They have Cuban dance music, good food and drinks in the best secret garden in the central city. In true Carnevale style please bring a mask.

Date: Saturday 18 February, 2012

Time: 6.30 pm for 7 pm until 11.30pm

Place: ‘The Secret Garden’ Hellenic Museum, at the former Royal Mint 280 William Street, Melbourne

Cost: $100 per person all inclusive

A three course dinner will be provided by Black Tie Catering, drinks included.

The evening entertainment will be provided by Cuban band Carlitos Way

Parking is free and is available inside the gates of the Hellenic Museum. Guests are welcome to visit the exhibitions at Hellenic Museum during the evening. The highlight is the ancient Greek pottery from Southern Italy.

Please book by Monday 13th February 2012 to rosariaz@coasit.com.au or 9349 9019

Have your say!

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission is conducting research into the experiences of students with disability in Victorian schools.

This follows an increase in complaints to the Commission relating to disability discrimination in education, and concerns raised by parents of children with disability, disability advocacy groups and members of the Commission’s Disability Reference Group about the provision of education services to students with disability.

The purpose of the Commission’s research is to gather information about the issues and challenges experienced by students with disability in the Victorian school system and to identify potential solutions, consistent with Victoria’s equal opportunity and human rights framework, to improve access to education for students with disability.

How you can participate

The Commission is keen to hear from students, parents and educators about what works and what could be improved when it comes to the education of students with disability in Victoria. There are several ways you can have your say.

Complete their confidential survey

If you are a:

• student with disability
• parent of a student with disability, or
• principal, teacher or you work in a Victorian school

you can complete their confidential online survey at humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/disabilityinschools

The survey is anonymous – they do not ask for any personal or identifying information.

If you work in a community organisation or otherwise provide support to families, children and young people with disability, you can tell us your views by sending an email to research@veohrc.vic.gov.au. We will treat this as a written submission to our research.

Ring their statewide telephone call-in on Saturday 3 December 2011

Call 1300 292 153 or (03) 9032 3583.
Lines are open on Saturday 3 December from 10am to 4pm. If you need an interpreter, you can call the Commission using the interpreter service on 1300 152 494 or TTY at 1300 289 621.

Come to one of their ‘have a say’ days in regional Victoria

These will be held in February 2012. More details will be available soon.

If these options are not convenient, please feel free to tell them your story by sending them an email to research@veohrc.vic.gov.au.

In participating in the research, you will be providing your consent on the basis that your information will be kept private. No individual, family or student will be identified in the research. 

The group, led by Maria Vamvakinou MP and Russell Broadbent MP, was launched at Alphington Grammar on June 24.

The launch included a sand art interpretation of multiculturalism, speech by SBS Chairman Joseph Skrzynski and a presentation by Alphington Grammar School.

Both MPs said they were united in promoting the benefits of multiculturalism. They believed migration has enormous benefits to Australia, adding to the vibrancy of our society and increasing productivity.

ECCV supports greater representation for the multicultural community in the State and Federal Government and welcomes this bipartisan alliance.  

For more information about Federal Parliamentary Friends of Multiculturalism click here.  

Mr Costello’s speech, Piecing Australia together: The paradox of cultural diversity in an evolving nation, covered many contemporary aspects of multicultural debate including population growth, refugees and diversity.

"The critical problem is that fear is an irresistibly attractive political tool in partisan debates," Mr Costello said.

He argued Australia needed to build regional frameworks and implement humane refugee policies that didn’t raise exaggerated fears about border security.

"We seem to have lost sight of the real heart of the issue - conflicts and poverty are the main causes of population movements," Mr Costello said.

"So much of the debate on refugees is premised that they are a burden, but we embrace them when they do well.”

 Mr Costello added that migration and cultural diversity will remain central to the Australian story.

“ People will come to Australia if the opportunities exist and Australia will demand that they come,” he said.   

“ Government can dial down the intake in response to a short-term political demand, but once labour and skill shortages re-emerge the pressure to dial up again will be irresistible.”

The lecture series was launched by Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who joined Mr Costello in recognising the contributions of Walter Lippmann, ECCV’s founding chairperson.

 “[Walter Lippmann] recognised that through the Council, leaders of communities could develop experience in lobbying and policy-making, and thus improve their policy impact,” Mr Costello said.

“He realised that the embrace of cultural diversity and finding a way of producing engagement and dialogue between communities and the institutions of government, was the way forward to a society that was at once cohesive and creative.”

ECCV was also honoured to have Mr Lippmann’s grandson Matthew Albert speak about his contribution to Australian multiculturalism.

The video footage of the inaugural Walter Lippmann Memorial Lecture will be made available on the Wheeler Centre website  wheelercentre.com/videos. www.whee

For more information about the Walter Lippmann Memorial Lecture series you can contact the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria at (03) 9349 4122, eccv@eccv.org.au or via Twitter @ethnicvic.

View photo slideshow

On the 5 April 2011, the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit (VTPU) will host a forum on the mental health of expectant and new mothers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

This is part of the National Perinatal Depression Initiative in Victoria

The purpose of the day will be to:

• share information
• build links for future networking
• inform the development of the VTPU “Culturally responsive mental health services” educational component.

Call for expressions of interest to attend or present at the forum

VTPU are looking for expressions of interest in attending the forum from primary health workers with relevant experience or knowledge, or CALD and perinatal services providers. Relevant areas of work might include: mental health, primary health, social support, peer support, group programs with refugee and migrant communities, ethno-specific, multicultural and perinatal service providers.

Additionally, presentations of relevant work or research in the area of perinatal mental health are also invited. The Forum will be held on April the 5th 2011, time to be announced, at:

Brenan Hall, Aitkenhead Wing, St Vincent's Hospital, 27 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy

Expressions of interest should be received by 11 March 2011 to:

Kate Fagnani, Administration & Events Co-ordinator, VTPU on (03) 9288 3300 or at kate.fagnani@svhm.org.au

View photo slideshow.

Young people from refugee or migrant backgrounds are more likely to have caring responsibilities. However, services often struggle to identify these young people as carers and provide appropriate support. To address this gap, ECCV in partnership with the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) and Carers Victoria are hosting a forum that will focus on young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds who provide ongoing care for a family member with an illness or disability.

Download the background paper Who Cares? Refugee and Migrant Young People with Caring Responsibilities (143kb). This paper will inform the debate.

For more information about the forum contact Nick Butera, on 9340 3700 or nbutera@cmy.net.au

Our training provides many benefits to employers and service providers including:

• harmonious and innovative workplaces
• improved organisational processes
• social responsibility
• improved outcomes for your clients and service users
• compliance with legal requirements and avoidance of liability.

To view the 2010 Commission workshop calendar online go to:
2010 Training workshops for employers and service providers

If you would like to receive one or more hard copies of the calendar click on the link below and provide your address details and the number of copies required.
Email link to receive hard copy of calendar