mvMULTICULTURAL VICTORIA

ISSUE 26 SPRING 2008

A publication of the Victorian Multicultural Commission

25 YEARS AT THE TOP

Multicultural Victoria magazine

VMC CHAIRPERSON George Lekakis

EDITORS Robyn Merrett/Megan Breen

DESIGN Midnightsky

PUBLISHED BY The Victorian Multicultural Commission, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne VIC 3000. November 2008.

ISSN 13219340

PRINTED BY Metro Printing, Roberts Road, Airport West, VIC 3042, on Monza Satin recyclable stock using environmentally friendly inks.

DISCLAIMER Whilst every effort has been

made to ensure that the information in

this document was accurate at the time of

publication, the State of Victoria, through the

Victorian Multicultural Commission, accepts

no responsibility for any errors, omissions,

mistakes or misstatements contained in this

document. The State of Victoria expressly

disclaims any responsibility for any total

or partial reliance on this document or

for anything undertaken or omitted to be

undertaken in consequence of reliance on

this document. The State of Victoria excludes

liability for any loss or damage suffered by

any person resulting in any way from the use

of, or reliance upon, this document.

Copies of this magazine can be obtained from the Victorian Multicultural Commission:

TELEPHONE (03) 9208 3154 FACSIMILE (03) 9208 3179EMAIL info@vmc.vic.gov.au

View the magazine online at: multicultural.vic.gov.au

mvMULTICULTURAL VICTORIA

ISSUE 26 SPRING 2008

A publication of the Victorian Multicultural Commission

25 YEARS AT THE TOP

4 Diwali Festival of Lights: The Indian community celebrated Diwali with flair

4 Annual report released: Find out more about the VMC

4 Refugee Festival: A celebration for people from around the world

4 Eid Festival: Muslims hold festival for end of Ramadan

5 Rye Interfaith Festival: A mix of faiths came together for peace and harmony

5 25 years for MAV: Find out about the great work by Multicultural Arts Victoria

5 Sporting chance: Call for volunteers in sporting groups

5 New media opportunity: Aspiring journalists are finding their voice

6 Take 5: Julian Burnside – meet an inspiring human rights lawyer and activist

7 Consulting the community: Victoria provides opinions on multiculturalism

8 Roundtable on multicultural affairs: Work underway to formulate Victoria’s

multicultural policy

8 Grants update: What’s ahead at the VMC

9 Chilean reception: Premier’s reception for the Chilean community

10 Youth network growing: Multicultural Multifaith Youth Network gains

more members

11 Cambodian Festival: Learn about Cambodia and its wonderful culture

12 Waters of Tuvalu: Exhibition highlighting the impact of climate change

on one tiny nation

12 Darfur art show: A documentary journey from Darfur to Victoria

13 Essence of Japan: A slice of Japan on show

14 Fresh Dance New Beats: Hip Hop meets traditional dance

14 Jewish Film Festival: The diversity of Jewish culture from around the globe

14 Vietnamese Children’s Lantern Festival: Federation Square comes alive

15 Ancient Hampi: Discover an ancient culture

16 African short films: Talented filmmakers tell their stories

Refugee Festival

Over 500 people came to celebrate

Refugee and Migrant Sunday.4

Youth network

Young people gather together to

advise on issues relevant to them.10 Y th t k

Cambodian Festival

Celebrating Victoria’s

Cambodian community.

11

17 World Youth Day: Young Catholics join together with Pope Benedict XV

18 Moon Cake Festival: Traditional ceremonies by local community

18 Vietnamese women’s group: Support group still going strong after 25 years

19 AFL International Cup: Players fight it out on the football field

20 Governor's Iftar dinner: A special celebration to recognise Ramadan

20 Interfaith tour : Initiative to find out more about other faiths

20 Exchanging ideas: A message from a young traveller in Japan

21 Nepal Festival: Food, dancing, music and more from Nepal

22 Eritrean priest arrives: Orthodox Eritreans welcome their first priest

22 Women’s World on 3ZZZ: Telling stories on the local radio airwaves

23 Annual Dutch Orange Day: Dutch community shares its colourful culture

23 Making sense of the media: Panellists entertain and educate about the media

24 25 years at the top: Multicultural Arts Victoria celebrates 25 years

28 Meet the Chilean community: The Chilean and Latin American Festival

30 Turkish Tulip Festival: A burst of colour and cultural diversity

32 Safety first in the water: Find a program to play it safe in the water this year

33 Interpreter skills courses: An initiative to help people access services

33 No pay, no taxi: Prepaid taxi fares help drivers

34 Building Bridges: New program to help youth integrate and learn

34 Tackling domestic violence: Resource for victims of violence

35 How to avoid rent problems: A free DVD full of tips on renting is available

35 Artisitic journey through time: Exhibition by students on show at museum

36 ADEC celebrates: A very special group celebrates 25 years of support

36 'Tis the season to go green: Tips on how to avoid waste this festive season

36 Making sense of money: A free DVD to guide you through the money maze

AFL International Cup

A mix of cultures took to the field

for an international competition.19

25 years at the top

MAV has been the peak body

showcasing multicultural artists.24 25 years at the top

ADEC celebrates

Community group supporting

disabled people still going strong.36

George Lekakis

CHAIRPERSON

Welcome to the Spring edition of Multicultural Victoria. I hope you find it an interesting and informative read, full of reports about the many people across our State actively engaging in the promotion of cultural diversity and striving towards a cohesive, respectful and fair society.

This year has been jam packed with events, activities, festivals, receptions and dinners. Not to mention forums, discussions and consultations all across Victoria. In September I had the pleasure of meeting with many people and listening to their opinions and suggestions on how the government is addressing issues of multiculturalism in Victoria at our Community Consultations. It was wonderful to see more than 700 community representatives contributing to our multicultural policy and I look forward to the eventual outcomes. You can read all about the consultations on page 7.

The Victorian Government held a Roundtable Discussion in May, which was hosted by Governor David de Kretser and attended by many prominent Victorians. The outcome will help shape the Government's future multicultural policy and steer Victoria in a positive and proactive way regarding cultural diversity.

In this edition you can also learn about the Chilean culture and find out how the community celebrated 198 years

of independence at the Chilean Latin American Festival in September. You can catch a glimpse of the vibrant Nepal Festival, see the wonderful Cambodia Festival and revisit the magnificent Turkish Tulip Festival.

Perhaps the biggest celebration the year has seen was the Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV) 25th Anniversary party. Held in conjunction with the opening of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, this was a concert that not only showcased the amazing talents of Victoria’s diverse musical groups, but also paid tribute to the hard work of MAV. Congratulations from us all. It is always wonderful to see good music and dance from around the world, right here in Victoria.

The social, cultural and economic outcomes we all enjoy are in no small part due to the hard work and commitment of the numerous and inspirational volunteers within the community. I thank them immensely for their diligence and altruism and encourage more people to get out and about and enjoy our great State.

Enjoy the read and please keep us informed of all your wonderful activities and events.

ABOVE An exhibition highlighting the effects of

climate change is on show at the Immigration

Museum. RIGHT Nepalese culture took centre

stage at Federation Square, 2008.

reg

thethe

ABOVE An exhibition highlighting the effects of

The VMC's 2007/08 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament in October. The report

highlights the Commission's work over the last financial year such as the consultations

that were undertaken with various communities, projects assisted through the

Community Grants Program and the wide range of activities held to promote the

benefits of Victoria’s cultural, linguistic and religious diversity.

To view the full Annual Report visit multicultural.vic.gov.au/publications or call 9208 3154

to request a hard copy.

The Indian community celebrated the

annual Diwali festival, also known as “Festival

of Lights”, on October 18 at Federation

Square. More then 50,000 people turned up

for the festivities and enjoyed Bollywood and

traditional dances, Indian food, costumes and

jewellery stalls, henna workshops, and more.

Many of Melbourne’s iconic buildings were

a blaze of light and colour during the festival.

Diwali promotes a feeling of “unity in

diversity” regardless of religion or other

differences. It is a time for peace and

optimism for the future and is celebrated

Diwali is celebrated in at least 21 countries

as far as Mauritius, African states, England,

Canada, Fiji and the subcontinent countries

like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Nepal

and Bhutan.

ANNUAL REPORT RELEASED

FESTIVAL OF REFUGEES

More than 500 hundred people from around

Melbourne came together to celebrate the

Refugee and Migrant Sunday at the Box Hill

Town Hall on 31 August 2008.

The Refugee Festival was welcomed by

Reg Blow, an Aboriginal elder who played

his didgeridoo and acknowledged the

Wurundjeri people as the original owners

of the land.

Chin people from Burma performed the

Bamboo Dance, which is a celebration of a

MUSLIMS CELEBRATE

EID FESTIVAL

The Muslim Community Cooperative of

Australia Muslim Eid Festival was held held at

Broadmeadows Valley Park Saturday 28 and

Sunday 29 October.

The Hume Muslim community in

Broadmeadows has been running the festival

for the past 15 years and use the occasion to

mark the end of Ramadan.

Essendon's Bachar Houli joined fellow

Muslims at the event and said the festival

was positive in bringing families together and

celebrating their beliefs.

"Ramadan is an important event on the

Muslim calendar in which participants fasted

for a one month period in order to teach

patience and discipline," he said.

