Page 2509 - Week 08 - Thursday, 30 August 2007
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and more individuals from the multicultural and wider communities. Planning is well underway for the 2008 festival, and I am already looking forward to it.
In February this year, more than 140,000 people flocked to the heart of the city to get involved in the festival, including about 45,000 individuals at the food and dance spectacular. While next year’s festival is currently in the planning phase, there are plenty of opportunities for all members of the community to become involved, and I look forward to seeing the information tent that those opposite have in the community contact arena. This involvement could be through the volunteer program—and I could see the shadow Treasurer wearing a multicultural festival T-shirt and volunteering to go out there and set it up; I am looking forward to that—holding a stall at the food and dance spectacular, selling hotdogs, or proposing an event to be included in the two-week extravaganza. There are so many opportunities, and I encourage every member of the community to find out how they can be involved.
Since its opening in December 2005, the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre has become home to more than 20 community groups with connections across the globe. This important building in Civic Square has truly become the hub of our multicultural community, and we have all enjoyed attending functions there. On any given day, you will find community events and meetings occurring, bringing people together to help each other or to share their special cultures. The centre is also a place of importance in terms of artistic expression. The foyer of the centre is dedicated to showing works of art by multicultural artists. It is wonderful to walk into the centre and see the creativity and experiences interpreted in paint, sculpture and artefacts on display.
Recently, my department, the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services, undertook a satisfaction survey of the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre’s tenants. That survey indicated that, overall, tenants—in fact, 100 per cent of them—are happy with the conditions and usage of the centre. It also found that both tenants and general users of the centre were very happy with the location of the centre, its proximity to public transport, its opening hours and its security. That is a great result.
In December last year I was delighted to launch the 2006-09 multicultural strategy. This document is the roadmap to our multicultural future—something that I am extremely proud of. Born out of six ministerial multicultural forums, a ministerial multicultural summit in 2005 and subsequent community submissions, the strategy provides a framework for practical solutions to the issues and concerns raised by community groups, individuals, government agencies and peak bodies.
It has 10 key themes addressing issues including human rights, access and equity, ageing and aged care issues, cultural and religious acceptance, language policy, leadership and governance, migration of parents, settlement services for newly arrived migrants, terrorism, and young people. It is a great strategy and it came up with seven projects. The seven projects that will be funded are: a pre-employment preparation program; capacity building of community groups; the work experience and support program, or WESP; English language classes; promotion of traineeships and apprenticeships as a pathway to employment, improved governance and leadership in community groups; contribution to a youth forum, which I talked about the other day; and a dedicated multicultural bus service for the elderly, which I launched last weekend. I urge all Canberrans to look at this document and see just how vibrant our multicultural community is. Have a look at it on www.dhcs.act.gov.au.
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