❓ Mr. Krsticevic asks about proposed changes to the Multicultural Community Service Award program. The Minister details a shift to a new 'Harmony Champions' program focusing on broader volunteer recognition and capacity building within ethnic organisations, replacing the previous awards and gala function.
AnsweredQoN 906Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD PROGRAM
906. Mr A. KRSTICEVIC to the Minister for
Citizenship and Multicultural Interests:
The Multicultural Community Service
Award program recognises Western Australians who have achieved excellence and
innovation in advancing a multicultural society. Can the minister update the
house on the proposed change to the Multicultural Community Service Award
program?
906. Mr A. KRSTICEVIC to the Minister for
Citizenship and Multicultural Interests:
The Multicultural Community Service
Award program recognises Western Australians who have achieved excellence and
innovation in advancing a multicultural society. Can the minister update the
house on the proposed change to the Multicultural Community Service Award
program?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question and his contribution to
activities in our multicultural community. The Multicultural Community Service
Award program has been around since 2002. It focuses on giving awards to
individuals and organisations that have made a major contribution to
multiculturalism in Western Australia, and it has been very effective. However,
by definition, it could reach out to only a limited number of people and
groups. It also focused on having a large gala function in Harmony Week to
celebrate the awards, which was good but it had some downsides: it was quite
costly, impacted upon a limited number of people and groups, and did not relate
to the various ethnic organisations and individuals and recognise the many
thousands of volunteers who work with them. We have decided to create a new
program called Harmony Champions that reaches out and works with the
organisations. We will allow every organisation to nominate five harmony
champions—the nominations will go out tomorrow, 5 December, which is
also International Volunteer Day. We will then provide a modest grant to each
of the organisations to celebrate their volunteers during Harmony Week. Once we
get the nominations we will hold a very modest function, a morning tea with all
the harmony champions from the various organisations, and the website of the
Office of Multicultural Interests will also have an honour board to celebrate
those volunteers. We are shifting the focus from having major awards and a
major gala function to working with and celebrating the many volunteers and
ethnic organisations and building their capacity.
activities in our multicultural community. The Multicultural Community Service
Award program has been around since 2002. It focuses on giving awards to
individuals and organisations that have made a major contribution to
multiculturalism in Western Australia, and it has been very effective. However,
by definition, it could reach out to only a limited number of people and
groups. It also focused on having a large gala function in Harmony Week to
celebrate the awards, which was good but it had some downsides: it was quite
costly, impacted upon a limited number of people and groups, and did not relate
to the various ethnic organisations and individuals and recognise the many
thousands of volunteers who work with them. We have decided to create a new
program called Harmony Champions that reaches out and works with the
organisations. We will allow every organisation to nominate five harmony
champions—the nominations will go out tomorrow, 5 December, which is
also International Volunteer Day. We will then provide a modest grant to each
of the organisations to celebrate their volunteers during Harmony Week. Once we
get the nominations we will hold a very modest function, a morning tea with all
the harmony champions from the various organisations, and the website of the
Office of Multicultural Interests will also have an honour board to celebrate
those volunteers. We are shifting the focus from having major awards and a
major gala function to working with and celebrating the many volunteers and
ethnic organisations and building their capacity.
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