"It was great to see everyone at the

festival meeting each other and seeing

everyone so happy."

The festival featured entertainment,

rides and sporting activities. Houli provided

supporters and community members with

signed footballs and merchandise on

behalf of the Essendon Football Club's

Multicultural Program.

4 Spring 2008

good harvest. Kavisha Mazella, an Aria

award-winning singer captured the audience

with her songs and had the audience singing

along with many of her songs about refugees.

The West Papuan community performed

the welcome dance for the official guests,

including the Minister Assisting the Premier

on Multicultural Affairs, James Merlino.

Dancers from the Dinka and Nuer

communities impressed everyone with

their dance.

NEW MEDIA OPPORTUNITY

Aspiring journalists have been given a

chance learn how to write stories for

a new multicultural website.

During a training session held at

the State Library on 22 September,

30 young writers met experienced

journalists who generously volunteered

their time to act as mentors. The

training workshop provided sessions

on how to write a news story, the

questions to ask in an interview, how

to take good photos/videos as well as

information about defamation

and ethics.

A pilot website, hosted by the

State Library, will be launched on

2 December 2008 and aims to help

the mainstream media become more

multicultural and the multicultural

media become more mainstream. In

return, journalists from the mainstream

media will be invited to use the

website as a resource for stories and

information about refugee and migrant

communities. The website will be

published in English and stories can be

translated into more than 60 languages

using the library’s Vicnet service.

The project has the support of

the Victorian Government's Centre

for Multicultural Youth, cultural

associations including the African Think

Tank and Arabic Social Services, the

Victorian Multicultural Commission, the

Australian Multicultural Foundation, the

Melbourne Press Club and the MEAA.

FOR MORE INFORMATION please visit www.newaustraliamedia.org

25 YEARS FOR MULTICULTURAL

ARTS VICTORIA

For the past 25 years Multicultural Arts Victoria

has been the peak body for the promotion

and celebration of multicultural arts. This

year marks the 25th anniversary Multicultural

Arts Victoria (MAV) and the opening of 23rd

Melbourne International Arts Festival. As part

of the anniversary celebrations, MAV and the

Melbourne International Arts Festival combined

forces to present a massive free concert at

Federation Square on Thursday 9 October.

TURN TO PAGE 24 to find out more about MAV’s

vibrant contribution to the arts scene in Victoria

and catch a glimpse of some of the highlights of

the 25th Anniversary concert.

The Mornington Peninsula was host to a celebration of faith groups during

November at the Rye Interfaith Festival.

Interfaith cultivates peace and harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities

and there was no better place to bring together people from all faiths than the Rye Foreshore

Reserve. The program of events, held over two days from 22–23 November, included music,

dance, art, food, market stalls, children’s activities and workshops.

Festival goers were invited to listen to music and sounds used to calm the mind, open

the heart and uplift the spirit and watched as different faiths demonstrated their dancing

techniques. Examples of sacred art were created, including a labyrinth and indigenous art.

An array of international foods from various faith traditions was on offer as was local and

exotic crafts, full of colourful fabrics and fragrances at the interfaith market.

Representatives from the Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Bahai, Sufi, Hindu, Indigenous, Islam,

Sikh and Brahma Kumaris communities held workshops and information sessions to share their

beliefs and practices with others.

SPORTING CHANCE

The Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) knows

that there are amazing people out there across

Australia working and volunteering towards

offering sporting opportunities to newly arrived

and refugee young people. CMY would like to

hear from any organisation, club, community

or individual who can tell them a story about

multicultural young people getting into sport

and recreation. CMY wants to spread the word

about these great stories in the hope that

others might be spurred on to follow suit.

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit www.cmy.net.au/

MulticulturalSport/MulticulturalSportHome

or contact Carolyn Favier at: cfavier@cmy.net.au

or ph: (03)9340 3745.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 5

SUNDAY MORNING I LIKE TO sit in the

shade, read the newspapers over breakfast.

What I do in fact is catch up on emails.

THREE THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT

are my family, my computer, my library.

I’VE REALLY ENJOYED READING

Slaughterhouse Five (Kurt Vonnegut);

Oscar and Lucinda (Peter Carey); Standard

Operating Procedure (Philip Gourevitch).

MY FAVOURITE MEAL IS warm chicken

salad with a garlic and balsamic dressing.

MY MOST REWARDING MOMENTS

ARE winning the MUA case against

Patrick Stevedores, and winning the stolen

generations case for Bruce Trevorrow.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IS recognising

that we are all human, that our similarities

are greater than our differences.

THE GREATEST BENEFITS OF A

MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA ARE that

the State is more interesting than it was;

people are more accepting of difference

than they were.

Get to know some

of the hardworking

individuals in Victoria's

multicultural sector.

– Barrister

6 Spring 2008

Julian Burnside has been a barrister since 1976, specialising in

commercial litigation. He has a strong interest in human rights,

and advancing the cause of social justice and is the author

of Word Watching (a book of essays about language) and

Watching Brief (a book of essays about justice and human rights).

He is also greatly interested in the arts, and is the Chair of

Fortyfive Downstairs, a not-for-profit arts performance and

exhibition space in Flinders Lane, Melbourne.

Barrister Julian Burnside

is committed to advancing

human rights and social justice.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 7

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT the public turned out in

force at Community Consultations in Dandenong,

Morwell and Broadmeadows in September.

Communities across Victoria have provided valuable feedback

to help the government shape Victoria’s next multicultural policy.

consultations took place at 11 locations across metropolitan and regional Victoria and provided valuable feedback on the government’s work regarding multicultural affairs.

Community leaders were well represented at the consultations, with over 700 participants from diverse communities and organisations. A cross-section of issues were raised from interpreting and translating through to the needs of ageing post-war migrants and the better use of community facilities.

The consultations also identified issues in relation to settlement services and planning, particularly in rural and regional areas, and there was resounding support for the development of a new multicultural policy for Victoria.

In June this year, the State Government released Victorian Government Achievements in Multicultural Affairs 2006 –2007, a report outlining the work being done by all Government Departments with regard to multicultural issues.

The report covers the Victorian Government’s significant commitment to making Victoria a place where everyone can participate fully – long-standing communities as well as the newest migrant and refugee arrivals.

Victorians were encouraged to read the report and invited to discuss matters of relevance to their community at a series of community consultations across Victoria in September.

Hosted by the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC), the public

8 Spring 2008

The development of Victoria’s next multicultural policy is underway, with leaders

meeting recently to discuss relevant issues surrounding multiculturalism.

On Friday 8 August 2008, the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser AC, hosted a Roundtable on Multicultural Affairs in Victoria. The Roundtable launched the consultation phase for the development of the next multicultural policy for the Victorian Government, including a discussion paper for public comment.

A range of eminent Victorians joined the Premier of Victoria and the Minister

and Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs to share their views on the topics posed in the discussion paper.

Discussion on the day highlighted that the issues surrounding multiculturalism are relevant to many sectors. Roundtable participants represented community, industry, philanthropic, business, Government, non-Government and academia.

Many of the views expressed at the Roundtable are now being considered in the deliberations leading to the development of the next multicultural policy for Victoria, anticipated to be launched in 2009. This will be an overarching statement to guide the work of the Victorian Government in understanding and responding to our culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse community.

The Victorian Government provides support for multiculturalism through the VMC Community Grants program.

The 2009 major round of grants is currently open and closes on 18 December. There are five categories of grants available; Organisational Support, Strengthening Multicultural Communities, Building and Facilities Improvements, Educational Programs and Promoting Harmony: Multifaith & Interfaith Initiatives. Applications are available at www.multicultural.vic.

gov.au or by calling (03) 9208 3028. The VMC is also currently

conducting an evaluation of the grants program. Evaluation forms were distributed along with the last applications. We would appreciate any feedback you can give us.

The VMC is committed to responding to the needs of our culturally and linguistically diverse communities by enabling them to provide vital services.

Successful recipients of funding for the Festivals and Events program are expected to be announced in late December. This round is for events

held in the first half of 2009. The next round will open in February for events held in the second half of the year.

More than 650 multicultural senior citizens organisations have been assured of funding from the Government for the next three years through the Multicultural Senior Citizens Organisational Support program. This will enable groups to continue to provide important social and recreational activities to our ageing ethnic population.

As the year comes to a close, the grants team would like to thank all those volunteers of community organisations that are making a huge difference for their communities and for Victoria’s multicultural future.

GRANTS UPDATE

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ABOVE The Minister Assisting the Premier on

Multicultural Affairs, James Merlino with grant

recipients in Berwick.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 9

TOP Premier John Brumby, Mr Ignacio Concha, Consul General of Chile and

Parliamentary Secretary Telmo Languiller with the musicians, Trio San Bernado.

MIDDLE Patrick Silva, Rodrigo R Alvear and Miguel Satana. RIGHT Paulina Fuentes

sings the Chilean National Anthem.

The Chilean community celebrated the 198th

anniversary of Independence Day this year.

The Premier of Victoria, John Brumby welcomed the Chilean community at a special Premier’s reception to celebrate the 198th Anniversary of Chile’s Independence Day on 25 September.

Mr Brumby was joined by the Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs, James Merlino and Ignacio Concha, Consul General of Chile.

The first independent junta in Chile was formed in 1810 and since that date Chile has celebrated independence from Spain.

