Celebrating its 40th year, the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC), formerly known as the Ethnic Affairs Commission, has played a key role in representing Victoria’s diverse communities.
Since 1983, the VMC, has been often led by figures like George Papadopoulos, and George Lekakis, and has reported to ministers such as John Pandazopoulos and Nick Kotsiras.
It has Greek-Australian commissioners, as well as other diverse community leaders, all driving changes for Victoria’s evolving multicultural landscape.
Vivienne Nguyen the Chair of the VMC talked to Neos Kosmos and said the organisation wants to capture “the views of all Victorians over the four decades to reflect on” and inform the authority’s “advocacy efforts in the future.”
“Contributions made by migrants and refugees, regardless of how long they have been here, have been profound, in different ways and indeed in all aspects of Australian life”, Nguyen told Neos Kosmos.
The Chair of the VMC said that leaders from all migrant communities, including “the Greek community, who are part of Australia’s migration history, have made significant contributions and deserve to be acknowledged.”
Asked what the outcome of the research will be, Nguyen said that the report “will be compiled and launched later this year and will be presented to the Minister and many other stakeholders.”
“We hope and are confident that the insights from this report, with the perspectives from many over the four decades, will help inform not just the VMC’s advocacy focus, but will form the valuable evidence for public policy consideration.”
The findings aim to offer a comprehensive overview of the VMC’s four decades and its impact. As part of this retrospective analysis, community members are invited to contribute their invaluable perspectives and experiences.
The VMC survey is very brief and wants insights from all who have been dealt with the organisation over the years. Participation is entirely voluntary and takes around 8 to 10 minutes.
Participants may withdraw from the survey at any point before its submission, and queries related to the research can be directed to vmc_evaluation@srcentre.com.au, connecting respondents with the knowledgeable SRC team.
The VMC invites all to take part in this initiative by completing the online survey: https://srcentre.com.au/VMC
