NAVIGATION

NAVIGATION

HOME | CONTACT | ABOUT US | GATHERS | RESOURCES

GEIFN | CONSOLIDATED | Information on Coronavirus (COVID-19) | Tuesday 1 June 2021

Fast Facts: COVID-19 Victoria & Australia

  1. VIC | GOV | UPDATING | Pandemic Response
  2. VIC | VMC | MAG | RAISING | Help to India from Australia
  3. AUST | CoPP | COMMEMORATING | Mabo Day | Thursday 3 June 2021 | 12noon-12.30pm
  4. VIC | ECCV | National Reconciliation Week Member Forum | Thursday 3 June 2021 | 10am-12noon
  5. VIC | MESAC | SHARING | Winter Solstice Foreshore Ramble | Sunday 20 June 2021 | 10am–11.30am
  6. VIC | GOV | VACANCY | For Multilingual women keeping communities safe
  7. VIC | GOV | VACANCY | Jobs for multicultural Victorians in family violence sector
  8. AUST | ABS | VACANCY | Census Contract Positions | May-October 2021
  9. VIC | ECCV | VACANCY | Gas Industry CALD Consultations
  10. VIC | SMCT | VACANCY | Volunteers for advisory committee
  11. VIC | GOV | PROVIDING | Early Start for Refugee and asylum seeker children
  12. VIC | GOV | GRANTING | Gambling harm prevention programs | now open
  13. MELB | CoM | CALLING | Nominations for Melbourne Awards | nominations close Friday 11 June 2021
  14. VIC | VMC | CALLING | Multicultural Film Festival entrants | submissions close 20 June 2021
  15. AUST | POCH | SURVEYING | Parents of teenagers and healthcare workers for fact sheet feedback
  16. AUST | MOPI | SURVEYING | People of Italian background to give film feedback | evaluation closes 7 June 2021
  17. VIC | ECCV | SURVEYING | Speak My Language Interviewees
  18. AUST | SSI | WORKSHOP | CultureReady - Free and online | run until June 2021
  19. AUST | MIACCESS | LAUNCHING | New website with translated resources for people with disability from CALD backgrounds, their carers, and communities.
  20. VIC | GOV | Mental Health Complaints Commissioner launches new website
  21. AUST | ATO | In-language tax time resources
  22. AUST | GOV | INQUIRING | Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability | submit responses by 11 June 2021
  23. AUST | Coronavirus hotline
  24. AUST | Helpers and Reliable Sources Along the Way
  25. Acknowledgment to Sources
  26. Bye bye to Essentialists
  27. Self-Isolators, Non-Essentials And The Homebound


1. VIC | GOV | UPDATING | Pandemic Response

From 11.59pm Thursday 27 May 2021, a seven-day lockdown across Victoria began.

Here are facts and key information on supports and services that are available to you and your community.  
  • Hear this information in a language other than English, please visit the Multilingual News Services page.
  • To view and share this information within your communities, you can visit the translated information on this page.
  • If you have had interruptions to your work, school, mental health or family due to COVID-19, cohealth can help you through the Family Recovery Program. Read the fact sheets in 13 languages and call 9448 6845 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. For an interpreter, call 13 14 50 and ask them to call 9448 6845.
  • For those in need of food relief and essentials, you can contact Relief and Community Support at rcs@dffh.vic.gov.au and 1800 365 100.

Some more essential links: 

COVID-19 exposure sites

There are new coronavirus exposure sites across Melbourne as well as some regional areas. If you, or your friends or family, went to any of the exposure sites listed here at the times indicated, please follow the advice given for that particular site.  

COVID-19 symptoms to watch for

If you have cold or flu like symptoms, such as a cough, fever, sore throat, shortness of breath or runny nose, even if these are mild, you should get tested for COVID-19.  

New restrictions on gatherings, travel and masks

There are five (5) reasons to leave home:
  1. Shopping for necessary good and services
  2. Authorised work or permitted education
  3. Care and caregiving, compassionate and medical reasons
  4. Exercise, for up to two hours with one other person, within five kilometres.
  5. Getting vaccinated
No visitors to your home, unless it is an intimate partner. Single person bubbles will also be allowed.