At the turn of the century just 22 Chilean migrants had arrived in Australia.

According to the 2006 Census, around 7,400 people with Chilean ancestry, now call Victoria home – that’s over 28% of Australia’s total Chilean population.

Mr Brumby acknowledged the contribution the Chilean community has made to Victoria, in particular the Chilean Club of Victoria, the Chile Magazine Media & Cultural Group, Fonda La Clinica – who organised the Chilean Latin American Festival and the Chilean Folkloric Groups: Amancay, Violeta Parra and Sauzal.

“The contribution of these organisations – and many others – to our community is well known and well respected. It says a lot about your community… about the generosity of your community… that most Victorians know something of Chile,” Mr Brumby said.

Guests were entertained by Trio San Bernardo.

‘‘‘‘

10 Spring 2008

EXISTING MEMBERS STAYING ON

Marcel Disanayake

Mohammad El-leissy

Laura John

Jesse Marshall

Rinchen Norbu

Jagdeep Singh Shergill

Jessica Taft

Rima Tawil

Demetrio Zema

Anita Caroline Alino

Flynt Aqunio

Aziawan Enyonam

Heba Ibrahim

Dellaram Jamali

Kalyan Ky

Alina Leikin

Olivia Nakiwala

Silver Moe

Swetang Pandya

Ertuze Mete Temurcin

Freeman Trebilcock

Toruna Luxmi Ujoodah

Sarah Williams

Nasro Yusuf

NEW MEMBERS

On 24 October, the Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs, James Merlino, welcomed MMYN members to the first meeting of the 2008/09 term. New and existing members had the opportunity get to know each other before meeting Mr Merlino and George Lekakis, Chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

MMYN members then reflected on the achievements of the past 12 months, most notably being presented with the Ambassador’s Award at the Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence; providing direct input into the new Multicultural Policy and developing a pilot regional schools program.

“It is a great pleasure being here today and meeting the new members. I have wholeheartedly supported the MMYN over the past 12 months and am looking forward to hearing about the future developments,” said Mr Merlino.

There was a great energy in the room as the MMYN discussed their plans for the next 12 months. They workshopped the idea of adopting an annual theme such as faith, which could help shape future projects for next year.

Established in September 2007, the Multifaith

Multicultural Youth Network (MMYN) provides

advice to the Victorian Government on policy

and issues that are relevant to young people

from culturally, religiously and linguistically

diverse backgrounds.

ABOVE Members of the MMYN discuss their ideas. BELOW Minister Assisting the

Premier on Multicultural Affairs James Merlino with members of the MMYN.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 11

A one-day festival celebrating Victoria’s Cambodian

community was held at the Immigration Museum

on Sunday 14 September 2008.

The Cambodian Festival at the Immigration Museum offered Victorians the chance to experience food, music and dance performances, family activities and a historical perspective on Cambodian migration in Melbourne and Victoria.

The majority of the Cambodian community arrived in Australia during the 1980s as refugees escaping the Khmer Rouge communist regime, which killed two million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979. They mainly arrived under the Humanitarian Entry program.

Activities on the day included Cambodian dance and music performances by groups including the Khmer Angkor Dance Group, Cambodian Elderly Citizens, Hampton Park Primary School, Coomoora Secondary College and the Somneang Selly Phakor band.

Visitors enjoyed traditional Cambodian food and games as well as a boxing demonstration, cooking demonstrations and how to dress traditionally in Samput Jong Kben.

Community information displays from organisations such as the Cambodian Association of Victoria, Khmer Community of Victoria, Cambodian Buddhist Association of Victoria and Cambodian Women’s Group were also on display.

ABOVE Traditional dance, music and Cambodian culture

were on show at the Immigration Museum in September.

12 Spring 2008

An exhibition documenting

the experiences of the past

and the hopes for the future

of Darfuri refugees in Australia

is heading to Melbourne.

The exhibition, Far to Here, documents the inspiring journeys many Darfuri refugees have taken in fleeing conflict in Sudan. Photos taken by Darfuri youth in workshops run by the Darfur Australia Network (DAN) will be displayed alongside the stories of the past. As well as remembering the past, the exhibition documents the aspirations of the Darfur community. The workshops empowers the Darfuri community to author and present their own stories, something which has in some cases been difficult in the past due to linguistic challenges.

The exhibition provides the Darfuri community with an opportunity to creatively articulate their experiences, both as producers and subjects of artwork. Through running the exhibition, DAN hopes to raise awareness about the plight of Darfuri refugees, as well as highlighting the inspirational journeys and resilience that all refugees share.

Far to Here is supported by the Victorian Government through the Victorian Multicultural Commission and will be at fortyfivedownstairs gallery, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, from 9–22 February 2009.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about the

exhibition, please contact Sarah at the Darfur

Australia Network: sarah@darfuraustralia.org

or on 03 8060 5659.

An exhibition has highlighted the very real consequences

of climate change for one Pacific nation.

An exhibition exploring the effects of climate change on Pacific island nations was held at the Immigration Museum during September-November to raise the challenging question: What would you do if you had no homeland? The very survival of the islands of Tuvalu will be dramatically affected in coming decades by the rising sea levels expected as climate change takes hold of our planet, leaving Tuvaluans effectively stateless.

Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia.

It is the third-least populated independent country in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having fewer inhabitants.

Tuvaluans are a Polynesian people who settled the islands around 3000 years ago, coming from Tonga and

Samoa. During pre-European-contact times there was frequent canoe voyaging between the nearer islands. Eight of the nine islands of Tuvalu were inhabited; thus the name, Tuvalu, means “eight standing together”.

As low-lying islands, lacking a surrounding shallow shelf, the island communities of Tuvalu are especially susceptible to changes in sea level and storm patterns that hit the island undissipated. It is estimated that a sea level rise of 20–40 centimetres (8–16 inches) in the next 100 years could make Tuvalu uninhabitable.

The exhibition explored how Tuvaluans living in Melbourne are struggling with the idea that their nation and heritage will cease to exist altogether.

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit www.museumvictoria.com.au/

ImmigrationMuseum

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mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 13

Held over two weekends in August, the Essence of Japan drew crowds from across Victoria keen to find out more about the intricacies of origami, tea ceremonies, calligraphy and much more.

The event was officially opened at the Highway Gallery in Mt Waverly by Mr Susumu Hasagawa, Consul General Consulate of Japan and Cr. Charlotte Baines, City of Monash.

Nearly 1000 people attended the event and were entertained with live performances of Japanese drumming by Wadaiko Rindou, shamisen playing by Noriko Tadano, a tea ceremony by Chadou Urasenke and ikebana, calligraphy and origami demonstrations. The opening day on 9 August attracted a large crowd keen to experience a slice of Japanese life.

The kimono display was very popular. Other activities also included Japanese food displays, a Japanese doll exhibition, Manga books, examples of bonsai, Japanese art, kimonos and ceramics.

Plans are being made to increase the size of the event for next year, with many more Japanese artists keen to become involved.

With the rise of the Japanese economy and increasing trade between Japan and Australia, the number of Japanese-born migrants to Australia has increased in recent years, mainly as professionals, business people and students.

At the 2006 Census, there were 5,780 Japan-born persons in Victoria (18.8% of Australia’s total).

An exhibition exploring Japanese art and culture was

well attended at the Highway Gallery, Mt Waverly.

‘‘‘‘

‘‘

‘‘

14 Spring 2008

The Jewish Film Festival provides an evolving forum for the exploration of contemporary Jewish identity. It is an annual event and has been held for the past 15 years and has consistently showcased a broad range of inspiring and challenging films. This year’s highlights included two films by world renowned filmmaker Amos Gitai; Disengagement and One Day You’ll Understand. Disengagement is a powerful drama starring Juliette Binoche as Ana, a French woman who, after the death of her father, is compelled to return to Israel to search for the child she gave up 20 years earlier.

The range of films illustrates the diversity of Jewish culture and a favourite was Amos Kollek’s Restless, an edgy psychological drama that explores the underbelly of contemporary Israeli identity.

Another favourite was The Clown and the Fuhrer, which tells the story of Charlie Rivel – then Europe’s most famous circus performer – who was dragooned into entertaining the Nazi élite during WWI, including the Fuhrer himself. It is almost too difficult to think of Nazi concentration camps as a place where love could blossom, but the inspirational documentary by Academy Award-nominee Michèle Ohayon, Steal a Pencil for Me, showed how the power of love and the ability of humankind can rise above unimaginable suffering.

Audiences flocked to the ANZ Pavilion to see Fresh Dance New Beats on 15 June, the major project in the inaugural Australian Dance Awards Public Program.

Run by Ausdance Victoria, this initiative saw five cultural youth dance groups collaborate with artists from other dance forms to create an original work.

Polynesian and Ukrainian dances met hip hop, and classical Indian and traditional Sri Lankan dances met contemporary dance forms.

Creative facilitator, Jodie Farrugia

worked with the artists to help the groups through the creative process to produce a satisfying outcome.

The collaborations were:

Alliance with Arna Singleton

and Tara Rajkumar (Classical Indian) and Jacob Boehme

Troupe (Sri Lankan) and Fiona Cameron

Ensemble and Nikki Ashby

Two dynamic performances were the result of a cross

collaboration of dance forms.

