Page 3351 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 21 August 2018
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diverse backgrounds, to promote an inclusive and harmonious community, and to provide genuine opportunities to assist all Canberrans to reach their full potential.
In addition to those actions, the budget is delivering on a number of specific commitments in order to improve the visibility and inclusivity of diverse Canberrans. We are investing $247,000 to highlight and promote community participation, cultural diversity and inclusion. The ACT government is delivering this through programs designed to help ACT residents from diverse backgrounds meaningfully engage with the local workforce. It focuses on building the skills and experiences of new Canberrans.
The ACT government is also currently supporting the work experience support program, with an $89,000 investment. This program assists ACT residents who are migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to gain the skills, experience and confidence to enter into the workforce. The ACT government is also delivering additional funding for job brokerage services to help refugees to find jobs and to expand access to English language programs to help new Canberrans improve their language skills.
The government has also been taking steps to strengthen the engagement and inclusion of diverse Canberrans. In 2017 the ACT Multicultural Advisory Council was established to provide a forum for culturally diverse Canberrans to participate in consultation on the issues that affect their lives. The Multicultural Advisory Council is focused on delivering the ACT multicultural framework. It is fantastic to see the council meet and share their unique point of view on ACT issues and policies during 2018, as they will do in their upcoming summit. One of the ACT Multicultural Advisory Council’s responsibilities is to assist with convening the summit, and this will culminate in November 2018.
The National Multicultural Festival is one of Canberra’s most recognisable and vibrant events that truly celebrates the diversity and inclusivity of Canberra and its people. It is a three-day festival of food, music, dance and culture that attracts people from all around Australia and the globe. It showcases the extraordinary diversity of our city in particular.
At the core of the festival are the values of inclusion, social cohesion and harmony. I am very pleased that in this budget there is an investment of $150,000 to support increased staff and $100,000 in base funding per year that will further strengthen our commitment to the festival. I also want to put on record that I welcome the government commissioned review of the 2018 National Multicultural Festival being handed down, as we continue to strive to deliver a safe and inclusive festival that showcases the ACT’s multicultural community.
In conclusion, the ACT government is delivering budget outcomes to improve the visibility and inclusion of diverse Canberrans. The budget is supporting active consultation and inclusion of Canberrans from different backgrounds in the decision-making process. The ACT government is supporting the celebration of our multicultural community through the National Multicultural Festival. These measures reflect the ACT government’s continuing commitment to our values of inclusion and
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