1

Annual Report

2010-2011

Connecting Women throughConnecting Women throughConnecting Women throughConnecting Women through Strong PartnershipsStrong PartnershipsStrong PartnershipsStrong Partnerships

www.virwc.org.au

www.youtube.com/user/VirwcTV

www.twitter.com/#!/virwc

www.facebook.com/pages/Victorian-Immigrant-and-Refugee-Womens-Coalition/116882151672788

QV Women’s Centre, Level 1, 210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 3000

1. Vision, Mission and Values

2. Minutes of VIRWC 12th Annual General Meeting

3. Chairperson’s Report

4. Executive Director’s Report

5. Strategic Goals

6. Staff & Volunteers

7. Financial Statements for the Year ended 30 June 2011

Contents

2

3

Vision Statement

An inclusive, just and peaceful community that is characterized by respect for the innate dignity of each human being; the celebration of difference; a feeling amongst immigrant and refugee women of social connection and belonging; and in which the diverse contributions of all community members are enabled, supported and recognized.

Mission Statement

To work collaboratively with refugee and migrant women’s organizations and groups to meet the objectives and goals of those groups and their constituents. We will do this by:

• Building the capacity of membership organizations to operate effectively and independently

• Representing the views/issues of our members and their constituents to government, the media, public/private bodies, and decision makers

• Increasing awareness within the mainstream Victorian community and mainstream organizations about issues affecting our members and increasing the capacity of those organizations to embrace diversity

• Facilitating social interaction, networking, and connectivity amongst our membership, their constituents, and the general community.

Values

The following values are important to us:

Social outcome values

We believe in Social justice and Equality.

The way we engage with one another :

We choose to act with Respect, Tolerance, Empathy, Understanding.

Our organizational operations:

We pride ourselves on our Transparency, Honesty, Quality of work, Creativity and Ethics.

Our representative commitment

To our representative work, we bring Passion, Hard Work, Democratic and Consultative Representation, and Care.

To the best of our ability, we seek to model our values throughout the work of our organization, in our engagement with others, and in the way we represent our members.

4

9 November, 2010, 10:30-1pm, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre

Theme: “Connecting Women Through Strong Partnerships”

Attended Alba Chliakhtine (ABRISA) Alex Prentice (ISCS) Alma Espiritu (CPCA) Amara Hamid Andrea Rojas (Travellers Aid) Baljeet Kaur Berenice Turrent Cam Nguyen (AVWA) Carolina Cornejo 8 Casey Leadership course participants Celia Chang Cheryl Adam Christie Basset (Melb Uni) Cini Balasundram Clair Nugent Claire Mouat (WPN) Cook Island Women Cook Island Women Cuc Lam (Centrelink) Cynthia Norton (CPCA) Delia Ryan Farzaneh Dehghan Gianne Elly Jane Farrell Jeanette Hourani Jennifer Strauss (AFUW) Jing jing Liao Joanna Yu Julekha Akter

Juliana Lobo de Quieroz (EMC/BSL) Juniarti Juniarti Kathleen Maltzahn (Patron) Kathleen McAleer (Casey City Council) Linda Wall Lisa (MFB) Maggie Mitchell (Soroptimists) Maine Nga Tekopua (CIWFV) Malou Anes (AMES) Marian Issa Marian Lau Melba Marginson Micaela Drieberg (WPN) Michelle Cheng Nawsheen Coonjah Nejla Selbibeg Nga Hosking Nora Simkin (An-Nur) Olga Bursian Perla Luetic (FCCV) Rachael Bongiorno Rakesh Kawra (SCWO) Riza Manalo Seung Hee Sheila Byard (UNAA) State Emergency Services Sue Ellson (Newcomers Network) Theresa Ssali

Tonina Gocciardo (CCDA) Tricia Szirom Vaishali Kaine Vina zhang Vinitha Jayasinghe (SriLankan) Zenaida Geronimo (CPCA)

Apologies Andrea Oliveira Angela Taft Ann Wright (REW) Anne Frankenberg (IWDA) Jennie Rawther (NCWV) Jodie Willmer Linda Bennett Lynne Wenig Manjula O’Connor Melinda McPherson Meredith Lewis (DNH) Orietta Wheatley Positive Women Rhonda Small Sarah Chang Sherene Hassan Tina Douvos Vivien Brass

The meeting was opened by the Chairperson Jeanette Hourani.