On Saturday 20 September, thousands of excited children and their families came together at Federation Square to celebrate the Vietnamese Children’s Lantern Festival. After exploring the market stalls and enjoying some free rides, children had the opportunity to make their own lantern before taking part in a parade at dusk. Staged by the Vietnamese Community in Victoria and the Lions Club of Melbourne, the festivities also included stage performances, cultural demonstrations and a dragon dance.

The Vietnamese Children’s Lantern Festival or Têt-Trung-Thu, celebrates the mid-autumn harvest and is traditionally held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, when the full moon is at its brightest.

Special guest, the former Lord Mayor John So, spoke of the wonderful tradition behind the festival. “According to Vietnamese folklore, parents worked so hard during the harvest they did not have time for their children. To make up, parents would

use the festival to show their children love and appreciation.

“In today’s modern world” he said, “the festival provides all Melbournians with an opportunity to spend quality time with our young”.

Melbourne is one of the world’s great multicultural capitals and organisers were thrilled to see such a diverse group of people embrace the event.

The Festival was sponsored by the City of Melbourne, Fed Square and the Victorian Government through the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

VIETNAMESE CHILDREN'S LANTERN FESTIVALFederation Square was a blaze of lights and colour during the Children’s Lantern Festival this year.

The 19th annual Festival of Jewish

Film ran from 5 – 23 November, 2008.

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A new interactive exhibition at the Immigration Museum allows visitors to delve into Hindu mythology

and explore an ancient Indian empire.

Travelling back to the 14th century to Hampi in India would be to visit the seat of the Vijayanagara Empire. Time travellers would discover an expansive Hindu capital spread over 26 square kilometres, bordered by the Tungabhadra River and surrounded by towering granite ridges. They would encounter dramatic temples, palaces and towering gateways, depicting images from Hindu mythology. Today, Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site, and an active centre for pilgrims, attracting tens of thousands of devotees during important festivals.

One legend associated with Hampi had an important part in making it a pilgrim’s destination. The legend describes a local Goddess, Pampa, who married Virupaksha (Lord Shiva) on the Hemakuta Hill and was thereafter considered to be an incarnation of Parvati. From Pampa came the name Pampe or (in Kannada) Hampe.

Inspired by the beauty of the landscape, the richness of culture, mythology and history represented at Hampi in southern India, an innovative

exhibition has been designed that allows virtual travellers not just to view images of the site, but – as the Immigration Museum’s Exhibitions Manager, Imelda Dover, describes – “provides a truly immersive and interactive experience.”

Ancient Hampi: The Hindu Kingdom Brought to Life has emerged from a collaboration between Coordinator of Special Projects at Museum Victoria, Sarah Kenderdine, the world renowned new media artist, Professor Jeffrey Shaw (Director of the University of NSW iCinema Centre) together with the long

standing principal Hampi archeologists, Dr George Michell and Dr John Fritz, and famed Melbourne photographer John Gollings.

Using state of the art digital technologies, this new experience presents stereographic panoramas of an extraordinary site, with all its mythological, archaeological, artistic and historic significance.

The exhibition includes animations of Hindu myths and stories, aerial and projected photography, an immersive digital interactive space showing 360-degree panoramic images of the site and is landscape, as well as stunning night photographs of the temples.

Ancient Hampi, an exhibition that contextualises the seminal interactive work of Place Hampi, opened in November 2008 for an Australian premiere year-long stay at the Immigration Museum, as the final stage of its 10th birthday program. – Karen Meehan

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit

http://museumvictoria.com.au/

ImmigrationMuseum/

ABOVE AND TOP The ancient and intriguing Hindu

kingdom of Hampi is now on display.

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16 Spring 2008

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Filmakers Sara Elagha; Befekir Kebede; Abraham

Adet; Ezeldin Deng; and Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore. BELOW Film still from

Inkululeko directed by Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore.

Presented and produced by Multicultural Arts Victoria and in partnership with OPEN CHANNEL, Stories of an African Australia provided a voice and platform for emerging young artists from African refugee and culturally diverse backgrounds at ACMI in July.

Five short films created by and featuring the young African artists and performers considered and celebrated the diversity and dynamism of new African Australian cultures emerging in Melbourne. The filmmakers worked collaboratively over six months with dramaturge Gorkem Acaroglu and film director/editor Thomas Baricevic to bring their stories to the screen.

The stories range from the tale of a young African man sent away against his will by his mother who wants him to find a better life to two Sudanese teenagers who dream of hip hop stardom and form their own hip hop group and face the disapproval of their father, to a comedy about a young Muslim woman who is looking for a job and a love story set in Melbourne’s Sudanese community. The final film is a documentary looking at the preparations of Ethiopian artists to mount an exhibition depicting the journey of Ethiopian-Australians from Ethiopia to Australia.

FILMS Inkululeko directed by Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore, Broken Dreams directed by Ezeldin Deng, The Interview directed by Sara Elagha, True Love directed by Abraham Adet, and The Journey directed by Befekir Kebede.

Young filmmakers from emerging communities

were recently given a platform to showcase

their works on the big screen.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 17

ABOVE Catholic pilgrims from around the world

converged on Melbourne and Sydney to celebrate

World Youth Day in July.

Young Catholics from around the world came together

for a day of celebration in Sydney in July.

time, Victorians made pilgrims from all over the world welcome with events such as the Commissioning Mass, celebrated by the Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop Denis Hart, the Interfaith rally that showcased Victoria's incredible diversity, as well as numerous pilgrim walks, concerts, film viewings and workshops.

Being involved in DID08 and WYD was an amazing experience for me. Sharing such an emotional and spiritual experience with so many young people, so excited to express their faith was truly touching. It allowed Catholics from all over the world to experience Australia and our culture and diversity in a unique way.– Marcelle Disanayke

World Youth Day 2008 (WYD08) was an exciting pilgrimage to Sydney for young Catholics from over 170 different countries, who came together to celebrate their faith with one another. Though it is called World Youth Day (WYD), the celebration lasted a week, from 15–20 July, in spiritual preparation for the Final Mass, celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at Randwick Racecourse, with approximately 400,000 pilgrims.

The best part about it was that the WYD pilgrimage extended out to Melbourne, with international pilgrims landing in Melbourne prior to the WYD week, in order to experience all that Melbourne had to offer. The week prior to the pilgrimage to Sydney was named Days in the Diocese (DID08), which ran from 10 –14 July. During this

that di it

18 Spring 2008

ABOVE Members of the Australian Vietnamese

Women's Association celebrate 25 years.

A dynamic women’s group

has been supporting and

encouraging its members

and the broader community

for 25 years.

The Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association, (AVWA) operates in Melbourne as the biggest non profit multi-service Vietnamese organisation in Australia. AVWA not only acts as a cultural bridge between Vietnamese and Australian communities, but also seeks to support those disadvantaged within the broader community.

As a testimony to its outstanding development, the organisation celebrated its 25th anniversary with great fanfare this year. On March 11, the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby launched the celebrations with a reception at Parliament for 120 guests. A bilingual book, A Home of Many Rooms, by Dr Catherine Earl, was also produced for the 25th Anniversary History Project in collaboration with the School of Communications, Culture and Languages of Victoria University (VU).

A photographic exhibition, a soccer tournament involving 16 Asian and African teams and a gala dinner to launch a documentary film about the history of AVWA made by senior VU multimedia students also provided opportunities for the members and community to experience the scope of AVWA multifaceted activities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION please visit

www.avwa.org.au

Held in conjunction with the City of Whittlesea Heritage Program, the Moon Cake Festival is celebrated by Chinese people around the world.

A major event, the festival is marked with dances, moon gazing and eating moon cakes. It is a special occasion for family reunions.

A local event was held on Saturday 13 September at the Thomastown Library. It was organised by the Whittlesea Chinese Association, Yarra Plenty Regional Library, 88.6 Plenty Valley FM, Whittlesea Multicultural Community Council and supported by the City of Whittlesea.

"It was a great celebration where people of all ages and backgrounds came together learn new information and skills and enjoyed the things that make this such a vibrant and multicultural city," said Arthur Yong, President of Whittlesea Chinese Association, and "best of all it was free."

There were more than 150 participants from different cultural backgrounds who attended the creative, entertaining and colourful activities.

Mr Yong acknowledged the presence of the Mayor, Cr. Elizabeth Nealy, Cr. Mary Lalios, Cr. Kris Pavlidis, Cr. Frank Merlino, Lily D'Ambrosio MP, Jenny Mikakos

MP, Harry Jenkins MP, Mr. Tsebin Tchen (Former Senator for Liberal in Victoria), Ken Lee Tet (General Manager, Plenty Community Credit Union), Acting Police Inspector (Whittlesea Police Service Area), Trevor Lockwood.

Mr Yong created a comedy Festival Story play, with the assistance of Frank Moore, who wrote the script.

In the play, Cr. Lalios was the narrator; Arthur Yong acted as Hou Yi (a divine archer); Mayor Nealy acted as Chang Er (Moon Goddess); James Lalios played the jade bunny and Joshua Angso acted as Wu Gang (a tree chopper). The participants found the five minute play very entertaining and enjoyable.

The audience was very impressed with Ms Chelsea Bai playing the ancient Chinese Harp music. Another highlight was the rendition of the Mandarin song of Green Island Serenade by non-Chinese students of the Abbotsford Primary Choir.

