Multicultural Communities Council Gold Coast Newsletter 

IN THIS EDITION OF OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER:

2021 Annual General Meeting & Report

Walk Together 2021 Highlights

International Café 2021 Highlights

MCCGC Team Out & About 

Members of the Month- Everybody Now!

Community  Program Grants

COVID-19 Updates

Moving Pictures- Dementia awareness for CALD communities

Key Cultural and Religious Events in November

…and more!

All MCCGC members are invited to attend our Annual General Meeting for 2020/2021.

• When: Tuesday 23rd November 2021 5pm 
• Where: 1 Dominions Road Ashmore - Wellness Centre 
• Why: Receive an overview of our organisation's progress over the last year and our plans for the future. Individual, Organisational & Honorary members have voting rights at the meeting. 

Our Annual Report is now available on our website for you to read. We've had a big year and we're excited to share our highlights with you!

WALK TOGETHER 2021

Another successful Walk Together done and dusted!

Thank you for coming together to celebrate National Unity Week with us, sharing your cultures and showing the welcoming spirit of our beautiful and diverse city

We’d like to acknowledge Ethni, Multicultural Families Organisation Inc., Football Queensland, OAKBERRY, Matsu Shaved Ice 松, Gold Coast Multicultural Arts, Latinmania Dance School, Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Kusuma Indonesia Community Australia -KICA and the entire Gold Coast Multicultural Network for making the day such a success!

We also want to make a special mention to our wonderful staff and volunteers for taking so much time and effort into curating the day- what an amazing team achievement.

Check out all the photos from the day here: https://bit.ly/3mBAvGR

INTERNATIONAL CAFE 2021

Multicultural Communities Council Gold Coast and CÜRA would like to thank all involved in making International Café 2021 such a success!  What a beautiful day it was, sharing so many different cultures across generations and coming together to celebrate diversity during National Unity Week and Queensland Seniors Month.

We had an array of activities, performances and food from around the globe, with a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy including cultural stalls, dancing, craft making, henna, sound healing, glass painting, drumming, exercise and heaps of information from local service providers.

Everyone was in high spirits and excited to come together once again and share with community.

A big thanks to our Multicultural Community Development Officer Rhee for organising the day and making it such a success, and of course to the rest of our team, volunteers, customers, performers, service providers and community as well!

Check out photos from the day here: https://bit.ly/3k6B5e5

Our Community Development Team does some amazing things in and around our community and we'd love to start sharing more of their adventures with you each month. Here are some highlights from October!

Hungaro Spring Festival 2021 hosted by the Gold Coast Hungarian Association Inc. with Multicultural Development Officer Rhee and Community Pathway Connector Maria! The day boasted a day full of entertainment with folk songs, language lessons in Hungarian, Hungarian food and drinks, and much more! 

Towards the start of October, our CAMs Officer Candice attended Nerang State High School Wellness Expo as part of Queensland Mental Health Week! We asked students 'what does culture mean to you?' and 'what makes you smile?'.

We loved hearing the students' answers and learning about the cultures they belong to!

What a pleasure it was to attend GOPIO Gold Coast's first official Diwali Fair- Festival of Lights! 

The evening showcased the best of Indian culture with performances, incredible traditional food and a fireworks display that lit up the night.

Our Community Programs Manager Jess and our CAMs Officer Candice set up shop to chat about our Work Towards Program! 

On the last day of National Unity Week, our Settlement Engagement and Transition Support Caseworker Koren and our CAMs Officer Candice attended IWAA’s food and culture event, 'A Taste of Culture'. 

Both ladies enjoyed foods from Sudan, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, India, Ethiopia and coffee from Eritrea. Yum!

A big WELCOME to Maria Nagy our new Community Pathway Connector based in Southport. Maria will be supporting multicultural individuals to access support for mental health and wellbeing. 

