INDIA NEWS
Jan 1-15, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 13
NEWS FROM VICTORIA
2020 Multicultural Awards: Australian Indians shine among Victorian recipients
Boost to community projects and services in bushfire areas
Melbourne, Dec 17: In 2020, 71 Victorians were recognised from more than 450 nominations across 15 categories, highlighting the passionate work of individuals and organisations that are strengthening multiculturalism. Australian Indians in Victorian community dominated to shine in many categories.
Melbourne, Dec 22: Nine community organisations across the North East and East Gippsland will share in over $465,000 in bushfire recovery grants to support projects that boost resilience, service delivery and community pride. Minister for Police and Emergency Services Lisa Neville on December 22 congratulated the latest recipients of Bushfire Recovery Victoria’s grants for community facilities, Local Government Authorities, and community service organisations, which include a much-loved community hall built in the 1950s that needs vital upgrades. East Gippsland’s Cabbage Tree Creek Hall hosts community meetings and events, music and dance, a gym for seniors, and more. Funding of $44,139 will upgrade the hall’s sewerage and wiring and build a veranda.
This award recognises the outstanding contributions of a young person, group or organisation that provides leadership, empowerment, and support to young Victorians from culturally diverse backgrounds. Winner is Sarah Ghassali she is a 19-year-old Syrian migrant who fled Aleppo, Syria with her family to Melbourne in May of 2012. Sarah established the youth-led podcast Refugees on Air at the age of 16 with her twin sister Maya as a platform to raise awareness and bring a voice to refugee and migrant stories in the Melbourne community. Highly commended were Ayushi Khillian and Swathi Shanmukhasundaram. Media Award This award recognises outstanding reporting of issues of importance to diverse communities and reporting that contributes to Victorians’ improved cross-cultural understanding. Winners are Stephanie Corsetti: Journalist Stephanie Corsetti is dedicated to giving multicultural communities a voice in media. Her work relays the experience and explores the stigma of family violence in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council. On 1 May 2020, the NEMBC launched a Multilingual Radio News Service in seven languages: Spanish, Greek, Hindi, Arabic, Punjabi, Pacific Islander English, and Mandarin. News editors collected and provided news scripts at 8.00am every morning, which were translated and produced as audio files for the morning and daily news. Highly commended were Olivier Nzovu and SBS Radio. Multicultural Police Award Police Annual Multicultural Award was received by Leading Senior Constable Ash Dixit along with 8 others. Ash Dixit has done valuable police liaison work with Punjabi and Sikh community groups in the Cities of Hume and Whittlesea to address family violence. Senior Constable Dixit works across numerous multicultural communities and has been described as a true multicultural champion by community and police alike for his steadfast dedication to ensuring that Victoria remains a safe place to live for those newly arrived persons who seek to call
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Senior Constable Ash Dixit (left) Australia home. Community Response and Recovery Award Sukhvinder ‘Sunny’ Duggal, Sunny Duggal is recognised for his inspiring efforts in supporting communities across Melbourne and East Gippsland during the Victorian bushfires and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Through his incredible work delivering over seven tonnes of food and other essential items to frontline healthcare and emergency services workers, residents of aged care, international students, and other communities in need, Sunny has demonstrated how much impact one person can have on so many. Sunny’s passion and drive to serve the community throughout 2020 has motivated individuals and organisations to follow his lead, as an exemplary model of what support of multicultural communities in Victoria should look like. 6 others also shared this prestigious award with Mr Duggal. Education Award Coordinated by Merri Health, Ready, Set, Prep! is a place-based, collective impact initiative that aims to improve early childhood development and school readiness for pre-school children and their families. Originating in the suburb of Fawkner, the project is currently scaling up across northern Moreland. Though Highly Commended was ECMS, Tarneit Central Kindergarten the Tarneit Central Kindergarten’s Bilingual Early Childhood Language Program provides children with the opportunity to learn in Punjabi. Educators have observed that the children have become more connected with one another and more willing to share aspects of their own culture through the program.