Moon gazing, dancing, singing and exploring Chinese culture

were all a part of this year’s Moon Cake Festival in Whittlesea.

ABOVE FROM LEFT Jenny Mikakos MP (State Member

of Northern Metropolitan Province); Cr. Kris Pavlidis;

Cr. Mary Lalios; Arthur Yong; Lily D'Ambrosio MP

(State member for Mill Park, Parliament Secretary,

Minister for Community Development, Energy

and Resources); Cr. Frank Merlino and Cr. Elizabeth

Nealy (Mayor of the City of Whittlesea).

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 19

Papua New Guinea defeated New Zealand to win its first Australian football International Cup 5 September.

The third International Cup tournament was played in Melbourne’s Royal Park and in Warrnambool. 16 nations were involved: Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Ireland, India, Japan, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peace Team, Samoa, South Africa, Sweden and the USA.

Teams are comprised solely of amateurs who must be nationals of the country they represent. All players must have lived the majority of the years aged between 10 and 16 as a citizen of their nation.

AFL Talent and International Manager Kevin Sheehan said the tournament has continued to grow after 11 nations competed in 2005.

“There are currently more than 35,000 international players in over 35 countries. In the year we celebrate Australian Football's 150 years, the International Cup is an opportunity to celebrate the game as it grows internationally.

“The past two tournaments were played in great spirit, and this continued with the Peace Team, a team of both Israeli and Palestinian players, that featured in this competition,” Mr Sheehan said.

The AFL is very grateful to the support received from the Victorian Government through the Victorian Multicultural Commission. The sponsorship enabled three extra teams to participate in the tournament. Those teams were Team Asia, Team Africa and a team representing the Kingdom of Tonga. An extra 110 players were able to participate in the International Cup within the Multicultural Challenge section.

A mix of cultures fought it out on the footy field

in the International Cup.

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20 Spring 2008

Interfaith tours are proving a popular

way for people to find out more about

other faiths in the Dandenong area.

The tours are organised by the Interfaith Network and began in 1991 and have grown and developed since.

A typical tour takes in places of worship in the area including mosques, Catholic, Anglican and Uniting churches, Buddhist temples, and an Orthodox church.

Those in the Interfaith Network who host or guide these tours give in a variety of ways: faith leaders and their community members are so welcoming in showing groups around their place of worship, cleaning up after refreshments, taking group photos for the tour participants, putting seating out, cooking and offering many other kind acts of service.

The Casey Multi-Faith Network is also running tours for local schools and the broader public.

INTERFAITH TOURS Please contact Helen Heath

on 9546 8441 or email helenheath@bigpond.com

for more information and to book a tour.

THE CASEY MULTI-FAITH NETWORK For additional

information or to make a booking please contact

Pam Mamouney on pammam@tadaust.org.au.

Each year, Muslims spend the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observing a community-wide fast. The annual fast of Ramadan is considered one of the five "pillars" of Islam. Muslims who are physically able are required to fast each day of the entire month, from sunrise to sunset. The evenings are spent enjoying family and community meals, engaging in prayer and spiritual reflection, and reading from the Qu'ran.

Iftar is a meal served at the end of the day during Ramadan, to break the day's fast. Literally, Iftar is "break fast". The word "Ramadan" comes from the Arabic root word for "parched thirst" and "sun-baked ground." It is expressive of the hunger and thirst felt by those who spend the month in fasting. As opposed to other holidays, when people often indulge, Ramadan is by nature a time of sacrifice.

EXCHANGING IDEASA special message from one young student who was given the chance to experience

a slice of life as a Junior Ambassador in Japan this year.

Hello, I’m Adam Payne and I represented Australia at the Asian Pacific Children’s Convention (APCC), which was held in Fukuoka, Japan in July 2008. I was one of eight lucky Junior Ambassadors (JA) to be selected by the Australia Japan Society of Victoria to go.

The theme of the convention is “We are the Bridge” and more than 350 children from all over the Asia-Pacific region took part in the fortnight-long exchange program. By participating in the program, it is hoped that the children will build up a network of mutual understanding as they meet and make friends with children who look

and speak differently to themselves. A highlight of my trip was the Exchange Camp held at Marine Camp. I shared a room with boys from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Singapore as well as a Japanese room leader! We did some activities with our room groups including

eating all our meals in the dining hall, cultural activities including dressing in traditional Japanese costumes and ikebana (flower arranging) and having a traditional Japanese bath together.

After camp, we went to our host families – I stayed with the Fujino family and Yokote Elementary School for a few days, then got to spend all day with my hosts. I have so many wonderful memories and new friends. I’ve told my class about my trip and am looking forward to sharing my experience with other class mates and encouraging someone else from my school to apply for the APCC next year.

A dinner to celebrate Iftar was hosted by Governor David

de Kretser in September and was attended by 100 people

from different cultural and religious backgrounds.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 21

The Nepal Festival Melbourne 2008 was organised for the first time in the heart of Melbourne at Federation Square on Sunday 7 September. An estimated 10,000 people attended the festival and enjoyed the multicultural diversity of Nepal and Australia.

Nepal is a country with diversity and different ethnic groups. This event was the second ever in Australia to bring together all diverse Nepali ethnic groups as one "Nepal" to celebrate with the people in Australia.

“Federation Square looked in a very festive mood with red Nepalese flags flying high and a musical atmosphere. Stalls of foods, handicrafts and Nepalese businesses were on display and provided an atmosphere of mini-Nepal," said Dr Raju Adhikari, one of the organisers of the event.

The program started with national anthems of both the countries. The festival was inaugurated by Jenny Mikakos, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, who emphasised on the value of Australian multicultural society. She also lauded the role Nepali community was playing in Australia. Chargé d' affairs Shankar Bairagi and Consulate at the Nepali embassy, Chandra Yonzon, highlighted recent changes in Nepal and importance of Nepal Festival in fostering good linkages between the two countries and promoting tourism in Nepal.

Nepalese culture took centre stage at Federation Square

in a colourful display of culture.

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The Nepalese community brought dance, music,

food and cultural displays to Federation Square

in September.

22 Spring 2008

A unique local radio program

gives a voice to women from

around the world.

A highly entertaining program, Women’s World is broadcast every Thursday from 1-2pm on radio 3ZZZ, 92.3 FM. It’s a unique program because each week’s broadcast is presented in English by teams of women from a diversity of ethnic backgrounds.

The main team comprises presenters whose backgrounds are Assyrian, Indonesian, Italian, Mauritian, Oromo, Pakistani, Polish, Romanian and Anglo-Australian.

Overseas interns from France and local work experience students as well as aspiring young broadcasters from Ghana and Zimbabwe have also been welcomed into the team at various stages.

Women’s World reaches not just the ethnic groups that listen to 3ZZZ but also the wider English speaking community.

The women who present Women’s World see this program as a very important vehicle for discussing health and social issues; highlighting items of interest regarding the multicultural life of the people of Melbourne such as festivals, exhibitions and other happenings; as well as promoting the work of many organisations.

Live and pre-recorded interviews conducted in studio or on the phone as well as in the field are regularly broadcast. They have included John Simpson, the distributor for the film The Jammed, Diane Westaway who organises adventure programs for women only, Cathy Burke, CEO of the Hunger Project and Melissa Cranenburgh, deputy editor of The Big Issue.

Women who are interested in joining this

dynamic and innovative team are welcome

to contact the team co-ordinator, Orietta

Wheatley on 9415 1928 (3ZZZ) or by

email: womensworld923fm@gmail.com

The Eritrean Orthodox church recently welcomed the

first Eritrean priest to Australia.

A large group of Eritrean Orthodox church and community members gathered at Melbourne Airport on Monday 28 July, 2008 to greet Rev Habtemariam Gheremariam, the first Eritrean priest to come to Australia. At 7.30pm Rev. Habtemariam Gheremariam arrived directly from the airport to take up his post as the first Parish Priest for the Eritrean Orthodox church in Victoria.

The Eritrean Orthodox Church was established on 1 June 2003. The congregation was initiated by a small number of Eritreans living in Victoria who follow the Orthodox faith.

After the initial establishment of the congregation members of Victoria’s Eritrean community that also follow the Orthodox faith began to join and strengthen the congregation as a whole.

The Eritrean Orthodox Association in Australia Inc was established in early 2005 and currently provides spiritual guidance to approximately 400 members each Sunday morning at 32 Pickett St in Footscray.

Eritrea forms a part of the Horn of Africa. The region was ruled successively by the Ottomans, Tigray Kingdom, Egyptians, Italy, and Britain, and was part of Ethiopia before it gained independence in 1993. As a result of decades of war and continual drought, large numbers of the Eritrea-born, and those born in nearby refugee camps in Sudan and Zaire, arrived in Australia in the last decade or so under a special humanitarian program.

At the 2006 Census, there were 1,215 Eritrea-born persons in Victoria (60.3% of Australia’s total), increasing by 22.0% from 996 persons in 2001.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 23

The day was officially opened by Mr John So, former Lord Mayor of Melbourne and Trevor Marmalade was the MC. Entertainment was provided by musician Jess McAvoy, singer, and actor Queenie van de Zandt, both of whom have a Dutch background.

Because of the excellent weather conditions, many people visited Dutch

Orange Day and long queues formed to get something Dutch to eat or drink.

