June Monthly Reflections

In the month of June, we enjoyed a period of recognition and celebration for multicultural individuals and communities across Victoria.?

We began with the Queen's Birthday 2022 Honours List, recognition that includes the General Division of the Order of Australia. There were several recipients honoured who worked closely with the VMC during the pandemic and continue to display extraordinary leadership which serves many of our multicultural communities.

·??????Andrew Crisp,?Commissioner for Emergency Services?

·??????Nyadol Nyuon,?Executive Director, Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, Victoria University

·??????Argiri Alisandratos, Deputy Secretary at Department of Families, Fairness and Housing Victoria?

And many, many more. Congratulations to all who were recognised, and we look forward to opportunities to work together in the future.?

Our June celebrations continued with Refugee Week, and we celebrated the 2022 recipients of the Victorian Refugee Awards at the State Library of Victoria.?

The 2022 Victorian Refugee Awards recipients at the State Library Victoria

I warmly invite you to take the time to learn of the diverse and impressive achievements of the?2022 recipients. Awards presented on the night are for Leadership, Business, Young Leaders and Achievement.?

On behalf of the VMC, I'd like to extend my gratitude to our sponsors who made this celebration possible -?Commonwealth Bank, Jobs Victoria, Victorian Electoral Commission, Foot Solutions and Intersect Global Partners.

Chairperson Viv Nguyen attends the Connecting Community Festival and Refugee Week celebration from the Refugee Communities Association of Australia

In addition to the Refugee Awards, there were many skillfully organised events delivered across Victoria in celebration of Refugee Week. I was delighted to attend the Connecting Community festival with VMC Deputy Chairperson Bwe Thay, organised by the Refugee Communities Association of Australia.?A highlight of this event was hearing a moving address from recently arrived Ukrainian refugees to our new Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Andrew Giles.?

I was also honoured to deliver an address at the?SisterWorks Refugee Week Fundraising Gala at the Immigration Museum. There were 300 people in attendance and over $120,000 was raised! Thank you to SisterWorks for coordinating a wonderful evening and for continuing to support the economic empowerment of migrant, refugee and asylum seeker women.

To conclude Refugee Week, I was invited to speak with year 9 and 10 students from Crusoe College in Kangaroo Flat.?

Chairperson Viv Nguyen speaks with Year 9 and 10 students from Crusoe College in Kangaroo Flat

?We received beautiful feedback from the students following the talk, some of whom arrived in Victoria as refugees themselves. I affirmed to the students the value of hard work and giving back to the community, and was humbled to hear that they left the conversation feeling inspired and seen.?

Our celebration of multicultural communities continued in June at the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA) conference. The theme of the conference was Advancing Multicultural Australia.

Members of our Community and Engagement team and VMC Commissioner Silvia Renda at the 2022 FECCA conference

Over two days, multicultural communities, policy makers, service providers, and more came together for enlightening presentations and discussions on multicultural Australia. If you attended the FECCA conference, we hope you were able to stop by our booth to say hi and have a chat!

In another exciting opportunity to connect with multicultural communities, the Immigration Museum will be extending our photography exhibition,?Capturing Culture: Multicultural Victoria in Focus.?The exhibition will now run until?August 2022.

I encourage you to go and see the beautiful images produced by talented multicultural photographers. Pictured above is the winner of our People's Choice Award, a?piece entitled 'Kaitiaki' from photographer Irihipeti Waretini, submitted in the category?Resilience.?

To conclude, I acknowledge that whilst COVID-19 programs may have come to an end, the VMC is committed to our advocacy work to ensure the voices of multicultural and multifaith communities are heard. We will continue to empower multicultural communities in their efforts to keep us and our communities safe.?

In the spirit of community safety, I'd also like to acknowledge the passing of the?Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi?Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022?in parliament. While the display of the Hakenkreuz is now a criminal offence, the Bill recognises the continued significance of the swastika as a symbol of peace and good fortune for the Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and other faith communities.

Ultimately this Bill will lead us down the path of a more inclusive Victoria, which we are always proud to support.?

Thank you,

Viv