Mr Micallef said that the breadth and depth of experience in the newly elected Board would make it well placed to address the many challenges facing multiculturalism, and to continue its strong advocacy for ethnic and multicultural communities throughout Victoria.
As a result of the election, there has been minimal change to the makeup of the ECCV Board. Mr Micallef was re-elected as Chairperson. Other office bearers are Deputy Chairpersons Marion Lau OAM and Mahinda Wickramasuriya, Secretary Dr Moses Adepoju and Treasurer Helena Trinnick. The other board members are Dr Sundram Sivamalai, Parsuram Sharma-Luital, Dr Christine Lee, Joe Caputo, Sam Afra, Dr Apollo Nsubuga-Kyobe, Bruna Pasqua, Peter Mousaferiadis and Dr Helen Olga Light.
“I would like to commend the ECCV Board members for their election to this pivotal organisation, and also say that I am deeply honoured to have been re-elected to the position of Chairman for a second term. I would also like to thank former and retiring board members for their hard work and tireless advocacy.
“The combined depth of knowledge and experience of the ECCV Board members in all areas relating to multicultural affairs in Victoria – and in some instances throughout Australia – is formidable.
“There are ECCV Board members who have held prominent positions as leaders of their communities over many years and have sat as commissioners with the Victorian Multicultural Commission. These are just some of the areas of extensive expertise and experience contained in our Board.
“As evidenced by recent reports, there has been commentary in the media that seeks to challenge the very existence of multiculturalism. There are some sections of the media and community that are trying to perpetuate the argument that multiculturalism is a mistake.
“Another important issue – which has been covered extensively in the media – is the exploitation of migrant and overseas student workers by organisations like 7-Eleven. ECCV has written policy documents outlining how this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed across a range of businesses as a matter of urgency.
“The continued promotion of policies and programs that promote social cohesion will be an important focus for the ECCV in 2016. It has been well documented that one of the best ways to counter terrorism is through building greater social cohesion, and in particular working closely with community leaders.
“Improvement in languages services is another important area that ECCV will continue – as it has done in the past – to be advocating strongly for. There is a critical need to improve interpreter and translation services so that many of the most vulnerable in society know what their rights are and how to access appropriate bi-lingual programs.”