Those yearning for a freshly served Grolsch beer had to be very courageous to get through the mass of people. Around four o’clock the beer was sold out and people moved to a bar and started the ‘famous’ and noisy polonaise.

The Dutch folkdance group performed

On Sunday 27 April, the Dutch community in Melbourne

held their fourth Dutch Orange Day.

Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre’s Ethnic Youth Council (EYC) hosted a Media Madness forum on 2 October 2008 to address racial vilification in the media and its impact on the community, particularly on young people.

Guests included Julian Morrow (Chaser’s War on Everything), Santo Cilauro (Working Dog Productions) and Nazeem Hussein and Aamer Rahman (Salam Café/Fear of Brown Planet).

The Media Madness forum aimed to increase awareness of the impact of racial vilification on youth and to empower and encourage marginalised

young people to have a greater voice in the media on an ongoing basis. But it was also about bringing people together and linking young people with professionals.

The program included visual presentations, a panel, a debate and the opportunity for participants to contribute to table discussions on subjects including:

saving humankind?

Home and Away to Salam Café: is television becoming less colour blind?

The Media Madness forum is a youth-led initiative funded by the Victorian Government through the VMC and coordinated in partnership by the EYC and the Multicultural Multifaith Youth Network.

MAKING SENSE OF THE MEDIAChallenging racial vilification in the media was the topic of discussion at a recent youth forum.

their traditional dances on the stage and were admired by many a passer-by. The clog maker demonstrated his skills and clogs painted and signed by well-known Dutch and Australian personalities were on display and were sold through e-bay in the weeks after the Dutch Orange Day.

The proceeds went to the Royal Children’s Hospital. Two tickets to Amsterdam, donated by KLM, were auctioned and the highest bidder was announced at 4pm. The profit went to DutchCare, an organisation looking after the elderly Dutch.

ABOVE FROM LEFT Santo Cilauro, Kalyan Ky,

Julian Morrow and Hala Albenour.

ABOVE Clog makers were just one of the

attractions at the Dutch Orange Day this year.

ete AABOVE FROM LEFT Santo Cilauro, Kalyan Ky,

Juulian Morrow and Hala Albenour

24 Spring 2008

ABOVE Acrobats entertain the crowd in the Bourke St Mall,

Melbourne during the Picolo Festival in 1986.

TOP The Koloryt Ukrainian Bandura Ensemble, 1981.

RIGHT the crowd shows its appreciation during this year's

25th Anniversary celebrations at Federation Square.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 25

Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV) is Victoria's peak arts organisation promoting cultural diversity in the arts. MAV is a membership-based organisation representing individuals, groups and communities

across all art forms; music, dance, theatre, film and TV, visual arts and new media.

Multicultural Arts Victoria evolved from the Festival of All Nations, which was established in 1973. Since 1983 it has worked consistently to support artists and communities in Victoria and has a strong history of quality program delivery and of encouraging innovation and creative cultural expression in the arts.

This year MAV celebrated its 25th anniversary with plenty of entertainment from the many talented artists in Victoria on show at a concert at Federation Square, on 9 October, which coincided with the opening of the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

“It was fantastic to be able celebrate our 25th birthday with all of Melbourne and we would like say a huge thank you to Festival Director Kristy Edmunds in her last festival, for supporting our local culturally diverse artists. This collaboration reflects MAV’s leadership role in the arts in the State and our role in developing artistic exchange and intercultural dialogue through the arts,” said Jill Morgan, Executive Officer MAV.

“Multicultural Arts Victoria, following on from the original mission of the Festival of All Nations, continues to openly welcome diversity of culture, ethnic tradition and respect of heritage alongside contemporary practice in all disciplines of the arts in today's multicultural Australia.”

The line up of extraordinary local artists opening the festival included, The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Unified Gecko, Nicky Bomba and the Melbourne Ska Orchestra,

For 25 years Multicultural Arts Victoria has been the peak body associated with bringing

the sounds, sights and talents of multicultural artists to the public.

25 years at the top

26 Spring 2008

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Anita Larkin, Jill Morgan and Stefan Romaniw

from MAV celebrate with a cake at the 25th Anniversary; King Marong

and friends; Lamine Sonko, Kuukua Acquah and Lidia Acquah from

The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra; DJ Sista Selekta, aka Namila Benson.

with guests Diafrix, Jali Buba Kuyateh, Little G, Nadee, King Marong, Lamine Sonko, Sista Selekta, Meltemi, Underbelly, Tumbarumba and other surprise guests.

The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra is a hot new mammoth ensemble of fifteen musicians hand-picked from Melbourne’s African, jazz and hip-hop scenes. Inspired by the infectious afro-beat music of Nigeria and its neighbours, The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra delivered a contemporary blend of hip hop and African funk to the dance floor. The all-star lineup featured past and present members of Musiki Manjaro, LABJACD, Illzilla, Mista Savona, Diafrix, Blue King Brown, 1200 Techniques and Grilla Step.

A Middle Eastern vibe was created by Unified Gecko. The band is led by singer/songwriter Murat Yucel who brought with him from Turkey the passion to preserve the traditional music by transforming it. With this in mind, he sought out Melbourne musicians from diverse cultural and musical backgrounds and created the unique sound of Unified Gecko. The music was enhanced by the stunning performance of one of Melbourne’s finest Middle Eastern dance ensembles Underbelly, who specialise in contemporary adaptations of ancient artforms including tribal dance and percussion.

Meltemi a newly formed local band comprising of both

Greek and Turkish members joined United Gecko on stage with their blend of bouzouki, guitar, kanun, darrabukas and various other percussion instruments. The party continued with the amazing Melbourne Ska Orchestra. This ambitious musical venture is led by Melbourne’s irrepressible master of groove, Nicky Bomba and featured a veritable who’s who of local jazz, reggae and ska talent including members of Skazz, the Trojan Horns, The Moonhops, The Pachuco Playboys, Bomba and the Ska Vendors.

Following in the footsteps of Brazilian percussion organisations, like the world famous Olodum who fused Samba and Reggae, Tumbarumba combined a wealth of Brazilian musical material with the inevitable influences of the multicultural experience, lending new sounds and flavours to the genre. Tumabarumba, who are the core of an ever-evolving Melbourne based samba school, joined the ska orchestra for a massive close to MAV’s birthday party.

Sista Selekta, Namila Benson, the party’s resident DJ, kept the cultural vibe happening between sets. Radio listeners will know her current soul, Hip Hop and global show, Cocoa Butter on RRR and her global music segment on ABC Radio Australia, Benson on Edge. Namila’s DJ’ing was the icing on the cake for this very special birthday party for Multicultural Arts Victoria.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 27

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Across the years many performers have

entertained the audience: Margarita Arbic; Tradicion Argentina; Highland

dancers; Monash University's Gamelin Society; Ukrainian dance troupe

and Nigerian Dancers.

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28 Spring 2008

This year the Chilean community celebrates its 198th anniversary of independence.

Chilean communityButtressed to the east by the ranges of the Andes and embracing the Pacific Ocean to the west from its northern frontier with Peru down to the glacier fields of Patagonia, Chile just edges its geographical presence onto South America. At its widest, Chile is a sliver-width 4,506 kilometres between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. The northern Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth and a third of the country is dominated by the Andes mountain range. Most of Chile’s population is packed into a 1,127 kilometre-long fertile basin of the country’s most arable land.

Once part of the massive Viceroyalty of Peru, centred in Lima, Chile’s inhospitable but mineral-rich lands

and its fertile valleys both contributed to its importance as a primary producer for the Spanish Empire. The decay of mining and textile production together with the rise in national independence movements at the beginning of the nineteenth century accelerated the decline of the Spanish Empire and drove Chile’s drive for independence.

The catalyst came from Spain when Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte usurped the throne in 1808. A period of civil upheaval and power struggles followed, weakening Spain’s grip on its restive, fragmenting empire.

Spain attempted to reimpose arbitrary rule during the period known in Chile as the Reconquista, which in turn led to a prolonged struggle under José de San

Martín and Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's most renowned patriot and a member of South America's Irish diaspora.

Other revolutionary leaders included the guerrilla leader Manuel Rodríguez and the exiled British admiral Thomas Cochrane, who commanded the Chilean Navy during the struggle for independence.

Chilean independence was formally proclaimed on February 12, 1818, and the last of its territory, Chiloé, was wrested from Spanish rule in 1826.

The Chilean community in Victoria turned out at a variety of celebrations to mark Chilean Independence Day, including the huge Chilean Latin American Festival at Sandown Racecourse on 20 and 21 September.

Dancers from all over Latin America

performed at the Chilean Latin

American Festival this year.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 29

GET TO KNOW – CHILE

There were few migrants from Chile

until political and economic uncertainty

in the country in the early 1970s led

to an influx of Chilean migrants to

Australia, particularly after General

Pinochet regime’s military coup in 1973.

Democracy was restored to Chile in

1990, and since then, Chileans have

come to Australia mainly under the

Family Reunion program. At the 2006

Census, there were 6,678 Chile-born

persons in Victoria (28.7% of Australia’s

total), increasing slightly by 0.3% from

6,658 persons in 2001. More than half

(58.9%) of the Chile-born in Victoria had

arrived in Australia prior to 1986; 24.4%

had arrived between 1986 and 1990.