Resolution Moved: Amara Hamid Seconded: Nejla Selbebig That this meeting of the VIRWC AGM accept the apologies as tabled CARRIED

5

Minutes of the Previous Annual General Meeting Resolution Moved Amara Hamid Seconded Nejla Selbibeg That the Minutes of the 2009 VIRWC Annual General Meeting, as tabled, be accepted as a true and accurate record CARRIED Due to the need for the guest speaker to leave early, the meeting was stopped a t this point. Guest Speaker Mary Crooks, Director of the Victorian Women’s Trust Mary delivered a key speech in support of Women’s Advocacy – Getting the Funding that We Deserve. VIRWC Committee of Management Resignations have been received from COM Members unable to continue with their positions: Melinda McPherson, Nina Wills and Abdi Rawdi COM Members Returning to the COM Malou Pascual-Anes, Amara Hamid, Dalal Samaan, Nejla Selbibeg, Farzaneh Dehghan Members Re-Nominating Jeanette Hourani It was noted that Rachael Bongiorno and Jane Farrell came onto the COM after the 2009 AGM and still have one year to serve. New COM Members Nominations were received prior to the AGM from the following financial members of the VIRWC. There are currently 2 vacant positions representing ethnic community organisations. At this point on the tabled nominees, Adibah Abdo-Attia advised that she was withdrawing her nomination – a decision she made just prior to the meeting. That left 2 remaining Nnminations received – Zeynep Yesilyurt of ALEVI Community Council of Australia and Alba Chliakhtine of ABRISA. The Chair welcomed these nominations and advised that VIRWC members seeking appointment on the COM must be financial for at least 3 months prior. As such Jeanette advised that the nominations from Zeynep Yesilyurt and Alba Chliakhtine were accepted as they are currently financial.

6

Jeanette then advised that 10 positions out of a total of 11 have now been filled. The remaining position is for a non ethnic representative and the COM will meet and discuss how to fill this position. Resolution Moved -Malou Pascual-Anes Seconded -Rachael Bongiorno That this meeting of the VIRWC AGM accept the re-nomination of Jeanette Hourani and the nominations of Zeynep Yesilyurt and Alba Chliakhtine as new members of the VIRWC COM and welcome their continued and new contributions to the COM. CARRIED Chairperson’s Report The Chairperson, Jeanette Hourani, tabled the written report and took members through the key points. Highlights included-

• Working with the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union on important research into the workload and treatment of room attendants working in Melbourne’s accommodation hotels. A high percentage of these workers are from a CALD background.

• Drama Performance – focussing on parents and children and the issues/conflicts they face

• Multicultural Women’s Support Programme and Mentoring Care Support Programme -initiated new programmes – support, guidance, counselling and referral

• Women’s Leadership Course – having pioneered this training, 2010 saw 12 women trained so that in turn they can train in their own community and in their languages

• Founding members of the Network of Immigrant and Refugee Women of Australia (NIRWA) and VIRWC will receive some seed funding to celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day

• Plans to host the Asia Pacific Women’s Conference November 2011 allowing wide networks to be built across the country and overseas

Executive Officer Report Melba Marginson tabled the written report and took members through the key activities for the year.

• Discussions on including service delivery as a fundamental activity along with advocacy.

• Train the Trainer Leadership Course was a first for migrant women and ongoing mentoring occurs.

• Lost in Transition Mate! DVD told the story of international women students and their experiences in Melbourne. The project and DVD has been embraced by the community, educational bodies, libraries and many have purchased copies.

• International Student programmes arose out of the media reports of physical assaults on Indian students. A forum for airing concerns was held with the Police Commissioner and the community and led to the launch of a network supporting the needs of international women students (ARIES).

7

• Women’s Power Forum – Eritrean Women’s Group spoke on female genital mutilation and how they pioneered the raising of community awareness on this issue.

• Ongoing support and development of women’s groups in north and south east • New website design has been made user friendly.

