Page 778 - Week 02 - Thursday, 23 February 2012
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I will now take you through some of these multicultural partnerships. The Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services of the ACT has a suite of services that address different stages of life. For example, the job preparation program helps ACT government-sponsored skilled migrants to prepare for work in Canberra. The program includes a series of cultural awareness information and training sessions and job ready seminars which aim to enhance the job readiness of skilled migrants.
The home tutor program matches volunteer tutors with migrants and refugees who are unable to attend regular English classes and the PASS program is an after-school study program that supports students between 12 and 25 years old to achieve academically through tutor assistance, English language support and other study supports.
The ACT government also funds the Multicultural Women’s Advocacy. Its aim is to build the resilience of the multicultural community and is an advocacy, advisory and lobby group that focuses on the needs of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It is a key link in providing to the women it works with the information, referral and support that allows them to seek out opportunities to further develop their capabilities and achieve goals.
Another service we are proud to work with is Multicultural Youth Services. This organisation is a dedicated youth service that supports young migrant and refugee people to get used to living in their new home and to achieve their dreams. The support services provided include accommodation; employment, the Job Club; education, training and apprenticeships; welfare and emotional support; youth and family support; English language and homework support; multicultural playgroups; sports and recreation; and holiday programs.
The valuable partnerships go hand in hand with the government’s work to improve the contribution of the multicultural community in the ACT through promoting economic participation.
The multicultural strategy 2009-13 identifies the ACT government’s commitment that in the ACT all individuals have the right to participate and contribute socially, culturally and economically.
Mr Doszpot talked about leadership from the government. He talked about strength and that sort of thing from the government, and vision, I think—I hope he said that. I wonder whether members are aware of where this multicultural strategy 2009-13 came from. It came from a summit back in 2004. The multicultural community came together, 450 representatives, at the Convention Centre to develop their own multicultural strategy. I was the Minister for Multicultural Affairs at the time. Our idea was to tell the community they had the right to let the government know what they needed, and they wrote their strategy.
This document here is the government saying to the multicultural community: “We want you to tell us. You are going to give us a road map for 2009-13 and we are going help you go on that journey.” I am thrilled to pieces to see that the current minister
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