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North East-based APMHA HealthCare received $90,000 to develop the North East Interactive Service Directory, to connect people to ongoing government and not-for-profit support in Alpine, Towong and surrounding shires. The organisation’s CEO, Renee Hayden, said the project was
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Youth Leadership Award
“a top priority for recovery and wellbeing groups in the region”, with the grant funding helping it become “a sustainable product for the community so they always know where to go for assistance – without it, we would not be able to do anything else.” Other recipients of Bushfire Recovery Victoria’s grants for community facilities, Local Government Authorities and community service organisations include: • $144,000 for Parklands Albury Wodonga to deliver Wodonga Regional Park infrastructure and connect seniors into volunteering. • $50,000 for a new playground in Sarsfield next to the community’s hall, which is used by locals as a place to get support and information, come together for meals, and conduct workshops. • $49,731 for the Stanley Landcare Group to improve current bushwalking facilities to encourage visitors and locals to explore the natural landscape. • $47,850 to upgrade the Dederang Picnic Race Club’s rooms, including re-stumping and renovating the original bathrooms. • $25,000 to the Corryong and
Minister for Police and Emergency Services Lisa Neville District Memorial Hall to develop the streetscape around the hall and memorial gardens with public art, information, and a grassed area. • $10,500 for the Bright Art Gallery and Cultural Centre to install solar panels to offset electricity costs. • $4,298 for the Myrtleford Bowls Club to replace their solar inverter and ensure ongoing cost savings. Further funding is available under the grants, jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian Governments as part of the $86 million Community Recovery Package.
Boxing day test to kick off a Covidsafe summer Melbourne, Dec 26: A marvellous summer of cricket got underway on December 26 with the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground signalling the return of major events to the sporting capital of Australia. Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula was at the MCG on December 26 to thank all Victorians for their efforts and sacrifice to stop the spread of coronavirus and make events like the Test possible. This was the first time that fans were able to attend any sporting event at the MCG since the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final on 8 March. A crowd of up to 30,000 per day will see Australia take on India at the MCG, with strict public health measures to help make
sure the event stays safe. To help ensure fans have a COVIDSafe day out, the Melbourne Cricket Club and Cricket Australia have implemented a comprehensive COVIDSafe Event Plan, ensuring the health and safety of players, spectators and workers. This includes a limit to the crowd size, COVIDSafe Marshals at the venue to ensure physical distancing within the MCG and in queues, allocated and staggered seating to ensure groups are spaced apart, sanitiser stations throughout the precinct and cashless transactions. Those who booked tickets with a New South Wales address have been contacted with a reminder about the current restrictions in place and offered refunds if they are unable to
attend the game. Broadcast in over 100 countries, the Boxing Day Test is an iconic symbol of Melbourne. The Border-Gavaskar trophy is one of the most fiercely contested in cricket, with world number-one Australia seeking to take the trophy back from the Indian side this summer. India won the last Boxing Day Test played between the two sides in 2018. Australia is scheduled to play the Boxing Day Test at the MCG against England in 2021 and South Africa in 2022. The Boxing Day Test kick-starts an actionpacked COVIDSafe summer of cricket, which also includes six Big Bash fixtures at the MCG featuring Melbourne’s own Stars and Renegades in January.
Study to map the health of Victorians through decades Melbourne, Dec 27: Victorian researchers are embarking on one of the largest health studies in the world, tracking a whole generation of Victorians to paint a complete picture of their health and wellbeing, and to help provide answers to complex health issues like asthma, food allergies, obesity, autism and mental illness.
launched on December 27.
Over the next two years around 150,000 children born in Victoria and their parents will have the opportunity to take part in the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s Generation Victoria (GenV) project – officially
The opt-in project will explore critical links between environment, genetics, physical characteristics and development milestones later in life. All information obtained in the study will be de-identified and the
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Starting at the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s at Sunshine Hospital, the project will roll out to all Victorian birthing hospitals throughout 2021, providing families with a baby born between 2021 and 2023 the opportunity to join the longterm study, no matter where they live.
highest privacy provisions will be enforced. The first project of its kind in Australia, GenV will give Victoria’s research community access to a more complete picture of the health and wellbeing of a generation, providing the insight and information needed to make breakthroughs in some of the most complex health problems faced by families. As part of the GenV project, one of the world’s largest bio-banking facilities was recently built at the Royal Children’s Hospital to store and protect bio samples.
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