Treasurer’s Report Due to the resignation of Melinda McPherson, Amara Hamid presented the annual report as prepared by Binghay & Co Pty Ltd. Amara noted that the Annual Audit report has been included in the papers sent to all members 4 weeks earlier. Amara took members through the details of the report and it was noted that while finances are in order, they are very limited and it is vital that formal fundraising take place as a priority. Much of our income goes to maintaining the office and payment of staff. It was agreed that membership fees are an important part of the income stream for the VIRWC and all members were called onto to ensure their payments were up to date. Resolution Moved Nejla Selbibeg Seconded Jane Farrell That all reports, including the Financial Report, be received and accepted as a true and accurate record. CARRIED Constitutional Amendments for 2010 The proposed amendments, having been sent to all members 4 weeks prior to the meeting, were formally tabled at the meeting. Chair, Jeanette Hourani, took members through the detail. Amendments are presented in italics and are underlined.

Current Clause Proposed Change Clause 4 Purpose of the Association

INSERT new section in Clause 4 New Section 4.10 To provide and deliver services that will be focussed on the needs of immigrant and refugee women. That the VIRWC actively pursue funding or partnerships from government or other bodies in order to properly deliver these services in a consistent and on going manner

Clause 5

INSERT new section in Clause 5

8

Membership 5.1 Categories of Membership Individual Membership May be given to individuals who show an interest in ethnic or multicultural issues in general

New Section 5.1.3 May be given to individuals, provided annual payments are up to date, who show an interest in ethnic or multicultural issues in general and bring relevant skills and experience that will assist or support VIRWC in its overall work.

Resolution Moved Amara Hamid Seconded Nejla Selbibeg That this Annual General Meeting of the VIRWC held on 9 November 2010 formally approve the proposed amendments to the current Constitution. CARRIED No further business In closing the AGM, Jeanette Hourani thanked everyone for their attendance and participation, including the staff and volunteers. Formal thanks was noted for the generosity of AMES and the Sorghum Sisters for their catering. Meeting Closed 12 noon

WwTthcs

Twrew

FSDTlein

TsaSRnW

AthhFc(Ncc

Soahth

9

elcome to our 13th Annual General meeting. On behalf of the Board of Management I ould like to thank you for attending and showing your continuous support to the VIRWC. his year has been significant and challenging. The dedication, courage, and commitment of e Board of Management and their Executive Director have ensured that the VIRWC ontinues to progress and deliver its best. We would like to acknowledge their valuable kills and expertise that have delivered substantial outcomes and a high level of success.

he Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition continues to develop as a state-ide peak advocacy organisation, and we will keep on improving our leadership in this gard. Our staff and volunteers continue to work hard to ensure migrant and refugee omen’s voices are heard.

ollowing our active engagement with international students and the production of the urvey Report on Female International Students in 2010, we gained funding from DIAC’s iverse and Social Cohesion Program and delivered a successful leadership training project. he students formed their own networks and organised network forums, worked on specific adership projects and became women champions to support and mentor other ternational students.

his year we kept our focus on empowering women by encouraging them to write their tories of contribution to Victoria and the Australian community. We celebrated the100th nniversary of International Women’s Day at the Immigration Museum through the “Her tory” project which we put together through a small grant from the Australian Immigrant and efugee Women’s Alliance (AIRWA) and contributions of several organisations within our etwork. We also delivered the VIRWC Women’s Leadership Course to the Sudanese omen on the Move and the Somali Female Association.

lthough we worked with very limited resources and were always challenged by how to meet e increasing demands of our constituents, it is our great pleasure to announce that the ard work has been acknowledged with funding from the William Buckland Foundation. The oundation gave us a two-year grant to deliver the “Women Building Bridges Project”, a pilot ommunity development strategy in two sub-regional areas of Metropolitan Melbourne orthwest and Southeast) to increase migrant and refugee women’s contribution to social ohesion by creating trusting relationships amongst women and harnessing their leadership apacity.

ince our vision is to continue to strengthen our partnership with local councils, mainstream rganisations and women’s clubs, further funding was made available by Hume, Monash nd Darebin City Councils to implement “Women Building Bridges” in the two regions. We ope that other local councils will follow this path so that we can implement the project in eir municipalities more effectively.

