Page 3773 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 27 August 2008
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community members. Community steering committees will continue to provide guidance for future multicultural festivals.
2005 culminated in the opening of the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre and since then it has been a hive of activity for Canberra’s diverse community. The centre provides a base for five peak bodies and 30 community groups. The exhibition, gallery, meeting and function rooms encourage the broader Canberra community to benefit from the centre’s community resources.
A recent survey indicated that 100 per cent of the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre’s tenants are happy with conditions, usage and location of the centre. This demonstrates the centre is appropriately responding to the community’s needs.
Within multicultural affairs, there are many programs that provide improved opportunities for members of the communities it serves. Settling into a new country is never easy. These programs assist individuals to gain employment skills, to better access government services and to share and maintain their heritage.
The work experience and support program, WESP, is a highly successful program that has been operating for many years and it is designed to help Canberrans from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds of employable age to enter the workforce. It gives them the opportunity, mainly within the ACT public service, to improve their skills and confidence, as well as develop important networks.
The funding of the multicultural, radio and language grants assists community members of all ages to participate in ACT community life. Similarly, the multicultural grants assist people of all ages to share their culture and heritage, enabling them, for example, to publish newsletters or even buy or make costumes to participate in the annual national multicultural festival.
The radio grants particularly assist elderly people who may feel somewhat isolated from community life. Community radio stations do a terrific job in transmitting information, entertainment, news and interviews in languages other than English.
These communities often have a little voice, but this government listens to them. I think the relationship the government has with these communities makes us a very much stronger community.
MR SPEAKER: Is there a supplementary question?
MS PORTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can the minister please tell the Assembly what he wants to achieve by holding a multicultural summit this Saturday, 30 August, when we already have a multicultural strategy?
MR HARGREAVES: This government is committed to ensuring that multiculturalism continues to be a driving force in the ACT. Community consultation is a large part of this, and since my appointment as Minister for Multicultural Affairs I have been dedicated to consultation with grassroots members of the multicultural community in this city.
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