Welcome to Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV) first eBulletin for 2024. We hope that, like the team here, you enjoyed a restful break and are energised for the year ahead.
In addition to our flagship projects, we have embarked on a number of new projects, which enable us to deepen our strategic partnerships and cross-sector collaborations with
our members and stakeholders. This includes our work in improving emergency preparedness and mental health outcomes for people from migrant and refugee backgrounds, which you can read more about below.
We are delighted to welcome on board several new staff members, and look forward to continuing to grow our team and our capacity throughout the year.
Last week saw the publication of our Pre-Budget Submission 2024-25, which makes a suite of recommendations to the Victorian and federal governments about the urgent priorities facing migrant and refugee communities. A focus was the need to address the rise in racism and vilification in recent years, and its impact on our communities. While we commend the state government for spearheading the Anti-Racism Strategy, we call on them to commit priority funding for its implementation as well as the implementation of other measures to combat institutional racism.
We are also currently developing ECCV's new Strategic Plan, which we are excited to publish in April. We have been consulting widely with our members, stakeholders and communities as part of this process to ensure ECCV remains the leading voice for multicultural Victoria.
The Strategic Plan 2024-34 will provide a clear roadmap for the next decade, with the goal of clarifying our purpose, vision, and mission, and detailing measurable objectives to guide our actions and effectively measure our social impact.
This year also marks a half-century since ECCV was first established in 1974. The organisation, and the diverse communities we represent, have come a mighty long way since then, and we are excited to celebrate our milestone 50th anniversary with you in the coming months.
Eddie Micallef, Chairperson
Highlights
Pre-budget submission
Australia is in the worst cost-of-living crisis in over 20 years, and migrants and refugees have been hit particularly hard. ECCV’s Pre-Budget Submission 2024-25 calls for targeted investments across a range of areas including employment, emergency management and mental health to support our diverse communities through this crisis.
Multicultural leaders honoured on 26 January 2024
Many multicultural leaders were recognised as part of the Australia Day Honours List 2024. We would especially like to congratulate our members and friends: former ECCV Board Member Zeynep Yesilyurt OAM, longstanding ECCV volunteer Con Pagonis OAM, Dr Francis Acquah AM, Loc Huu Lam OAM, Peter Gaspar OAM, Lesley Gaspar OAM and Florence Tafadzwa Mauwa OAM.
First 2024 meeting of the MEMP
ECCV was pleased to attend the first Planning Meeting of the year for the Multicultural Emergency Management Partnership (MEMP), which is supported by our Multicultural Emergency Management Initiative. The Meeting, which was held on 24 January, was a fantastic opportunity to come together with the community leaders, emergency service representatives and organisations involved in the MEMP.
Revisit highlights from our AGM
ECCV's 2023 AGM was one of our most well-attended in recent years, with over 100 members and friends joining us on 30 November, when we announced ECCV's new patron, the Hon Steve Bracks AC. Watch the highlights in our AGM wrap video. You can also watch Mr Bracks' full keyote address, and ECCV CEO Mo Elrafihi’s speech.
Have you read our latest Annual Report?
ECCV's Annual Report 2022-23 is available online now. The Report offers an overview of what ECCV has achieved over the last financial year through our policy, advocacy and project work with a focus on our strategic collaborations. Thank you to all our members, partners and communities who helped shape our work.
Learn more about financial elder abuse | Thursday 8 February 2024 | 4–5.30pm
ECCV has partnered with Financial Counselling Victoria to hold an online workshop next week about financial elder abuse and how to support seniors to identify and respond to the issue. Speakers at the workshop include Lyn Dundon, Project Coordinator at FCV and Michele Padbury, Financial Counsellor at VincentCare.
Opportunities and Resources
Browse ECCV's new Policy Library
ECCV is pleased to share our new online Policy Library, which makes it easier to search our reports, submissions and position papers about key advocacy areas, including anti-racism, aged care, disability, and employment. Our research and policy publications are a vital part of our work to advance the rights and wellbeing of Victoria’s migrant and refugee communities.
Join our mental health workshops
Do you work in the mental health sector and want to learn how to provide culturally safe services? ECCV is holding workshops to help practitioners understand the factors impacting poorer mental health outcomes for multicultural communities. To arrange a workshop, please contact ECCV's Partnerships & Engagement Lead Surmeli Yesilyurt on 0481 589 664 or syesilyurt@eccv.org.au.
Raising voices of diverse people with disability
In partnership with the Migrant Resource Centre North West Region, ECCV is delivering workshops to empower people with disability from migrant and refugee communities. The Raise Our Voices program will support people with disability from multicultural backgrounds to understand what self-advocacy is, why it's important and how they can improve their self-advocacy skills.