Maria was born in Hungary and speaks Hungarian, German, and Spanish. Maria studied a Bachelor of Social Work and went into her studies wanting her career outcome to be a meaningful one where she could make a real and positive difference to peoples lives. Maria is excited to explore the role of Community Pathway Connector as she knows how hard it is for multicultural people to access services and how difficult it can be adjusting to a new culture and environment. 

Referrals are welcome from anywhere and no clinical diagnosis is required. If you know anyone who is struggling emotionally and could use support connecting with services, please have a chat with Maria - marian@curacares.com.  

Do you know any migrants, refugees or international students on the Gold Coast who are ready to work but need some help to get a job?

Our new Work Towards Employment Hub can support them to find employment opportunities! It is free for eligible participants and we work with them to create an individual plan to reach their career goals. We can help in many different ways whether they need support with writing a CV,  building confidence, getting interview-appropriate clothing, or anything else. It's a very flexible program designed to help each person on their unique journey.

If you know anyone - friends, family, neighbours, or other connections who could benefit from some support to get into the workforce, please refer them to Antonella, our Support Officer by emailing worktowards@mccgc.com.au or calling 07 5527 8011.

For some more details on the Work Towards program check out:

Website: https://www.mccgc.com.au/mccgc-services/employment-training/work-towards/

Flyer: https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/os-data-2/mccgc-com-au/documents/work_towards_a5_web.pdf

Everybody NOW!

Everybody NOW! create participatory performance experiences that generate joy.  

Based on the Gold Coast but working nationally, Everybody NOW! is dedicated to the creation of community-engaged arts projects that are made with and for community, alongside outstanding professional artists.

The company have become known for their inclusive, large-scale social dance works featuring hundreds of community dancers and stories of place told through the sparkly lens of dance.

Their body of work also extends across art-forms, from slam poetry exclusively for seniors, to radio stations for Grandkids and Grandparents, to roller derby musicals in the making.

They have worked in small towns and on big festival stages from basketball courts to town halls, in schools, aged care facilities, in people’s homes around their kitchen table and with thousands, literally thousands of people dancing in the streets.

Since formation they have reached over 43,000 people in 121 communities across Australia between the ages of 3-99 years young.

Everybody NOW are supported by The City of Gold Coast and are proudly supported by HOTA Home of the Arts as a HOTA Home Company. 

You can find out more about our membership program here.

Japanese Respect for the Aged Day @ CÜRA

Earlier this month, we held our annual celebration for Japanese 'Respect for the Aged Day' at our Wellness Centre in Ashmore. The national Japanese holiday is celebrated each year to honour and pay respect to Japanese elders. It was a lovely day for our Japanese seniors to enjoy beautiful song and dance performances and delicious traditional Japanese cuisine.

Thank you to Sakura Dance Group for their amazing performance (https://sakuradancegroup.wordpress.com/) and to all our staff and volunteers who made the day such a success!

We would also like to acknowledge our special guests of the day Ms Chieko MASUDA - Deputy Consul General of Japan from Consulate-General of Japan, Brisbane, Yukari Ando - President of The Japanese Society of Gold Coast inc. and Nao HIRANO - Senior Police Liaison Officer (Japan & Multicultural) from Queensland Police Service.

If you know any Japanese seniors on the Gold Coast who would be keen to connect with community, we have our Omotenashi Club on the 4th Tuesday of each month! You can see the flyer here:

English version - https://bit.ly/2ZwaQqu

Japanese version - https://bit.ly/3nE7Ccg

Multicultural Affairs Community Grants 

Celebrating Multicultural Queensland programs

The Celebrating Multicultural Queensland (CMQ) program is an annual program that provides funding towards multicultural events and projects that engage people from culturally diverse backgrounds and the wider community, to contribute to building an inclusive, harmonious and united Queensland.

Funding rounds in 2021-22

• Multicultural Projects — This funding round for projects to be delivered from 1 July 2022 is currently open and will close on 10 December 2021.

For more information on the Celebrating Multicultural Queensland programs, click here. 

