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Coalition reaches out to youth in Gippsland

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

The Victorian Coalition Government is delivering on its election commitment to establish two Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) regional offices to support young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

Minister for Youth Affairs Ryan Smith and Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship Nicholas Kotsiras today announced Morwell as the first of two regional centres being funded to work with regional and rural young people from a CALD background.

The Centre for Multicultural Youth has received $1.8 million to establish the two centres with the next move to employ a Morwell based youth worker and launch the new office in early 2012.

Mr Smith said the centres would support young people from multicultural backgrounds to develop their leadership skills and have a say in determining the direction of their communities.

"This is part of an election commitment to provide more opportunities for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds to engage with their local communities.

"Young people make up a significant proportion of new overseas arrivals to Victoria, and gaps have been identified in services catering to their specific needs and circumstances," Mr Smith said.

Mr Kotsiras said migrants and refugees from countries including Burma, the Philippines, China and the Sudan had recently settled in the Gippsland region, leading to a growing number of young people from CALD backgrounds who need programs and services that suit their needs.

"Youth worker in the new offices will be able to work with local service providers to provide targeted services and develop local inclusion plans for disadvantaged young people of migrant backgrounds," Mr Kotsiras said.

Member for Morwell Russell Northe said the new site would have a significant impact on the local community.

"It is great news for our community that we will have a new service to support and encourage diversity in our community.

"This new office will work with other local services and organisations to provide information and resources and develop new programs to encourage greater participation of young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in our local community, schools and workplaces.

"It will also help strengthen family relationships and support existing services and schools to better engage with parents of young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds," Mr Northe said.

CMY currently has offices in Carlton, Dandenong, Broadmeadows and Sunshine that employ bicultural workers to travel to locations around the state to deliver programs. The Morwell Office will expand these outreach services and be the first dedicated CMY site in regional Victoria. The location of the second new Centre for Multicultural Youth regional office will be announced in early 2012.

For further information about the Centre for Multicultural Youth, go to www.cmy.net.au 

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