Sixteen million dollars in Victorian Government grants have been made to community groups and programs across the state aimed at boosting social and economic participation for multicultural communities.

Victoria’s Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott has announced more than 250 applications were successful in gaining funding grants under the new Capacity Building and Participation (CBP) Program.

The CBP Program provides grants ranging from $5,000 to $230,000 for a period of between one to four years. The total funding allocation over four years is over $16 million.

Robin Scott

Some of the successful recipients include Girl Guides Victoria, the Salvation Army, multicultural youth groups, and local councils which run language programs or multicultural community events.

For the first time, there are grant categories to address family violence and gender equality in multicultural communities and to meet the needs of multicultural LGBTI community members.

In a first, settlement agency AMES Australia has received a substantial grant to run a Prevention of Violence Against Women program among culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

The CBP program aims to support regional multicultural communities, new and emerging communities from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, youth, and women and seniors.

It aims to build the capacity of multicultural communities to participate in all aspects of life in Victoria by strengthening participation, inclusion and service access by multicultural communities across Victoria.

It also aims to strengthen the capacity of multicultural community organisations, including language schools and foster collaborative partnerships between community and organisations, in which communities are empowered to use their knowledge and resources to improve social, cultural, educational and economic outcomes for the benefit of all Victorians.

Competition for funding under the CBP Program was high, with nearly 500 applications across the state.

An extensive assessment process was undertaken, involving separate panels with subject matter experts from a wide range of organisations for each grant category, a high-level strategic panel and VMC ratification.

Mr Scott said there were many impressive applications among the 500 received.

“The CBP Program is one of the ways the Andrews Labor Government is working to boost the participation of Victoria’s multicultural communities,” he said.

“This will result in a more inclusive and integrated community, and also foster partnerships between communities, service providers and local government – particularly in regional areas.”

Laurie Nowell
AMES Australia Senior Journalist