Embracing and supporting our multi-cultural community

ANNUAL REPORT 2011 - 2012

The flowers I draw are a symbol of love.

The bird is a symbol for freedom. The heart with the flag in it

is a symbol of my love for Australia

© Ramazan Ali Jaffari

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A SNAPSHOT OF 2011-2012

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2012 ANNUAL REPORT

CONTENTS PAGE

Agenda 4

Guest Speaker – Amanda Paxton Bio 5

Board of Management 6

Staff 7

President’s Report 8

Executive Officer’s Report 10

Treasurer’s Report 14

Financial Performance 15

HSS Project Report 31

SGP Project Report 33

HACC and PAG Project Report 35

RAP Project Report 40

Playgroup Project Report 42

ACFE Project Report 45

Artist Profile – Jaffari Ali Ramazan 46

Minutes of 2011 AGM 47

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

THURSDAY 25TH OCTOBER 2012

5.00 PM TO 7.00 PM

LOCATION: 38-40 MADDEN AVENUE, MILDURA

AGENDA

WELCOME

GUEST SPEAKER: AMANDA PAXTON – STATE DIRECTOR,

DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP VICTORIA

APOLOGIES

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – HELD NOVEMBER 30, 2011

REPORTS:

PRESIDENT

EXECUTIVE OFFICER

TREASURER

APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR

ELECTION OF BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

GENERAL BUSINESS

RECOMMENDATION: THAT THE ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION BE INCREASED

FROM

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP $10.00 TO $20.00

GROUP MEMBERSHIP $30.00 TO $ 60.00

MOVED ………………………………SECONDED ……………………………CARRIED

MEETING CLOSE

JOIN US FOR LIGHT REFRESHMENTS whilst enjoying some entertainment

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BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

PRESIDENT

Peter Byrne

VICE PRESIDENT

Gary Pearse

TREASURER/PUBLIC OFFICER

Peter Hartmann

SECRETARY

Joven Estacio

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Sisilia Puku

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Theresa Ketting

EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Dean Wickham

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SUNRAYSIA MALLEE ETHNIC

COMMUNITIES COUNCIL INC

STAFF 2011- 2012

L-R

Back row: Dean Wickham (Executive Officer), Lawrence Mona (Business Manager), Elfrida Chagellis(PAG), Alison Fraser (SGP) Front Row:Joselyne Ntahomvukiye (RAP), Jean Reed (Play Group), Juvelina Guterres (Play Group),

Colleen Tarrant (HSS), Pamela Liddicoat (HACC), Nergus Zahidi (Administration) and Abdul Rezaei(HSS Community Guide)

Absent: Kate Cotching (RAP), Jamuna Jackson (HSS Community Guide), Freshta Mahsoomi

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Redgina Balchin

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Over the frontage of this building there is a

large map of Australia. If you look closely at it,

you will see it is composed, in the form of 62

other maps. They are the countries which

have communities living in Mildura. This place

is now one of the most culturally diverse

Provincial Cities in Australia. Near the stylised

map you will see the words” We are one, we

are many. In diversity is strength. We are

proud of our multicultural community.”

Those maps and those words tell anyone who

sees them what Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic

Communities Council Inc. (SMECC) is all

about. Our mission statement, and every

organisation seems to have one these days, is “Embracing and supporting our

multicultural community”. In our case the mission statement has real meaning and

our Board and staff do embrace the concept of cultural diversity, and the staff in

particular do spend their working days supporting the newcomers who live here.

The board and the staff of SMECC are a microcosm of the general Mildura

community. The board includes a member born in Tonga, one of Maori and another

of Fijian extraction, a dual Irish Australian national and members of Welsh and

German background. The staff of fifteen includes people born in East Timor,

Afghanistan, Solomon Islands, Bougainville, Burundi and Greece as well as

Australia.

The annual report tells you what our staff spend their working week doing. It takes a

certain type of person to work in this environment, and I congratulate our staff for

their dedication, expertise and sheer hard work.

Apart from newcomers who arrive in Mildura under their own steam to live and work,

we continue to settle refugees under the auspices of the Department of Immigration

and Citizenship. Currently we rent eleven accommodation units for them, and have

recently purchased a large house to cope with the numbers. We are very pleased to

take part in this nation building work, which fits perfectly with those words over the

entrance to this building “In Diversity is Strength.”

Let me tell you a story about a bloke who brought his wife and five children to

Mildura to live. He and his family are from South Sudan; he is about seven feet tall,

and very visible. His brother was killed in Melbourne in a racially motivated attack.

After a meeting a couple of years ago I asked him why he had chosen Mildura. He

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told me that he wanted to find a place where his family could live in peace. He had

heard about Mildura, so came on his own to have a look at the place. He said “I was

walking down the mall when I saw a local man walking towards me. When he got

level with me he turned to me, smiled, and said “G’day Mate!” Like you are doing

now, I waited for the rest of the story, but there was no more story to it. A simple

smile and a “G’day Mate” was enough to convince this multi lingual university

educated African man to bring his family to settle here. So the answer to the

question ‘why do people from all over the world come to live in Mildura?’ is partially

that they feel welcomed.

Australia is a multicultural nation. Since the end of the Second World War in 1945,

seven million people have migrated to Australia. As a result, today, one in four

Australians, of our population of twenty two million, were born overseas - five and a

half million overseas born Australians in fact. Forty four per cent of Australians, more

than nine million, were either born overseas or have one or both parents born

overseas. Apart from the antics of a few troglodytes, the system is working very well.

I reckon we‘re privileged to be living in this vibrant multicultural provincial city in the

twenty first century. WE ARE ONE, WE ARE MANY. We are proud of our

multicultural community. In DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH.

All Artwork in this publication has been used with permission of the Artist © Ramazan Ali Jaffari

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EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT

As the Executive Officer of SMECC, I have

the privilege of working with culturally and

linguistically diverse people every day.

The role of SMECC as a service provider,

facilitator and advocate makes for vibrant

and challenging work. We at SMECC are

acutely aware of the need to enhance service

provision to Culturally and Linguistically

Diverse (CALD) communities within the

Sunraysia/Northern Mallee Region and lead

the charge with pride.

I thank our program partners;

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development; Department of Immigration & Citizenship; Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship; Department of Health; Department of Health and Ageing; Mildura Rural City Council; Adult Migrant Education Services (AMES); Learn Local - Adult Community and Further Education (ACFE); Robinvale Network House; and Davison Ford. SMECC core programs: Settlement Grants Programme (SGP):

The aim of the SGP is to deliver services which assist eligible clients to become self- reliant and participate equitably in Australian society as soon as possible after arrival. The SGP target group comprises permanent residents who have arrived in Australia during the last five years as:

humanitarian entrants family stream migrants with low levels of English proficiency dependants of skilled migrants in rural and regional areas with low English

proficiency.

Select temporary residents (Prospective Marriage, Provisional Partner, Provisional Spouse and Provisional Interdependency visa holders and their dependants) in rural and regional areas who have arrived in Australia during the last five years and who have low English proficiency also fall within the target group. http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/delivering-assistance/settlement-grants/

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=deecd&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.education.vic.gov.au%2F&ei=geJ8UIPKGIiRiQfKooDACw&usg=AFQjCNF60So1bdabpt4RzcaY7WmNN6MVBQ http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&amp