Business and community organisations will join the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria (GOCMV) and the Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS) on February 28 to thrash out a raft of new approaches to help Greek migrants settle in Australia.

The meeting follows concerted efforts by GOCMV to encourage Immigration Minister Chris Bowen to support Greeks wishing to emigrate down under.

GOCMV president Bill Papastergiadis told Neos Kosmos that the forum will discuss how a more coordinated approach between agencies can be developed, and that the meeting would look at other initiatives underway, including continued lobbying on working holiday visa arrangements between Greece and Australia.

The working holiday visa (sub class 417) allows people aged 18 to 30 years of age to come on a working holiday and spend up to 12 months in Australia.

Plans for a reciprocal arrangement with Greece (as Australia has with most European countries), was first put forward by the Australian Government eight years ago, but the Greek government declined to act upon it.

The GOCMV president said he was optimistic of a final resolution to the proposed bilateral visa agreement. “Apparently it’s been signed at the Greek end,” said Mr Papastergiadis, “and that’s something we need to clarify.”

It is understood that if Greece has accepted the agreement and passed the necessary legislation to allow Australians to go undertake working holidays in Greece, then the ball is now in Minister Bowen’s court for moving the initiative forward.

Tina Douvos, Deputy Director of AGWS told Neos Kosmos that the forum comes as the Victorian welfare organisation experiences increasing levels of inquiries from new Greek migrants.

“We’re getting approached by migrants experiencing housing problems, wanting information on settlement issues, to finding education facilities for their children,” said Ms Douvos.

“We’re also getting people who have been psychologically affected by the experience of coming out and leaving their families behind,- it’s right across the board.”

Ms Douvos said AGWS expected this month’s forum to help agencies share information and create new ways to deal with the growing demand on community services relating to increased migration from Greece.

Mr Papastergiadis said the February 28 meeting offered the chance to bring together the community’s resources and create a managed network of support systems for new arrivals.

“It’s an opportunity to come up with some practical measures for how we can help those making the move to Australia, said Mr Papastergiadis, who added that he foresaw the creation of a working group made up of community organisations who would steer coordinated efforts.

“It can work out how we can best deal with the social issues they are facing, identify employment opportunities, and look at issues like education for newly arrived families. It’s all about co-ordination and creating a point of reference.

“Formalising arrangements and working off a register for instance, is all going to help,” said the GOCMV president.

“There’s a lot of goodwill out there in the community. This meeting is about how we can coordinate that goodwill more effectively.”