peak body, ECCV’s advocacy priorities are led by the knowledge, experiences and expertise of our valued members. The team at ECCV are compiling all ideas and insights and will share these with stakeholders in the coming weeks.
Through community consultations, surveys and focus groups, ECCV has gathered a clearer picture of how culturally diverse Victorians see the role of professional interpreting services in navigating and accessing the health system.
Separately to this, there were great discussions and insights shared to drive collaboration in the community sector at the ECCV Member Forum held in October. As a member-driven peak body, ECCV’s advocacy priorities are led by the knowledge, experiences and expertise of our valued members. The team at ECCV are compiling all ideas and insights and will share these with stakeholders in the coming weeks.
I’m pleased to announce that our team at ECCV has significantly grown. In the past month, we have had a team of Community Outreach Workers and three CALD Consumer Representatives join us. We are excited for the contributions these new staff team members will make towards the increasingly important and targeted work we are being required to do.
ECCV has partnered with InTouch and Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, supported by the Municipal Association of Victoria, for a digital campaign to mark Respect Victoria’s ‘16 Days of Activism 2020’ campaign beginning November 25. Please follow our social channels for campaign messaging informed by these expert organisations.
Finally, it is with great pleasure that I would like to announce the date for ECCV’s 2020 Annual General Meeting on 3 December 2020. This year, we will be joined by the Hon. Ros Spence MP, Minister for Multicultural Affairs as a keynote speaker. Formal notice to members and invitations to stakeholders to follow.
I continue to commend our Board Members, Executive Officer and staff for their hard work and commitment in making this all possible. We look forward to continuing to support, inform and collaborate with the Victorian community to care for and strengthen each other.
Warm regards,
Eddie Micallef, Chairperson
ECCV warmly welcomes
Rashmi Kumar as Policy & Advocacy Manager!
Rashmi, comes to ECCV from Our Watch, where she was the Senior Policy and Practice Advisor Intersectionality. Her strong professional experience in family violence prevention is also demonstrated by her work across a range of Policy and Project Lead positions at Safe Steps and No To Violence. Rashmi also worked at the NSW Council of Social Services as a Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer in aligned portfolio areas such as ageing and disability.
Alongside Rashmi’s policy and practice experience, she worked as Principal Advisor for the Change the Record campaign, which is a national campaign that aims to raise the incarceration age of children. Rashmi’s advocacy experience in working alongside First Nations people as part of this campaign, saw her also strategically lead the development of a Reconciliation Action Plan at Our Watch.
Rashmi is passionate about social justice, and has contributed to a range of community campaigns and initiatives. She is the Strategic Policy Lead with Democracy in Colour and is a Campaign Fellow with the Centre for Australian Progress. Rashmi also serves on the Board of Switchboard Victoria and as Chair of the QTIPOC (Queer, Trans and Intersex People of Colour) Committee.
Rashmi will be playing a critical role in driving ECCV’s policy and advocacy agenda into the future as part of the management team.
New COVID-19 Community Outreach team and the new CALD Health Consumer Representatives!
ECCV’s COVID-19 Community Outreach Project is funded by the Victorian Government through the Working for Victoria fund to respond to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities impacted by COVID-19. The team comprises Project Coordinator, Ring Mayar, and Project Outreach Workers:- Teniola Adesanya
- Martin Arop
- Azal Ahmad
- Deepmala Awasthi
- Hayat Doughan
- Osman Ali Mohamed
- Ruach Deng
- Suzan Saka
And ECCV also welcomes new CALD Health Consumer Representatives:
- Argireta Ateva
- Lamija Cancar
- Katia Kaloustian.
ECCV FECCA position Paper
Discussion Summary: Roundtable on Aged care systems navigation for CALD communitiesOn 22nd October 2020, ECCV and Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) hosted a roundtable discussion on the findings and recommendations from FECCA and ECCV’s Position Paper: Systems Navigation for CALD Communities: from prevention to active participation.
The paper identified the key principles of an aged care navigation model that will best meet the needs of many older Australians from CALD backgrounds and their carers. The discussion was based on sharing experience of access to and use of aged care services by first-hand service users from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, multicultural aged care practitioners and service providers.
The main themes discussed during the roundtable were:
- Interpreter Services
- Block funding
- Care Finders
- Aged care with choice
- Intersectionality
- Secondary consultation
Please provide feedback by 16th November 2020
Read the Position Paper
Supporting Councils to work with CALD Seniors’ Clubs
Almost 900 Victorian CALD Seniors’ Clubs have been instrumental in supporting their members with promoting emotional and physical health, including food relief, in-language ‘check ins’ and service navigation. CALD Seniors’ clubs function as positive ageing hubs. This has been crucial during COVID-19 as prolonged lockdown has created significant challenges to multicultural seniors, including increased social isolation and disengagement from services.In August, ECCV published Connecting CALD Seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic, an Issues Brief outlining the challenges facing CALD Seniors’ Clubs due to COVID-19 and opportunities to address these challenges.
On 27th October, ECCV and the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) co-delivered two forums for regional and metropolitan local governments, sharing ECCV’s knowledge and LGAs' good practice to inform councils of CALD Seniors’ clubs’ needs, strengths and challenges during COVID-19. A focus was the transition to “COVID Normal” and what positive ageing will look like in the future. Councils heard from seniors’ clubs’ representatives and discussed existing practices that can best support the clubs moving forward: digital inclusion, grants support and planning for safe social gatherings.
The Victorian Government CALD Communities Taskforce recently announced $2.1 million for CALD Seniors’ Clubs, including direct funding for clubs that have previously received grants. Newly formed clubs will need to apply for funding by 19th November.
On 27th October, ECCV and the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) co-delivered two forums for regional and metropolitan local governments, sharing ECCV’s knowledge and LGAs' good practice to inform councils of CALD Seniors’ clubs’ needs, strengths and challenges during COVID-19. A focus was the transition to “COVID Normal” and what positive ageing will look like in the future. Councils heard from seniors’ clubs’ representatives and discussed existing practices that can best support the clubs moving forward: digital inclusion, grants support and planning for safe social gatherings.
The Victorian Government CALD Communities Taskforce recently announced $2.1 million for CALD Seniors’ Clubs, including direct funding for clubs that have previously received grants. Newly formed clubs will need to apply for funding by 19th November.
Respect Women: Call it Out 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
ECCV, inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence (inTouch) and Multicultural Centre for Women's Health (MCWH), supported by Municipal Association of Victoria, are collaborating on a multilingual social media campaign to promote respect and call out common assumptions and barriers that arise in preventing violence against women from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
Key campaign messages in widely-spoken community languages will be shared from 25 November for Respect Victoria's 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence 2020 campaign.
Key campaign messages in widely-spoken community languages will be shared from 25 November for Respect Victoria's 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence 2020 campaign.
Also on ECCV's website
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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
Email: eccv@eccv.org.au
Website: https://eccv.org.au