Energex Community Fund 

Are you seeking financial support for a project in your community? Energex's Grants Program is a helping hand to those in need, to get a great community project or initiative over the line.

That’s why Energex created the Ergon-Energex Community Fund, which is designed to empower groups across Queensland to create change for the better. 

Can I apply?

You must be an incorporated not-for-profit or like organisation to be eligible for the fund. Previous applicants and grant recipients are also eligible to reapply. You can be based anywhere in Australia, however, your project must be undertaken within Queensland.

Eligible groups include:

• Community groups
• Local government or other government entities
• Educational institutions
• Charities
• Sporting clubs
• Industry or business associations
• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organisations.

Apply to Energex: https://bit.ly/3pXNSTS

Apply to Ergon Energy Network: https://bit.ly/3GMUaf6

For more information on Energex Community Funds: https://bit.ly/3GNDCU4 

Fully vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents aged 12 and over can now travel internationally.

If you are fully vaccinated with an Australian Government approved or recognised vaccine, or under the age of 12, you may be eligible for reduced quarantine requirements when you return to Australia.

Before you travel, make sure you understand the new requirements to leave and return to Australia safely.

Visit australia.gov.au to find out how to prepare for international travel.

Interstate and International Travel in and out of Queensland

From 19 November 2021 (when 70 per cent of Queenslanders are fully vaccinated), interstate travelers can begin to arrive in Queensland and complete home quarantine if they are fully vaccinated, meet testing requirements and travel by air.

From 17 December 2021 (when 80 per cent of Queenslanders are fully vaccinated), interstate travelers who are fully vaccinated and meet testing requirements do not have to quarantine and can arrive by road or air.

Time is running out to get vaccinated before the borders open at 80% 

If you or a loved one is still feeling hesitant and your first language isn't English, there are a series of videos where five community members explain why they got vaccinated and how they feel now they have been vaccinated. 

The videos are spoken in Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian, Samoan, and Urdu. 

To learn more about the Queensland Governments roadmap to reunite families, click below. 

International COVID-19 Passports

New vaccine certificates for international travel are now available as the government prepares for the further easing of international border restrictions.

The International COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates work in a similar fashion to existing vaccine certificates and will be available for download through the MyGov website.

But they have added QR codes that can be scanned by foreign border officials.

See below how to get your COVID-19 vaccine certificate.

Moving Pictures- Dementia awareness for CALD communities

In Australia, limited awareness of dementia in people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds often results in delayed diagnosis, poorer prognosis, and a higher burden of care on families and health systems.

Moving Pictures, an innovative multi-media project, aims to change this through the production of short films co-produced with people from CALD backgrounds. The Moving Pictures team has so far produced 15 short films with Hindi-, Tamil-, Mandarin-, Cantonese- and Arabic-speaking communities.

For each language, there are three films: Detection and Diagnosis, Navigating Care, and the Carer Journey.

The Moving Pictures films are based on the stories and lived experiences of carers of people living with dementia, and the expert views of key service providers. In the next phase of the project, Moving Pictures II, we are working with the Greek-, Spanish-, Italian-, and Vietnamese-speaking communities to co-produce an additional 12 films which will be completed by the end of 2020.

If you want to learn more about what Moving Pictures does to support dementia awareness the CALD communities, click below. 

The FECCA conference is to be held on 10-11 March 2022 at the Sofitel Melbourne.  

After an enormously challenging period, Ethnic Communities Council of Australia (FECCA) 2022 Conference will be the first opportunity for us to come together face-to-face. The conference will host multicultural communities, policy makers, service providers, academics and many more, over two big days of interesting presentations, speakers and topics.

FECCA have received over 250 applications to speak and we expect well over 700 attendees in Melbourne next year.

Secure yours today!

DISABILITY GATEWAY

The Disability Gateway is your first step in finding information and services for people with disability, their families and carers.

The Disability Gateway is a new government website that leads you to trusted information on disability services – and can help find resources local to you.

Visit www.disabilitygateway.gov.au or call the dedicated Disability Gateway phone line on 1800 643 787.

