There were four moments that particularly humbled us to witness, and participate in, this year that we wanted to share with you all:
2022 DCJ Inaugural Multicultural Community Engagement Conference
We were excited to attend the Department of Communities and Justice’ Inaugural Multicultural Community Engagement Conference in October this year. The event dubbed, ‘Filling in the puzzle: The bigger picture of engagement’, was organised by the Multicultural Policy and Engagement team, who lead on justice policy and community engagement in the Department of Communities and Justice. The event offered sector representative and members a great opportunity to connect, collaborate and communicate best practices for engaging with multicultural communities.
It was a beautiful day to be on Dharug land and enjoy cultural entertainment, hear from esteemed keynote speakers and participate in discussions about engaging CALD communities with health, justice, and social supports. Our very own Managing Director Pino Migliorino facilitated a discussion on Enabling improved outcomes through community participation with Professor Peter Shergold the NSW Coordinator General for Settlement and Violet Roumeliotis CEO of SSI.
We left the conference feeling rejuvenated with the knowledge that so many hands were working together for the same cause, to serve and engage with multicultural communities. Congratulations to the DCJ team for putting together a beautiful event and we are excited for the next one!
NSW Ageing and Disability Commission
Earlier this year we were engaged by the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission to support the important work they undertake in their CALD Communications and Engagement through a three-fold approach:
Community Co-Design Consultations to identify gaps in understanding of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older people and adults with disability in their family, home, and community.
Internal Capacity Building by providing a suite of cultural competency training courses to staff
Resource Development and Translation to translate resources into 24 languages and to create a tailored Service Provider Guide to support service providers in identifying and addressing abuse, exploitation, and neglect within CALD communities.
The Service Provider Guide will be a powerful tool for Service Providers to recognise the nuanced ways that abuse, exploitation, and neglect can manifest within CALD communities and provide them with practical tools in providing CALD victim support. The Service Provider Guide is currently being finalised by the Commission’s team. We look forward to sharing this resource with you all once available!
Cancer Council NSW Inclusive Communications Framework
We have had the pleasure of working alongside the Cancer Council NSW Communications team to produce a tailored toolkit to guide staff on inclusive communications practices. The Inclusive Communications Framework (‘The Framework’) covers a range of diversity dimensions including – sexual diversity, all abilities, body type diversity, gender diversity, age diversity, and cultural diversity. The Framework is a 30-page digital resource that includes inclusive language and imagery recommendations, a Cancer Council NSW specific case study application of the recommendations, and links for more information.
We co-designed the resource through engagement with the Cancer Council NSW Communications team to ensure that the Framework would be relevant to their work. Cancer Council NSW is an NGO that already operates with such a high standard of inclusivity and this resource reflects and supplements the work Cancer Council NSW already undertakes in this space. We would like to acknowledge Cancer Council NSW paving the way of enshrining inclusive practices within their communications.
SydWest Multicultural Services Strategic Plan
Our good friends at SydWest Multicultural Services engaged our team earlier this year to develop a whole of organisation Strategic Plan for 2023 – 2026. In developing the plan we undertook consultations with the Executive team and leadership team, followed by a full-day consultation with all staff. The full-day consultation hosted staff from all operational areas of SydWest and with varying years of tenure within the organisation – both meaningful and uplifting to be in a room full of 40+ staff deeply committed to a wonderful organisation.
Through this series of engagement with all levels of the organisation, we were able to develop a final Strategic Plan that included relevant components and activities for each area of the organisation’s operations. The Strategic Plan reflects an organisation that is engaged in the services they offer and passionate about the client experience. We will be following along SydWest’s journey in bringing the Strategic Plan to life!