Public and private gatherings not be permitted.

Masks must be carried and worn everywhere, indoors and outdoors, unless at home.

Travel outside the home limited to 5km from your place or primary residence. Exceptions to the rule include: accessing necessary goods and services which cannot be obtained within the 5km limit; visiting an intimate partner; visiting your “single bubble” person; authorised workers; and caregiving or compassionate reasons.

Shops like supermarkets, food stores, bottle shops, banks, petrol stations and pharmacies will also remain open. Cafes and restaurants will be able to offer take-away only. Gyms, hairdressers, community facilities and entertainment venues closed. Non-essential retail only open for click and collect.

Childcare and kindergartens remain open, but schools closed, other than for the children of authorised workers and vulnerable children. 

Getting vaccinated against COVID-19

Vaccination helps protect you from getting sick from COVID-19. The vaccines being used in Australia are very effective at preventing serious illness and loss of life from COVID-19. Vaccination centres are open to people who are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. If you are eligible, please get vaccinated. State Hubs from tomorrow will be offering Pfizer to 40 – 49 year olds. 

Checking in at venues and facilities 

Using the Service Victorian QR code to check in when you visit public places helps with contact tracing and keeps Victoria safe and open. When you check-in, you create a record of the time and date you visited a venue. This means that contact tracers can quickly access your contact information and get in touch with you, if you’ve visited a public exposure site. This will help to contain any COVID-19 outbreak. 

QR codes are simple and free and the information recorded when you check in is kept private. 

Financial supports for people and businesses impacted

You can read about financial and other supports available to people and businesses impacted by the lockdown and COVID-19 in general.

If you have questions or concerns about COVID-19, you can call the coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398, then press 0 (zero).  


COVIDSafe Planning Webinar for Retailers

Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV) collaborated with the Australian Retailers Association and the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions to present a webinar on COVIDSafe planning for small businesses retailers. Spot checks by inspectors have found high rates of non-compliance.  

To learn more about Victoria's restrictions

Visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au or call the Victorian Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 675 398. International, interstate and mobile callers can phone (+613) 9096 9000.


Family safety support

  • If you or your family need to leave a violent situation or you don’t feel safe in your home, you can access safe housing. Call Safe Steps on 1800 015 188 or email safesteps@safesteps.org.au 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
 

COVID-19 vaccines ⁠–⁠ Is it true?

With new COVID-19 vaccine developments every day, it’s normal to have questions or concerns, and possibly feel hesitant about getting a vaccine. That's why accurate, evidence-based answers to questions is available about COVID-19 vaccines. 
Find out more about COVID-19 vaccines ⁠–⁠ Is it true?


2. VIC | VMC | MAG | RAISING | Help to India from Australia

Greetings of peace,
The Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC)'s Multifaith Advisory Group met on 3 May 2021 and we would like to send a message to the people of India and the Indian diaspora community.

The wonderful Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore writes from his heart about our common humanity: ”I shall ever seek my compatriots all over the world.”

In this time of pandemic crisis, we are drawn to be compatriots of folk in India. The links between India and Australia run deep and are getting deeper.

Our Indian Australian sisters and brothers are a major community in our successful multicultural Australia. We feel with them, and for them, as their relatives and the Indian population face the current COVID crisis. Bonded as we are so deeply, we compatriots offer our prayers and meditations from our unifying ethic of compassion.

With links of friendship, we also are offering what practical support we can through trusted and faith-based Indian NGOs, complementing the aid already being offered by our State and Federal Governments. The needs are huge, as the media reports convey. Our friends in India write asking for our prayers as they succumb to the virus and as they hear of more friends dying.

From our diverse traditions, we offer what we can together. Please make a donation to your preferred charity or consider the organisations below, which are raising funds for India right now.


Sincerely,
Multifaith Advisory Group

3. AUST | CoPP | COMMEMORATING | Mabo Day | Thursday 3 June 2021 | 12noon-12.30pm

Join City of Port Phillip and community in this Mabo Day Flag-raising. Respectful relationships built on trust are at the heart of reconciliation.
Marked annually on 3 June, Mabo Day commemorates Mer Island man Eddie Mabo and his successful efforts to overturn the legal fiction of Australia's terra nullius, or 'land belonging to no-one'. 