10

We also entered into partnership with VLGA-Women's Participation in Local Government Coalition and we are gearing up to train and support the candidacy of migrant and refuge women for the local government elections in October 2012.

As Chairperson of the VIRWC, my vision continues to focus on:

• increasing organisational and individual membership • securing long term operational funding • building partnerships with local governments, mainstream women’s clubs and

community agencies • increasing immigrant and refugee women’s participation in local government

I hope I continue to receive support from our members and our patrons and work with them, to empower women, foster their leadership, skills and networks, and provide advocacy when they need it. We aim to listen to women and be an important resource for them to address their issues, partner their projects and help them achieve both personal growth and positive outcomes for their communities. I will continue to work in partnership with our sister organizations and raise the profile of the VIRWC as an organisation that champions women and achieves results.

To conclude, I would like to thank the following funding bodies for trusting the VIRWC’s capacity to inspire and deliver projects for Victorian women, and they are:

R.E. Ross Trust William Buckland Foundation Victorian Multicultural Commission DIAC’s Diverse Australia Program

City of Melbourne City of Hume City of Monash City of Darebin Victorian Local Governance Association

I also like to thank the following donors for their generosity in supporting our Family and Domestic Violence Volunteer Support Service:

Karma Dance company Race Discrimination Commissioner Helen Szoke Mrs. Joan Kirner Marsha Emerman Sheila Byard David McKnight Genevieve Webb

The VIRWC is a pool of women’s talents and leadership capacity. Together, we are already making a difference. However, we need to do more to convince the governments and wider community that investing in women is the way to go if we are to reduce the problems that threaten our Multicultural society.

Jeanette Hourani

11

“The thing about community leaders is they rarely seek the limelight and rarely seek or receive the recognition they deserve.” - Fiona Smith, 2005.

At the VIRWC, we are developing community leaders in significant numbers through the leadership courses, community projects and placement/mentoring program that we run. We have not put much effort into promoting the unique work that we do due to limited time and financial resources, however, we believe that through word of mouth we will eventually gain the recognition we deserve. The VIRWC has done some groundbreaking projects between 2010 and 2011 that deserve to be continually funded to maximise the impact on changing community attitudes and achieving social cohesion. Let me enumerate them under the following headings: VIRWC Community Leadership Courses Through partnership and sponsorship, migrant and refugee women are trained in community leadership without paying a fee, except transport costs. Since 2002, the VIRWC has been providing tailored women’s leadership courses to enhance immigrant and refugee women’s active participation in society. To date, the VIRWC has delivered these courses to more than 350 women. In 2010, the VIRWC delivered its first ‘Train the Trainer’ course to develop immigrant and refugee women leaders’ capacity to conduct leadership courses to their local communities and in their languages, when necessary. There were 12 women in the 5-day course that was made possible by a grant from Trust Company and Scanlon Foundation. I would like to thank Tricia Szirom, founding CEO of Success Works, for delivering the training with me. I have developed a new module on women’s leadership and mentoring which I delivered to 15 migrant, refugee and mainstream Australian women in the City of Casey. This was a very successful training especially because it gave experience to the women we trained in the previous ‘Train the Trainer’ course in delivering training themselves. The evaluation of

Melba Marginson

12

the course was made into a power point presentation by our students on placement and presented at the graduation in the Casey Council premises. ARIES (Advice, Referral, Information, Education and Support) for multicultural women

The VIRWC’s response to demands from migrant and refugee women and international students who are fleeing domestic violence has been to operate a largely volunteer-run service and form an important range of networks within the community to seek effective, creative and culturally specific assistance.

The ARIES program has now grown to having at least two pro bono case workers and three counsellors, plus a network of pro bono lawyers, some of whom work in major law firms in Victoria. All volunteer case workers and counsellors are bilingual if not multilingual.

Increasingly, our case workers and counsellors are seeing multicultural women without permanent residency status. These women have nowhere to go, not even the women’s refuges, because they have no permanent residency status. The current suite of services we provide under ARIES are:

• Family Law Advice and Referral

• Individual Counselling (face to face or telephone)

• Mentoring Support for International Students

I would like to thank Pauline Gilbert, CEO of the Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA) for providing additional supervision to our student counsellors and for having facilitated the delivery of “Understanding and Responding to Sexual Assault” workshop in October 2010 to our staff and volunteers.

