Accessible Government Services for All Annual Report
Page 13
State, territory and local governments
Victoria - Victorian Multicultural Commission
From 1 May 2007 the Victorian Office for Multicultural Affairs was merged into the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) to create a single entity devoted to multicultural affairs. The change will strengthen support for multicultural affairs by integrating the activities of the two existing organisations and demonstrates the Victorian Government's continued commitment to strengthening communities.
The VMC undertakes consultations on a wide range of issues in metropolitan and regional Victoria to ensure diverse communities have an opportunity to speak directly with the Victorian Government. In particular, the VMC consults culturally and linguistically diverse communities specifically about the performance of Victorian Government Departments each financial year. In 2005-06 the VMC consulted with in excess of 700 leaders from culturally diverse communities at 10 different metropolitan and regional locations.
In 2005-06 the VMC Community Grants Programme provided funding of approximately million through 2350 individual grants to 1600 community organisations to strengthen Victoria's cultural and linguistic diversity.
In 2005-06 as part of the Victorian Government's Social Policy Statement, A Fairer Victoria, the government allocated .7 million over four years to provide targeted support to Victoria's recently arrived refugees and humanitarian entrants under the Refugee Support Package.