Website: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/commemorating-mabo-day/

 

4. VIC | ECCV | National Reconciliation Week Member Forum | Thursday 3 June 2021 | 10am-12noon

Sheena Watt MP, the first Aboriginal woman to represent the ALP in the Victorian Parliament will be joining next week's Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV)'s Member Forum, which includes a workshop facilitated by Reconciliation Victoria. The event is a key step in our Reconciliation Action Plan. 

Where: Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the forum will now be held online. 
Cost: Free 

5. VIC | MESAC | SHARING | Winter Solstice Foreshore Ramble | Sunday 20 June 2021 | 10am–11.30am

Join this post-COVID lockdown Winter Solstice Walk for 2021:
  • Assembly: 10am at McGregor’s Rock
  • Talk: by Ray Lewis’ on Sea Country & Megafauna 
  • Walk: with Professor John Buckeridge at the open cliffs; discussing coastal geology, geomorphology and palaeoecology (providing an insight into what it was like in our coastal waters from 6 million years ago to the present). 
  • Finish: Ricketts Point Tea House for hot coffee, tea, chocolate, soup & warm fire if you like.

Cost: free to attend
Considerations: run by experts and volunteers. Incidentals like beverages are borne by participant.
Bookings: numbers are limited, online bookings essential through TryBooking

Marine Education Science and Community (MESAC) is a voluntary organisation with priceless volunteers who give up hundreds of hours of their time. Volunteers are passionate, highly educated and skilled in so many things. A debt of gratitude is owed every day for their passion to educate, connect and preserve our natural marine environments.

6. VIC | GOV | VACANCY | For Multilingual women keeping communities safe

Working for Victoria is partnering with the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health and nine other women’s health organisations to create jobs for migrant and refugee women.

Employees will work directly with CALD communities across Victoria, helping people access the latest public health information about coronavirus and other women’s health issues in a range of languages.

Roles will be based in metropolitan and regional Victoria and will involve both face-to-face and online platforms, including video conferencing and social media.

The multilingual educators will be matched to each community based on the languages spoken and health needs of participants. 

7. VIC | GOV | VACANCY | Jobs for multicultural Victorians in family violence sector

Right now across Victoria there are opportunities for people who want to make a difference in a career that’s meaningful, challenging and rewarding. From social workers and educators, to communicators and researchers, the family violence sector needs people with different skills, experience and backgrounds for roles as diverse as the communities served.

Be part of a team working to make positive change and end family violence. 

8. AUST | ABS | VACANCY | Census Contract Positions | May-October 2021

The Australian Census of Population and Housing (Census) is run every five years and is one of the largest and most important collections to count the number of people and houses in Australia. The next Census will be held on 10 August 2021.
The Census collects information about where we live, age, our culture, religion, income, education, living and housing arrangements. The information is used to make important decisions, such as government funding, input into policy-making and electoral boundaries.
To learn more about the Census visit here

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is Australia’s national statistical agency. We aim to understand Australia’s data needs to inform important decisions about our nation’s future.
To learn more about the ABS visit here. 

Field Manager
  • 2,665 jobs available
  • $36.90 per hour (incl 25% loading) + super (Contract/Temporary)
  • Roles start from May 2021
  • Earn extra income
Census Field Officer
  • 19,791 jobs available
  • $24.80 per hour (incl 25% loading) + super (Contract/Temporary)
  • Roles start from July 2021
  • Earn extra income


For further information 
About this position or to apply, www.censusjobs.adecco.com.au
For any other query, please contact Adecco Census Recruitment Team on 1300 233 445 or email enquiries@censusjobs.adecco.com.au


9. VIC | ECCV | VACANCY | Gas Industry CALD Consultations

Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV) is recruiting people from CALD communities to participate in residential consumer consultations with the gas industry. Participants will receive $300 to attend three in-person workshops in Melbourne (Southbank and South Yarra) over six months and provide feedback to assist future industry planning. No knowledge of the gas industry required. 


