Image showing: ECLC CEO Michael Smith, Communities Council on Ethnic Issues Community Representative Saarah Ozeer, Centre for Holistic Health Service Coordinator Ada Poon, Communities Council on Ethnic Issues Community Representative Dilnaz Billimoria, Indiancare Manager Dr Jyothsna Rao, ECLC Director of Partnership and Community Engagement Donna Askew and ECLC ACVE Project Coordinator Capella Henderson

Amplifying Community Voices in the East (ACVE) is an Anti-Racism project that ECLC led in partnership with the Centre for Holistic Health, IndianCare, and Communities’ Council on Ethnic Issues.

The project allowed for a series of capacity building workshops in mid 2022 with a group of 5 community leaders  focused on challenging racism and sharing the voices and experiences of those most impacted by this.

The training sessions were run by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and Democracy in Colour and were tailored to the group’s needs, providing them with knowledge on Australia’s human rights framework, advocacy techniques and using their knowledge and lived experiences to speak out against racism.

Applying learning from the training and using information from the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, the leaders have also helped developed a video to educate other community members on how to identify and report incidents of racial or religious discrimination or vilification.

The final stage of the project saw the group speaking to the media, local MPs and workplaces with the aim of sharing and elevating the voices and experiences of people who have experienced racism with a view to creating change.

Project participant Dr Chris Mallika Bhadra believes the project presents an important opportunity to raise the issue of racism for those who may not otherwise have a voice. “I want to create a platform for people who can’t speak for themselves and racism is a big issue…if I can just help amplify the voice of just one person I feel something is accomplished.”

This grant for the project forms part of the Victorian Government’s funding package to increase cross-cultural understanding and fight racist attitudes and behaviours.

Celebratory event

The project concluded with a celebratory event on the 24 August 2022 celebrating the Amplifying Community Voices in the East ACVE participants and launching the ‘Voices of change – Action against racism’ animation video at Box Hill Town Hall.

• Download : ACVE Media Release  
• Watch  ‘Voices of change – Action against racism’ animation video launched at our ACVE event on 24 August 2022.
• Watch the translated Animated Video in Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi, Punjabi and Hindi.

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