Community Arts In the past 5 years, the VIRWC has been using theatre, visual arts and music to empower immigrant and refugee women. After the success of our “Listen to Us”, a theatre forum project that showcased group performances about women’s issues within their communities (Sudanese, Muslim, Cook Islander women and women from the City of Whittlesea), we sought funding for the next stage. We were successful in receiving a community arts development grant from the Australia Council for the Arts. The project was titled “What’s Your Name Again?”, which was changed to “The Line Between Freedom and

13

Discipline” by 8 community-based actors as they went through eight months of rigorous training workshops under the joint expert facilitation of Ms. Catherine Simmonds of Brunswick Women’s Theatre and multi-disciplinal artist Riza Manalo, who was also VIRWC Community Arts Officer. The 90 minute theatre production was performed in various locations: the Kangan Batman Institute, Monash Theatrette and twice at the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre. In all performances, the audience were very moved by stories about family violence, and intergenerational conflict experienced by the actors who were of Sudanese, Iraqi, Cook Island, Filipino and Anglo-Australian backgrounds. Centrelink, Victoria Police and Victorian Court representatives in the audience expressed the need for this production to be performed in their organisations to raise the level of cultural awareness of their staff. Female International Students To explore how the women can have a louder voice in the midst of male-driven and male-dominated media coverage of international students’ issues, we consulted with our students on placement about how they may want to give their views and opinions about their life in Victoria including about Multiculturalism. The “Lost in Transition, Mate!” project was conceptualized and written for grant application under City of Melbourne’s Arts and Culture grants program. It was successful and the video-documentary film was created and produced in collaboration with 16 female international students. The DVD was a big hit! We have been selling it to libraries, universities, TAFE and private colleges, and other interested institutions that use it for raising awareness of international students’ plight. This DVD is the only documentary film on female international students in Australia. The ‘Maximise Female International Students’ Potential’ project has successfully trained 56 female international students through a range of activities foremost was the leadership camp in February this year. The camp was followed by several group projects that became the practicum of the students. Some of these projects were campus-based and opened more communication between the local and international students. The last set of activities was three networking forums to raise awareness about international students’ issues to specific target groups. The forums were targeted at ethnic communities, local and mainstream media and sports and recreation peak bodies. Arfa Noor, our community project officer, did not only make a significant contribution to the VIRWC’s work on the international education sector but also to the sector’s work at a national level. Arfa presented in conferences and forums. We were often quoted in media coverage about female-related international education issues. During the course of Arfa’s work at the VIRWC, she gained the confidence to take the role of President of the Council of International Students in Australia (CISA).

14

Policy, Research and Publication VIRWC’s publications contribute to public knowledge about migrant and refugee women’s issues and are useful tools for advocacy. The Survey Report on Female International Students in TAFE and private colleges was the first research done on female international students’ welfare issued in Australia, which we published in 2009. This was followed by the Heartbreak Hotels Report on the workload and work injuries of hotel room attendants in Melbourne’s luxury hotels, done in collaboration with United Voice (previously LHMU) In 2010. Over the last 6 months, we have been collecting an evidence report on family violence experiences of women without permanent residency and international students. This report will be part of a larger report about our client-focused family advice and counselling service for multicultural women. This report will be published next year. Another report we have initiated and sought collaboration from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is about Immigrant and Refugee Women and the Labour Market. Our Patron Ged Kearney, ACTU President, has taken the lead in getting a major research project about it through their academic networks. This report will be another VIRWC project next year. Mentoring and leadership support for individuals and groups

We are proud of our model of mentoring migrant and refugee women. It is about focusing on using their cultural skills, networks and experience while increasing their leadership skills. Because our model is correct, many women have now been coming to us for mentoring and involvement in our various programs. More importantly, we are seeing more young women coming forward while the number of senior and mature-aged women has been steady.

