$21.4 million for multicultural Victoria

The teaching of Modern Greek in Victoria and the Greek community are poised to benefit from the Victorian Coalition Government's 2012 - 2013 State Budget. Through the Budget, the state government has committed $21.4 million to the improvement of services for culturally diverse Victorians.

Community languages in Victoria welcomed a $7 million increase for languages education thanks to the State budget. Six million dollars of that will be allocated for 210 new Language Teaching Scholarships of up to $11,000 for aspiring teachers, up to $23,000 for undergraduate teachers and up to $51,900 for existing government school teachers to study languages; and $1 million for Languages Start-up grants ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 for government and non-government schools without a languages program for specialist texts, DVDs, IT and other resources to help them establish a new program.

The executive director of Community Languages Australia, Stefan Romaniw OAM said: "The Coalition Government has embarked on implementing a strong languages education program. This will very much depend on having more qualified teachers and providing schools with resources to implement programs".
Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship Nicholas Kotsiras said the Budget allocation was done to enhance and build on Victoria's vibrant multicultural society.

"Multiculturalism is one of Victoria's defining features, and it is a significant social, cultural and economic asset," said Mr Kotsiras.
The funds from the Budget allocated to preserve and enhance multiculturalism in Victoria will: fund refugee support programs through the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship and provide an additional $400,000 over four years to the Victorian Multicultural Commission to assist eight Regional Advisory Councils.

"The Victorian Government supports projects that underscore a greater understanding of rights and responsibilities, while facilitation active citizenship, as well as those projects that celebrate cultural diversity," said Mr Kotsiras.

The arts in Victoria and safeguarding Victoria's cultural treasures was a key focus in the Budget allocation with the National Gallery of Victoria, Arts Centre Melbourne, Museum Victoria and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image all sharing a part of $15.2 million over four years that will address urgent storage issues and overcrowding to better secure and protect Victoria's cultural collections.
Football Federation Victoria (FFV) will receive an extra $1.45 million in funding by the Victorian State Government to provide for the improvement of football facilities in Victoria over the next year.

However, Jenny Mikakos, Shadow Minister for Children and Young Adults said that the Premier's second state budget is a "horror budget for families and children".
Ms Mikakos revealed that the budget provides no capital funding to expand kindergartens and the budget cuts programs that support young children with special needs.
"Mr Baillieu's failure to invest in bigger and better kindergartens is sending Victoria backwards," she said.
"Victoria's kindergartens and the young families who rely on these services will be the ones paying the price.

"This failure to invest in kindergartens demonstrates that Mr Baillieu is walking away from his Government's obligations under the National Partnership Agreement to provide 15 hours a week of kindergarten for all four-year-olds.
"This lack of investment also fails the Government's own commitment to undertake the recommendations in the Protecting Victoria's Vulnerable Children Inquiry Report which recommends investment in expanding kindergartens to help vulnerable families."