Over two days the festival attracted more than 25,000 people who came to celebrate the rich diversity of the Chilean and wider Latin American community. More than 60 community groups and organisations participated this year, making it one of the largest celebrations of Chilean and Latin American culture in Australia.

Over 40 music and dance groups entertained the crowd from different stages, with 600 volunteers working to make the event a major success. Live music from Argentinean, Uruguayan, Brazilian, Colombian, Mexican, Salvadoran, Peruvian, Bolivian, Cuban and Spanish traditional and contemporary groups provided a non-stop musical feast for the crowd sampling the delights of Hispanic cuisine and browsing for handicrafts, music and clothing.

A classic Chilean Independence Day Opening Ceremony complete with Chilean cowboys and cowgirls, fired up the event in hearty style. Dancers performed the Cueca, Chile’s national dance. With roots in Chilean peasant folklore, the Cueca is widely believed

to have emerged as a symbol of the newborn republic in rebellion against the Spanish crown. The steps represent the cock stalking the hen, the amorous courting of a couple, or the cornering by a huaso (a Chilean cowboy) of a filly which he is trying to lasso. Men and woman dance to the classic rhythm, twirling their kerchiefs in the air.

Five different Chilean folkloric dance groups from Victoria also showcased many other traditional dances that mark the nation’s cultural and geographical diversity.

The Festival also celebrated the National Days of El Salvador and Mexico, with stirring dance performances and mariachi singing from popular Salvadoran and Mexican musical groups.

There was a vast display of Latin American arts and crafts on offer, as well as regional Latin American cuisine, from chocolate-coated churros and perennial favourite paella, to barbequed ribs, cornstarch-based atol and other typically Latin American drinks fireworks and games for the kids.

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit www.septemberfestival.com.au

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30 Spring 2008

The Turkish Tulip Festival Weekend was organised by the Australian Turkish Cultural Platform (ATCP) at the Tesselaar Garden in Melbourne and showcased Turkish culture, informing and entertaining attendees and serving as a scientific, artistic and cultural resource.

It was held in Silvan on Saturday and Sunday 13–14 September 2008 with the participation of over 10,000 people.

In 2005, the first Turkish Tulip Festival Weekend created great interest in the Turkish and Victorian communities. This year, thanks to wide support from the Victorian Government through the VMC and sponsors, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Australian Multicultural Foundation, Tesselaar Bulbs, Commonwealth Bank and Printmode, the event has now

proved to be a major tourist attraction.During the festival, participants

had the opportunity to experience Turkish culture with an in-depth festival program, which included displays, artwork, crafts, books, music, Turkish food, children’s activities tent, Turkish folk dances and performances by Turkish Music groups, Nasreddin Hodja (the master of Turkish humorists), Ottoman Army Band costume display, a fashion show and a pair of stilt walkers carrying Turkish Flags. Throughout the event there were live performances and visitors observed, read material, saw movies and participated in hands-on activities to experience true Turkish traditions.

The festival’s program was packed, the stage was rarely empty. The shows were performed by ATAM Music Group, Ekol School of Arts Dancers, Group Ezgi, Ozden Isikser, Ozlem Bellydancing School, Turkay Ilicak, Unified Gecko and Zevku Seda Turkish Music Group.

Turkish Tulip FestivalTulips were in full bloom

alongside a dazzling display of

Turkish culture in September.

ABOVE Turkish culture and history were on display

during September as more than 10,000 people

turned out to watch tradtional dance performances

and enjoy the magnificent tulips.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 31

Tulip Festival to demonstrate Turkish calligraphy. Award winning Turkish miniature artist Ms Gülay Pelin, recognised as one of Australia’s most distinct miniature artists, exhibited her very fine and intricate art work during the festival period. Her unique and contemporary art charmingly bridges Turkish miniature art from past to present. Visitors were delightedly captivated with the delicate paintings prepared using very thin brushes, water colour and 23 carat gold pieces.

Head of the festival committee, Ms Hilkat Ozgun said that the event's goal was to make the voices of the Turks in Victoria be heard by the entire world.

“We are working on introducing our country to Victoria, the world's multicultural capital. Our festival proved our efforts right with the participation level and its colorfulness. Many people who had no idea about Turkey requested help from us, saying that they would pay a visit to Turkey

These fun-filled shows attracted a lot of attention from festival goers.

Turkish Marbling, which was known as “Turkish Paper” for centuries in the western world, was demonstrated by two artists. Ms Esengul Inalpulat, one of the leading Marbling artists in Turkey, whose Mastership has been recognized by the Ministry of Turkish Republic Cultural and Tourism, demonstrated her amazing art over the two days.

Associate Professor Nur Demirbilek of Queensland University of Technology, who has worked on Turkish Decorative Arts for over 20 years, showed various techniques of Turkish Marbling, provided information on its materials and history, and answered questions related to this traditional and interesting art form. Visitors were fascinated by the demonstrations and some participants had the opportunity to try a hands-on workshop.

Dr. Süleyman Berk, a famous calligrapher in Turkey, attended the

at their earliest convenience," she said. The Festival Organizing Committee is

grateful for the participation of the other Turkish community groups and thankful to the thousands and thousands of visitors who made the Turkish Tulip Festival Weekend a success.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Traditional

Turkish tea ceremonies, Turkish music

and examples of delicate pottery

were all on offer at the festival.‘‘‘‘

GET TO KNOW – TURKEY

Turkish migrants to Australia in the

first half of the 20th Century were of

diverse backgrounds, including Turkish

Cypriots and Greeks born in Turkey.

Many also had British nationality. The

number of Turkey-born migrants to

Australia increased substantially during

the late 1960s and 70s, following an

assisted migration agreement signed

between Australia and Turkey in 1967.

At the 2006 Census, there were 15,284

Turkey-born persons in Victoria (50.1%

of Australia’s total), increasing by 0.4%

from 15,220 persons in 2001.

32 Spring 2008

As the weather gets warmer and people head to pools and the beach, it is important to learn about playing it safe near the water. New arrivals to Australia are often unfamiliar with its waters and can underestimate the power of the currents. For this reason Life Saving Victoria is addressing the issue of water safety and encourages people from all communities to get involved and learn how to have fun in water this summer.

One of the programs, the Water Connections Project aims to educate communities about swimming and water safety, increase participation and access of communities with their local leisure facilities (in the Hume Shire) and offer aquatic employment pathways. This current 18 month program started early 2007 and is primarily centred in the Hume Shire at pools and leisure centres. Activities covered last year, and currently running, are pool life guard courses, swim teacher courses, meet a life guard day, parent education sessions and Family Fun days at Broadmeadows, Coburg and Thomastown Leisure centres.

The Value a Volunteer Pilot Project

also aims to educate people about swimming and water safety, integrate and include communities in selected pilot Surf Life Saving clubs. Edithvale Surf Lifesaving Club and Altona Surf Lifesaving Club in Port Melbourne are the two main clubs. Participants come down to the beach and are actively involved in a number of physical activities, as well as learning about beach safety. Physical activities include using surf skis, boogie boards, life jackets, beach running relays. It's a lot of fun and the activities can be done in very shallow water.

Another program works to teach people how to save lives with the “Resuscitate-a-mate” sessions. Life savers can visit groups to deliver a one hour, interactive session to teach people how to respond in an emergency resuscitation situation.

If your group or school would like to

learn more about water safety, contact

Life Saving Victoria on (03) 9676 6900

or visit www.lifesavingvictoria.com.au

b

e

ber of

Life Saving Victoria, through its CALD Programs Department, currently have

several programs in operation to educate communities about water safety.

mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 33

ABOVE The Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs, James Merlino announces the Regional

Interpreter Skill course to members of the Mildura community.

It is now mandatory for all taxi fares between 10pm and 5am to be prepaid.

NO PAY, NO TAXI

Regional centres are benefiting from a new interpreting course designed to help improve communications and access to vital services.

government and service providers in reaching migrant communities is the language barrier. The Victorian Government is committed to working towards ways of overcoming this barrier and ensuring all members of the community have access to the services they need.”

Delivered by RMIT University, the Interpreter Skills Course involves a mixture of face to face and on-line delivery. The face to face sessions introduce students to the basic skills and techniques required to be an effective interpreter, while the on-line component focuses on contextual knowledge and provides access to

an array of practice dialogues. The courses also involve sessions with local professionals in the health, legal and educational fields.

The VMC has engaged local Adult and Community Education providers to manage the projects. The contribution of Continuing Education Bendigo (CEB) and MADEC (Mildura) has been instrumental in the courses’ success, providing venues, facilities and infrastructure including classroom computers, identifying key target languages within the region; promoting the course to potential students and offering mentoring technical and educational support for students.

The Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs, James Merlino, launched the VMC Regional Interpreter Skills Courses in Mildura on 24 September.

The six-week course ran in Bendigo in August-September and the range of languages spoken by participants is indicative of the diversity of regional Victoria. Languages include Urdu, Karen, Khmer, Russian, Arabic, Italian, German and Tamil. The participants are now being supported to obtain NAATI accreditation through testing, or recognition in those languages for which testing is not available.

Mr Merlino said the Victorian Government realises the critical role that interpreting plays in providing access to information and services for people with low English language proficiency and encouraged people with bilingual skills to participate in the Mildura course, which is now underway.