10. VIC | SMCT | VACANCY | Volunteers for advisory committee

The Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT) administers nine cemetery locations within metropolitan Melbourne and touches more than half of Victoria’s grieving families who have experienced loss.   

Central to the service is the involvement and representation of the diverse cultures and communities that live in and around Greater Melbourne.  

SMCT is currently seeking to appoint voluntary members to its Community Advisory Committee, which meets a minimum of four times a year.


11. VIC | GOV | PROVIDING | Early Start for Refugee and asylum seeker children

Helping refugee and asylum seeker children get the best start. Children of refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds can now access two years of free or low-cost kindergarten to give them the best educational start to life.

Early Start Kindergarten provides access to a program delivered by a qualified teacher which supports children’s language and social development. The grant is available to children who turn three-years-old before 30 April in the year they are enrolled to attend kindergarten.

From 2021, the grant has been expanded to include children of refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. Early Start Kindergarten continues to be available to children from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, as well as families and children who have had contact with Child Protection. 

Parents and carers can enrol their child by contacting their local kindergarten and asking to access the Early Start Kindergarten grant. 

12. VIC | GOV | GRANTING | Gambling harm prevention programs | now open

Applications are now open for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s gambling harm prevention grants. They’re offering a total of $400,000 (ex GST) for new projects to prevent and reduce harm from gambling among Vietnamese women. 

13. MELB | CoM | CALLING | Nominations for Melbourne Awards | nominations close Friday 11 June 2021

Help the City of Melbourne (CoM) celebrate the researchers, innovators, game changers and future shapers. 

The Melbourne Awards celebrate the people and projects that make a difference to our city. Applications are now open across eight categories, including:
  • Knowledge and Innovation
  • Hospitality 
  • Urban Design 
  • Arts and Events
  • LGBTIQ
  • Aboriginal Melbourne – Kommargee Ketherba
  • Sustainability and Community.
 

14. VIC | VMC | CALLING | Multicultural Film Festival entrants | submissions close 20 June 2021

The Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) Multicultural Film Festival is back this August! Supporting emerging filmmakers from diverse backgrounds and also inviting submissions from filmmakers of any background to produce films that explore multiculturalism and promote social cohesion. 

Each year, our shortlisted films feature characters who are encountering new ways of life, struggling with feeling isolated in a new country or within their cultures' traditions, or beginning to embrace and celebrate their difference.

Now seeking new short films to be shown at the festival. If you know any filmmakers, please let them know about this great opportunity to share their work. 

15. AUST | POCH | SURVEYING | Parents of teenagers and healthcare workers for fact sheet feedback

Positive Choices is an online portal to help school communities access accurate, up-to-date drug education resources and prevention programs. They are developing drug education fact sheets for Arab, Chinese and South Asian communities. The resources provide advice and information to help parents talk to their teenagers about drugs and alcohol.

Positive Choices would like the help of health workers and parents to make sure these fact sheets are both informative and suitable for the intended communities.

To access the survey for multicultural health workers, click here. 

To access the survey for parents, please click on the relevant survey link in the languages below. Each survey is also available in English. 

16. AUST | MOPI | SURVEYING | People of Italian background to give film feedback | evaluation closes 7 June 2021

In Australia, limited awareness of dementia in people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds often results in delayed diagnosis, poorer prognosis, and a higher burden of care on families and health systems.

Moving Pictures, an innovative multimedia project, aims to change this through the production of short films co-produced with people from CALD backgrounds. They have now opened the online evaluation of short films for people from an Italian background. 

Moving Pictures are looking for survey participants who are over the age of 18, are from an Italian background, and live in Australia to help evaluate and provide feedback on the films for final refinement

The evaluation is available in English and Italian, and each survey will take 20-25 minutes to complete. Participants can enter a draw to win one of four $50 gift cards. 

