BRMC hosts statewide visitors

THE Ballarat Regional Multicultural Centre hosted several special guests last Friday.

Groups from eight Victorian regions took part in an annual forum of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria, which represents over 200 of the state’s multicultural organisations.

“[We are] swapping information, developing strategies and learning from each other,” said ECCV board chair Eddie Micallef.

“I think the major takeaway is that a lot of the good work that’s being done can be built on in response to things like COVID and the integration of our multicultural communities.

“This is a great centre here in Ballarat. They’ve got a great facility and they should be very proud of what they’re doing.”

BRMC chair Joy Juma said lessons learned from other councils would benefit Ballarat’s multicultural community.

“Getting to hear what the other ethnic communities are doing is so important with regards to how we could be doing better here,” she said.

“As much as we all have different things for different communities, everyone has something that we can all learn from each other.

“For us, that means enhancing our support for our different cultures especially in terms of bridging skill and language barriers, and our aging migrant communities have come to our attention more as well.”

Ballarat previously hosted the ECCV as part of their state conference in 2019, and Ms Juma said she is happy to show the other councils how things are done in the city.

“We are very privileged for them to come here,” she said.

“They’ve come to have a taste of Ballarat and our hospitality so we’re privileged to show them how hospitable, multicultural and inclusive we are.”