“One of the key challenges facing

Acting Public Transport Minister Tim Pallas said the change would reduce fare evasion and improve taxi-driver safety.

“Fare evasion costs the taxi industry $1.7 million per year which comes

The Victorian Government has introduced a new initiative to curb fare evasion, which costs the taxi industry $1.7 million annually and deprives individual taxi drivers of their rightful income. Fare evasion is often also accompanied by aggressive or offensive behaviour targeted at taxi drivers.

A public awareness campaign based around the theme 'No Pay, No Taxi', has been launched to educate passengers that they must now pay for their taxi ride before they take it, just like they'd pay in advance for anything else they might purchase.

directly from the driver’s pocket,” Mr Pallas said.

A range of tools including a street directory-based fare calculator for taxi drivers and a ready reckoner and online fare estimator for passengers have been developed to help determine the cost of taxi fares. Passengers must pay a deposit up to the estimate of the total fare and settle the balance or receive a refund from the driver at the end of each trip.

If you would like any more information

about prepaid taxi fares please visit

www.taxi.vic.gov.au

34 Spring 2008

17-year-old Lien finishes high school this year and already lives away from home. Like hundreds of other young people from African, Vietnamese and Anglo-Australian backgrounds, Lien is reaping the benefits of a new project called Kitchen Culture.

According to Lien, preparing and sharing food with assistance from the local TAFE College has been great for his career and his wellbeing. Kitchen Culture participants agree it gives them a greater understanding of each others cultures.

Funding for Building Bridges is about

more than cooking. It is also about bringing people together in activities they value to break down the misunderstandings that can lead to discrimination and health problems.

“VicHealth’s innovative program has injected $1.5 million directly into five major projects. This builds on the work of more than 40 community projects, already funded under a pilot program across the State,” said VicHealth CEO Todd Harper.

“Overseas studies show that bringing people from different cultures

together in this way is effective in addressing discrimination” he said. “We are evaluating the Building Bridges program to see if the same is true here in Victoria.”

Another of the projects is Kar Kulture, which brings refugee young people together with Australian born young people to restore a car, undertake road safety workshops and driver training.

Kar Kulture gets young people together from more than 15 different cultures. Mustafa Zahidi is an Afghani Australian

who loves the opportunity to work with young people from different cultures: “This really helped me get involved with the community and work with other people.”

“Evidence shows there is a clear link between ethnic and race-based discrimination and mental health problems, particularly depression,” Mr Harper says, “so it’s very important that we address this problem”.

LINKS

VicHealth More Than Tolerance: Embracing

Diversity for Health Report:

www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/discrimattitudes

VicHealth Building Bridges:

www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/Content.

aspx?topicID=282

VicHealth: www.vichealth.vic.gov.au

LEFT Young people from different cultures are

reaping the benefits of a VicHealth program

called Building Bridges, designed to help avoid

discrimination and associated health problems.

A VicHealth program called Building Bridges is bringing people

together to break down the misunderstandings that can lead

to discrimination and associated health problems.

TACKLING DOMESTIC VIOLENCEA free DVD is available to help people seek help with domestic violence.

The Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria, in a joint initiative with VicHealth has prepared a DVD, titled Don’t Suffer in Silence, focusing on family violence issues in the Victorian Indian ethnic community. It features frank, honest and revealing interviews with people who have experienced family violence and also includes information from a community psychologist.

The DVD provides information on how to seek help if in a violent relationship and ways of identifying unacceptable behaviour. There are various forms of abusive behaviour outlined which include: physical, emotional, verbal, sexual, social, financial and spiritual.

Violence occurs in all races, countries, cultures and communities and exists in every sector, regardless

of income, education, profession and age. It affects children in an enormously negative way, even if the violence is not directed at them and it is vital for people who are in a violent relationship to seek a way out. The DVD suggests people should contact a welfare service to find out about other services, even if English is not their first language.FOR MORE INFORMATION call (03) 9521 2300.

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mv MULTICULTURAL VICTORIA 35

The Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs, James Merlino attended the Immigration Museum on Friday 19 September to meet with students from Wodonga Senior Secondary College and Wodonga Middle Years College, Felltimber Campus, who had their exhibition, Our Stories: Past, Present, Future Journeys on display at the Museum until 23 November.

The students looked at the ways immigration has helped shape their community and added to its cultural diversity. The result was a spectacular display of creativity, that also documents the contributions of migrants in the area.

The exhibition was made possible by the school’s involvement in the Advance Program, a state government-funded initiative that encourages students to volunteer in their community.

The school’s Advance Program co-ordinator, David Jones said the exhibition covers a range of times and places and each student took an original approach to recording their story.

“It involved students interviewing people who had migration stories that linked to our local area. We actually

looked at a range of time frames. We have stories that relate to early settlement, Bonegilla experiences and those of recent arrivals. It is a wonderfully diverse historical and cultural mix.”

Calling on local community members, family and friends, the students took a variety of approaches to recording their stories.

Using photography, video and personal memorabilia, each student created a snapshot of life through someone else’s eyes and provided the community with an insightful and educational exhibition.

Mr Merlino was most impressed with the students’ efforts and commented that the work on display was one of the best examples of the ways in which the Victorian Government's Advance Program can assist schools to make meaningful connections to their communities.

Year 9 students from Wodonga have created an exhibition about

cultural diversity in their community.

When renting a house,

apartment or unit, it is

important to understand the

rules and regulations that

govern the real estate and

renting industry.

Consumer Affairs Victoria have released a free DVD for students to help them access accommodation in Victoria. The DVD is available in English, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mandarin, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Whether renting as a tenant or leasing as a landlord, you must be aware of such issues as lease agreements, rental bonds, inspections, residential contracts, the body corporate, repairs and maintenance.

Students and others renting for the first time should consider all their needs before signing a lease agreement. It is important to think about the cost, size of the dwelling, location, facilities offered, transport costs, value for money and whether it is right for your study or work needs and lifestyle. The best places to look are at student housing services at universities and colleges, rental lists from real estate agents, Internet, newspapers and student notice boards.

Landlords or agents may ask you to complete a Residential Tenancy Application for a property you may be interested in renting. Agents and landlords use this information to check your references and ability to pay the rent. It is against the law for landlords or agents to refuse to rent properties to people because of their:

MORE INFORMATION visit www.consumer.

vic.gov.au or telephone 1300 55 81 81.

ABOVE Minister Merlino and students from

Wodonga Senior Secondary College in front

of the community story they researched

and presented as part of Our Stories: Past,

Present, Future Journeys.

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36 Spring 2008

ABOVE Easwari Jayasela holds the pictures she painted which were used as the

cover for ADEC's recently launched book.

A small group celebrates 25 years of hard work.

On 17 October more 250 people gathered at Coburg Town Hall to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Action on Disabilities in Ethnic Communities (ADEC). A book was also launched called Fighting for Equality, the Story of ADEC. It records how the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981 inspired a small group of people to create a unique service combining multiculturalism, disability advocacy and social reform.

“The book is dedicated to the hundreds of staff, volunteers, members, clients and supporters who committed ‘blood, sweat and tears’ to bring into reality their dreams of equality for people with disabilities from ethnic communities,” said author Meyer Eidelson.

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit www.adec.org.au

You can make a difference. The choices you make and the actions you take now will affect the way we live in the future. Whether you're taking your first steps in sustainability or looking to shrink your impact even more, now is the right time to think about how you can reduce your waste.

The festive season sees mountains of wrapping paper, light globes and plastic packaging being tossed aside after the fun has been had. Why not make an effort to shop sensibly and reduce the amount of waste you need to dispose of?

Buy presents that are not over packaged and use glasses instead of plastic cups at parties. Every little bit counts and it will save you money in the long run if you don’t have to constantly replace items.

Conserving vital resources and keeping useful materials out of landfill is something everyone can practise every day just by taking care with what we throw away. The more we reuse and recycle, the smaller our impact on the environment.

Turn off the lights if you are not in the room and try to recycle this year’s

wrapping paper for next year’s presents. Send emails instead of Christmas cards and remember, take your green bag whenever you go shopping.

Everyone leaves a mark, the challenge is how small can you make you environmental footprint this year.

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit www.sustainability.vic.gov.au

MAKING SENSE OF MONEYA free DVD to help people understand and negotiate their way through the financial and consumer market in Australia is now available from Maribyrnong City Council. The DVD looks at common credit traps and offers information about key service providers and organisations that can help people with financial issues.

Many newly arrived migrants are prime targets for unethical sales practices. For example, door-to-door

and high pressure sales techniques often result in people buying things they cannot afford, or getting trapped in high cost contracts for utilities, cable television and telecommunications services. The Making Sense of Money DVD offers advice and information to avoid these traps by using a series of fun interactive games. It is available in Dinka, Sudanese Arabic and English.Contact the Community Projects Department

on (03) 9688 0200 to obtain a copy.

Learn how to avoid getting

into debt and falling prey to

high pressure sales techniques

with a fun new free DVD.

The festive season is fast approaching and it’s time to start thinking

how you can take a green approach to reducing your waste.

Level 11, 1 Spring StreetMelbourne Victoria 3000

TELEPHONE (03) 9208 3184 FACSIMILE (03) 9208 3179EMAIL info@vmc.vic.gov.au

multicultural.vic.gov.au