［June 2019］
Multicultural Seminar

For those who missed our newsletter last month, I mentioned that the number of non-Japanese residents in Japan is expected to rapidly and continuously increase in the near future. From CLAIR’s point of view, we believe that Japanese prefectural and municipal governments need to exert more effort to support non-Japanese residents in Japan. CLAIR Sydney will provide support for Japanese prefectural and municipal governments in their research into initiatives implemented by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, as a part of the Japanese governments’ endeavours to provide substantial support for foreign residents in their local areas.

As a part of this support, every year CLAIR Sydney organises an official multicultural seminar for Japanese local government staff members, regional international exchange association employees, and other personnel who work in similarly related areas. In this multicultural seminar, the Japanese delegates can learn about good practices and policies in regard to multiculturalism, and the provision of services to a culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse population in Australia.

This year, we will hold the multicultural seminar on 18-23 November in Melbourne, Australia. We are planning to visit and exchange information and ideas with the organisations engaged in the fields of education, community support, job assistance, translation, disaster defence, medical care, and so on. It would be extremely appreciated if you or your organisation could kindly welcome the delegates’ visit and share your invaluable knowledge and experience on advance initiatives for the creation of an intercultural society.

We expect that the multicultural seminar will give the delegates plenty to consider for their own work in policy planning and service provision in Japan. We also hope that the organisations welcoming the delegates can gain valuable insight through discussion, and exchange of information and ideas with the delegates.