TRADITIONAL FIRE MANAGEMENT FROM OUR 

FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES

As we head in to the warmer months, fires become more prevalent throughout our Australian landscape. 

First Nations communities have been looking after Country for over 80,000 years through complex land management practices. These practices have allowed Country to support thriving populations across diverse environments for generations. 

Traditional fire management has been used for over a thousand generations to domesticate plants and promote their growth, influence animal movement across Country, and prevent uncontrolled wildfires. Due to colonization and the removal of First Nations people from traditional lands, these practices have decreased over time. Now we face unprecedented wildfires that destroy important ecosystems, threaten lives and devastate communities across Australia. 

HOW DOES TRADITIONAL FIRE MANAGEMENT WORK? 

First Nations fire management uses a deep understanding of Country to identify specific locations in an appropriate area and lighting small, controlled fires.  It has to be done in the right conditions including the right season, humidity, temperature and wind.

To undertake traditional fire burning, First Nations people must first learn to read the local trees and plants, understand soil types, topography and weather conditions. Careful consideration is also given to the animals living in the area, and how they will move and survive during the controlled fires. This knowledge requires a strong relationship with Country and the landscape. 

Traditional fire burning methods assess specific fuels and remove those that would drive larger fires during summer (in Southern and Eastern Australia), or during the late dry season (in Northern Australia).

These fires burn slowly and are controlled so the temperature of the flame does not exceed what the landscape can tolerate.  Some areas are burnt thoroughly, some just singed, and others are left to grow. This leaves patches of Country that are burnt to regenerate over the coming season, while other patches continue to provide strong ecosystems for local fauna and food production.

This method ensures that there are always living areas in the local ecosystem, and some that are in a stage of regeneration. But a single ecosystem is never completely damaged.

Article and image by Common Ground 

NOVEMBER 2021 ​

4th of November- Deepavali (also known as Diwali) – Festival of Lights

Australians of Hindu, Sikh, and Jain faiths celebrate Deepavali (Diwali), or the Festival of Lights, which celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.

FIND OUT MORE HERE

11th of November- Remembrance Day 

This day marks the anniversary of the armistice which ended the First World War (1914–18). Australians observe one minute’s silence at 11am in memory of the millions who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts.

FIND OUT MORE HERE

16th of November- International Day for Tolerance 

The United Nations' annual International Day for Tolerance fosters mutual understanding among cultures and peoples.

FIND OUT MORE HERE 

20th of November- The Brisbane Chinese Culture and Arts Festival 

The Festival celebrates Chinese traditional and modern arts and culture over a series of cultural experiences ranging from Chinese performing arts, folk arts and cultural exhibitions to traditional Chinese martial arts and sports.

FIND OUT MORE HERE 

28th of November- First Sunday of Advent

Advent is observed with the lighting of advent candles, display of wreaths and special ceremonies. Advent also anticipates the coming again to earth of Jesus Christ.

FIND OUT MORE HERE 

28th of November- First Sunday of Advent

Advent is observed with the lighting of advent candles, display of wreaths and special ceremonies. Advent also anticipates the coming again to earth of Jesus Christ.

FIND OUT MORE HERE 

28th of November- Chanukah Festival of Lights (Hanukkah)

Chanukah (alternate transliteration: Hanukkah) commemorates the recapture and rededication by the Jewish people of the Jerusalem Temple. It lasts for eight days and nights, and each night an additional candle is lit.

FIND OUT MORE HERE 

Are you interested in learning to speak Italian?

The Societa' Dante Alighieri Society on the Gold Coast is running adult day and evening classes for different levels.

For more information you can contact the school's director Rita on 07 5527 0797 or email info@dantegoldcoast.com

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we operate, the Kombumerri people, the Gubbi Gubbi people, the Jinibara people, the Turrbal people, the Quandamooka people and the Bundjalung people. We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging and extend our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and acknowledge their ongoing connection to land, sea, culture and community.