17. VIC | ECCV | SURVEYING | Speak My Language Interviewees

Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV) is looking for people with disability and guest speakers who speak Maltese, Somali and Oromo to be interviewed for the Speak My Language program. The national program will feature CALD and Indigenous Australians sharing real stories, experiences and tips about living well with a disability in a series of podcasts, radio broadcasts and online content in more than 25 community languages. ECCV is also recruiting "Travellers" to conduct interviews and produce podcasts. 

18. AUST | SSI | WORKSHOP | CultureReady – Free and online | run until June 2021

Settlement Services International (SSI) are back with CultureReady workshops in 2021. These free online workshops aim to equip disability service providers (NDIS registered or those intending to register in the next 18 months) to provide culturally responsive services. 
  • Workshop 1: Fundamentals of culturally responsive practice in the disability context
  • Workshop 2: Working with language services
  • Workshop 3: Engaging CALD communities 
  • Workshop 4: Recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce 
Book spot here

19. AUST | MIACCESS | LAUNCHING | New website with translated resources for people with disability from CALD backgrounds, their carers, and communities.

MiAccess can now be accessed and navigated in 10 languages, as well as English. The site also contains translated resources about disability and accessing the NDIS in more than 30 languages.   

20. VIC | GOV | Mental Health Complaints Commissioner website

The new website for the Mental Health Complaints Commissioner aims to make it simpler for consumers, families, carers and support people to make a complaint about a Victorian public mental health service.

If you had a negative experience and would like to share it, it is your right to make a complaint to the Commissioner. Speaking up can improve the mental health system for you and other people. 

21. AUST | ATO | In-language tax time resources

It's not long until the end of the financial year, and many Australians are already thinking about getting their tax deductions in order. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has many great resources to help you, and they've made them available in many different languages. 

Some of the topics covered include:
  • Help for your first tax time – information if you're new to Australia.
  • How to get ready to do your tax return – a checklist of what you might need for your tax return.
  • Steps to make doing your tax return easier – a guide to help you do your tax return.
  • Get free help to do your tax return – information about the ATO's Tax Help service.
  • Good recordkeeping makes tax time easier – tips for keeping good tax records.
  • Occupation and work-related expense guides – to help you work out what expenses you can claim as a deduction on your tax return.
  • Read the resources
 

22. AUST | GOV | INQUIRING | Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability | submit responses by 11 June 2021

The Royal Commission has released an issue paper asking the public to share their views about the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability, including people with disabilities and their family and supporters.
More information here


23. AUST | Coronavirus hotline

  • Coronavirus hotline: If you are concerned, call the coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398 (24 Hours).
  • Coronavirus in-language information
  • If you are an NDIS participant you can also call the national hotline on 1800 020 080.
  • Information and referrals for people with disability and their supporters about Coronavirus: Contact the Disability Information Helpline on 1800 634 787. 
  • If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, you can also call the National Relay Service on 133 677.
  • Interpreting service: If you need an interpreter, call TIS National on 131 450.
  • Testing locations: Find a testing location near you.
  • Call-to-Test-at-Home service, providing in-home coronavirus testing to Victorians who would otherwise be unable to get tested, call the DHHS Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.
  • Triple Zero: Please keep Triple Zero (000) for emergencies only.


24. AUST | Helpers and Reliable Sources Along the Way

     

    25. Acknowledgment to Sources

    This is a consolidated account of information current at time of issuance, sourced, collated and provided by Victorian Multicultural Commission, Victorian Jewish Community COVID-19 Taskforce, Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria, various Government Authorities, community organisations and public domain, received with gratitude.

    26. Bye bye to Essentialists

    Us non-essentialists will endeavour to manage our expection of miracles and do our best to follow rules while staying out of the way. 

    Contact your closest friendly non-essentialist if you need anything that can be done remotely. Bye bye to Essentialists for now, please leave to attend to the essential work. That is all from GEIFN Caretaker at this time.

    27. Self-Isolators, Non-Essentials And The Homebound

    Meanwhile, if with a surplus of time, this is offered. Discuss with sincerity. Deny untruth. Dismiss unuseful. Accept useful. Adapt to change. Adopt least effort most benefit. Adept with sharing. Enjoy throughout. As each case may be. Round about. And again. Or not.

    Labels: , , , , , , , ,