We have assisted the formation of Cook Island Women’s Group and the United Pasifika by mentoring their leaders. We are currently mentoring Afghan women leaders of the newly formed Hope and Care for Afghans (HCFA). We have begun a partnership with the Korean Welfare Association of Victoria and the Sri Lankan Women’s Association of Victoria. We are currently assisting the formation of the Bangladeshi Women’s Group and the Chinese Women’s Network.

Funding submissions and fundraising

Our biggest achievement this year has been gaining grants from R.E. Ross Trust and the William Buckland Foundation. We were not successful with many grant submissions in the last half of 2010, which almost brought us to financial crisis. However, through our joint persistence and more vigorous funding submission writing, lobbying and advocacy, we have overcome. We are now back in black and moving forward.

15

Donors have also come forward. We began with our Christmas Appeal using GiveNow.com.au which attracted a few initial donors. Then we were approached by Karma Dance Company, which is a Classical Indian Dance organisation that produces events to raise money for organisations that work with family violence. The group held a successful event last October at the Melbourne University Union House and donated part of the proceeds to our ARIES family violence service. This was followed by individual donations, including that of the new Race Discrimination Commissioner Helen Szoke. Helen received a monetary award and decided to donate the money to us. She said she and her husband are very “pleased to be able to donate this money to a worthy organisation”.

Staffing – Students, Interns and Volunteers

Throughout 2010-2011, we have maintained a lean staff of only three part-time workers including myself. We have survived the varied and huge demands of our growing organisation through the hard work of the staff with the support of our volunteers, interns and students on placement.

Our interns and students have all completed their placements but they have become our friends and most of them have expressed their desire to work with us in the future. Often, I told them that if the VIRWC could only be more financially endowed, they will all be asked to apply for new positions we may create.

I would like to thank with all my heart our volunteers, led by Joanna Yau, Mertz Baera and Marsha Emerman, for they have been crucial in helping me run the administration of the office.

Lastly, I wish to thank our Patrons whose friendship, trust and support I have always enjoyed. In particular, many thanks to my mentors Mrs. Joan Kirner, Dur’e Dara and Fiona Smith who were always willing to listen and help me with the enormous challenges of being a CEO of a very under-resourced peak body for women. My special thanks to our Chief Patron Mrs. Jan de Kretser whose term in Government House has finished but accepted to continue being our Patron. My biggest thanks go to my sisters in the Committee of Management who share my vision and whose commitment to our goals and values cannot be underestimated. In particular I thank our Secretary Jane Farrell, for keeping me grounded, Malou Pascual Anes for challenging my cerebral side, Amara Hamid for mentoring our case workers/counsellors, Dalal Samaan and Farzaneh Dehghan for assisting networking in Hume and Jeanette Hourani and Alba Chliaktine, for helping me with the financial side of my role.

16

Representative Goals:

1. Increase the effectiveness and impact of our advocacy efforts for immigrant women.

2. Regulate our systems for, and build our range of offerings to support members.

3. Increase our membership.

4. Increase participation in the organisation's activities and create opportunities for social connection by grassroots members.

5. Build our relationships with, consulting to, and support to mainstream organisations working with migrant women.

Operational Goals:

1. Improve the organisation's internal policy and accountability processes.

2. Build recurrent income sources.

3. Maximise use of current material assets.

4. Improve our profiling and communication activities.

17

PATRONS

Joan Kimer

First Woman Premier of Victoria

Joy Murphy-Wandin

Elder, Wurundjeri Tribe

Ged Kearney

President, Australian Council of Trade Unions

Dure D’ara

Chair, Victorian Women’s Trust

Fiona Smith

Past Chairperson, Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission

Dr. Rhonda Galbally OAM

Chair, Royal Women’s Hospital Board

STAFF

Melba Marginson

Executive Director

Arfa Noor

Community Project Officer

Meaza Mentai

Finance Officer

Nazia Wasif

Community Development & Partnership

Officer (North West)

Ngatuaine (Nga) Hosking

Community Development & Partneship

Officer (South East)

VOLUNTEERS

Mertz Baera

Volunteers Coordinator

Joanna Yau & Joyce Ho

Media & Publicity

Vaishali Kame, Elaine Kamleh & Katherine Soriano

Counsellors

Toruna Luximi Ujoodah & Nasim Shamim

Case Management Team

18

19

20

21

22

23