Research in Melbourne on Government Grants for Multicultural Projects

From 4 to 5 Feb, SASAKI Yusuke, Assistant Director at CLAIR Sydney, visited Melbourne to research on government grants for multicultural projects in the state. Mr Sasaki met with Ms Liz Lim, Acting Manager of Programs and Grants in the Multicultural Affairs Division of the Victorian Government’s Department of Premier and Cabinet to learn about the Multicultural Grants Programs, the structure of the Grants team, and challenges the team faces. The Grants team is in charge of many grants programs for multicultural communities in Victoria, and at least one grant program is open for application throughout the year. The Grants team is striving to streamline the assessment process of the grants applications by accepting applications online. However, the online application system has limitations and cannot check all the eligibilities of the applications, so Grants Officers have to check all the applications manually. Ms Lim explained that upgrading the online application system is one of their challenges. Mr Sasaki also visited Melton, 35km north east of Melbourne CBD, and met with Ms Alexandra Maggi who is a Community Development Officer at the Melton City Council, to learn about the Council’s Community Partnership Program. The Community Partnership Program is a grant program to support projects and events organised by community groups, on the condition that the groups are working together with other groups from culturally, religiously, and socially diverse backgrounds. The Program aims to foster mutual understanding between different groups. The program is managed by Council Officers who provide support to community groups throughout the annual life cycle, from planning to implementation, to helping build community groups’ capacity. Mr Sasaki will complete his CLAIR report with an aim to provide information to Japanese municipal and prefectural governments to assist with the planning and implementation of their multicultural initiatives.