On 3 June 2024, it was wonderful to mark ECCV’s 50th Anniversary with a special event at Parliament House.
Many of our members and friends, from diverse communities and across the political spectrum, gathered in Queen's Hall to celebrate this important milestone and the multicultural society that, together, we have created.
ECCV is proud of our 50 years of advocacy and the leading role we have played in the achievement that is multiculturalism. Across the past half-century, we opposed assimilation and championed integration, lobbied for Australia’s first refugee policy, fought for better settlement policies and services, helped deliver the Multicultural Victoria Act of 2004, and championed – and continue to champion – reconciliation with our First Nations people.
The event was an opportunity to acknowledge the many people who have dedicated their time and energy to ECCV’s success; from the post-War migrants and leaders who built the ECCV out of nothing, to the staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly over the past five decades to make ECCV what it is today – Victoria’s peak advocacy body for migrant and refugee communities. We were honoured to have ECCV co-founder George Papadopoulos join us and speak about his pride in seeing the organisation he helped establish in 1974 not only “survive, but flourish” in its mission to advocate for Victoria’s migrants and refugees.
It was inspiring to hear our political leaders acknowledge the trailblazers who built ECCV and made it a bastion of strength for multicultural and multifaith communities. As the Chair of ECCV for close to a decade, it was an honour to celebrate our past achievements, but to also look ahead at how we can continue to support multicultural Victoria in the years to come. As part of our 50th Anniversary commemoration, we are undertaking a Digital History project to capture our story and we look forward to launching it at a special member celebration later this year.
This week, it is with sadness and gratitude that we farewell our CEO Mo Elrafihi. We thank him for his outstanding contribution during his time at ECCV, which included the development of our Strategic Plan 2025-30, building stronger relationships with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, securing the Hon. Steve Bracks AC as ECCV’s Patron, and putting ECCV in a stronger financial position. We wish Mo well in his future endeavours. Recruitment for a new CEO to lead our organisation into the next chapter will begin later this month.
Eddie Micallef, Chairperson
Highlights
Celebrating 50 years of advocacy
ECCV's 50th anniversary at Parliament House last week brought together representatives of state and national peak bodies, ECCV members and former Board Directors, regional and metropolitan ethnic councils, multicultural organisations and MPs from across the political spectrum.
Meeting the First Peoples' Assembly
In May, ECCV met with the co-chairs of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, Ngarra Murray and Rueben Berg, to discuss how we can work together to empower our state's migrant and refugee communities to walk with First Peoples on the path to Treaty. Representing ECCV were Eddie Micallef, Gabrielle Marchetti, Jill Morgan AM, Mo Elrafihi and Victoria Kyriakopoulos.
Bicultural educator training on elder abuse
Ahead of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, ECCV and Seniors Rights Victoria hosted a 2-day training session for bicultural educators on how to identify, address and prevent elder abuse. Participants are now equipped to hold in-language sessions for members of their community. This flagship ECCV program has helped build the capacity of hundreds of diverse Victorians to respond to elder abuse.
Supporting migrants into employment
Representatives from SSI attended a meeting of ECCV’s Policy Advisory Committee on Employment, Entrepreneurship, Education & Training (PACEEET) this week to speak about the Billion Dollar Benefit campaign, a project aiming to reduce employment barriers for migrants and refugees so they can achieve their full economic potential.
Opportunities and Resources
Hear diverse stories of people with disability
ECCV is continuing its collaboration with the Ethnic Communities' Council of NSW to promote the Speak My Language (Disability) podcast series which showcases the stories of migrants and refugees living well with disability. The series features interviews in more than 20 languages highlighting an individual, organisation or business advocating for disability inclusion.
Participate in 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, contact Partnerships & Engagement Lead Surmeli Yesilyurt on 0481 589 664 or via email at syesilyurt@eccv.org.au.
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Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV)
Address: Suite 101, 398 Sydney Road, Coburg Vic 3058
Tel: (03) 9354 9555
ECCV acknowledges the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations as the Traditional Owners of the Country on which we work. We pay respect to their Elders past and present, acknowledge their continuing connections to land, sea and community, and extend respect to Traditional Owners throughout Victoria.