By Aaron Cordy
VICTORIA’S Treasurer Jaclyn Symes visited the Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District Inc. (EC) of Shepparton on Friday, March 14 to meet with CEO Sam Atukorala and the team to tour the newly upgraded facilities, which will be officially opened later in the year.
EC received $191,052 in funding through the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s Multicultural Community Infrastructure Fund last year, to renovate the roof, replacement of air conditioners and plumbing, lighting, wheelchair access and more.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to drop into the Ethnic Council here in Shepparton and thank Sam, Maria and the team for the amazing service they provide for Shepparton, for all the regional area,” said Ms Symes.
“It’s all about our modern cultural communities, particularly newly arrived migrants, and ensuring that they have a fit-to-purpose facility to come and visit and seek the support that they need.
“There’s been an investment of almost $200,000 in relation to renovations here to make sure that security is upgraded, meeting rooms are much bigger and accessible for people to come together. There’s women-only ability to have facilities justice for women so that more welcoming, more encouraging people to drop in and see the support that they can obtain from such an amazing and important organisation here in the heart of Shepparton.”
The Ethnic Council was established in 1978 as a non-profit community-based service. Its mission is to represent the social, cultural and economic well-being of ethnic communities in the Goulburn Valley Region through the provision of quality and innovative settlement, refugee support, community development, Ethnic Landcare and information and advocacy services.
“We genuinely appreciate our Northern Victorian Member of Parliament and the Treasurer visiting us and taking the time to discuss the diverse multicultural communities in our region and their unique challenges, and also the challenges we encounter as regional multicultural organisations,” said EC CEO Sam Atukorala.
“As regional multicultural communities, we are often hidden, so we sincerely thank Jaclyn for taking the time to visit us”
