Centre for Multicultural Youth

To commemorate the final day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, we wanted to spotlight one of CMY's key family violence prevention programs: the Adolescent Violence in the Home (AVITH) program. The AVITH program is a partnership with Drummond Street Services, providing responses for young people and families when there have been experiences of harm and family violence within the home, including incidents of young people enacting harm. Some members of the AVITH team have provided their own reflections on their work. You can find out more about the AVITH program and our other family violence programs here: https://lnkd.in/g8AcaHaz

Last week, CMY together with MYAN Australia welcomed the Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon. Julian Hill MP, for a visit at our headquarters in Carlton. During his visit, Mr. Hill engaged with CMY's program managers and staff to learn about the progress of initiatives like Shout Out and Le Mana. He expressed particular interest in the Seat at the Table program and commended its support of both young multicultural women and boards. Thank you for visiting, Mr. Hill! Your time and attention were greatly appreciated. [Image Description: 14 people are posing for a photo at the corner of a building. They are all smiling at the camera.]

Today is International Volunteer Day! 🎉 🎉 To celebrate a wonderful community of over 500 CMY volunteers, we hosted a volunteer appreciation event last week! This event was an opportunity to celebrate the year that was and showcase the hard work and dedication of our volunteers throughout the year. We heard from a panel representing YRIPP, Employment Empowers and the Youth Advisory Group (YAG) volunteers, who reflected on their own journeys. It was MC'd by Shout Out speakers Hamza and Aliet featuring an interactive icebreaker with Sagalee. Thank you to everyone who came and once again, a huge thank you to our volunteers. Find out how the event went here: https://lnkd.in/gXNsDH8g [Video Description: Clips of a large room with two tables running up and down the length of the room are edited together. People are sitting down at chairs at the table and are chatting to each other.]

Doing our part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, CMY's Working Together Project tackles the intersectionality of creating safe spaces for multicultural young people. The Working Together Project centers youth-informed perspectives, stories and solutions at the forefront of family violence practice. Sughra, who is part of the Family Violence team, said, "as a young person coming from a multicultural background it is challenging for us to navigate between our culture expectations and the society expectations that we are living in." Find out more about the Working Together Project here: https://lnkd.in/gmrFwWwV [Image Description: Bold purple text is on a green and light-green flowing pattern background. The text reads: "16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence." Underneath this is a quote in black text that is surrounded by a rounded, dotted rectangle. The quote says “Young people face pressure to maintain their family and community’s reputation which mostly discourage them to report the abuse, leave their unsafe situation and seek professional help.”]

Earlier this year, we launched the 'I need to know you're safe' framework with Anglicare Victoria. The framework highlights the lived experience, needs and challenges of multicultural young people when accessing the family violence service system. We are spotlighting this resource as a part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. If you want to read through the resource yourself, you can find it here: https://lnkd.in/gSjvwFcM [Image Description: A multicultural man is holding a microphone and is sat down on a chair. He is wearing a brown hat and has black facial hair. He is wearing a black t-shirt. He is speaking to a large audience of people and is flanked by two white women, one with blonde hair on the left and another with black and white hair on his right.]

CMY welcomes the release of Victoria’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2029, which recognises the significant and lasting impacts of racism on our community, and the urgent need for action. Read more in our CEO message: https://lnkd.in/eBj3vbF2 [Image Description: ⁠ ⁠ Image 1: Black text is on a light-yellow and dark-yellow background. The text reads: "Victoria's first Anti-Racism Strategy."⁠ ⁠ Image 2: Black text is on a light-yellow and dark-yellow background. The text says: "We support the focus on: Reducing racism and discrimination in policing,  ⁠Strengthening appropriate and culturally safe supports, Building the capability of organisations to be anti-racist,  Building the capability of complaint and oversight bodies to better respond, and  Delivering anti-racism campaigns in sport to drive behaviour change."]

Ahead of the Australian Government's social media ban for young people under 16, which was rushed through Parliament this week, we took a moment to listen to the perspectives of multicultural young people and their parents. Hear what some of them had to say about the ban: https://lnkd.in/gRzmybkE [Image Description: White text is on a purple and blue background. The text says: "It is the internet that should be limited and impacted, not the young people who use it.” Underneath this, the quote is attributed to a young person on the Australian Government’s Social Media Ban.]

The Le Mana team is currently recruiting! They are looking for a Senior Pasifika Youth Worker. This is a full-time role mostly based in Sunshine. If you know a Pasifika person perfect for the role, share this with them! If you are interested in the role, apply here: https://lnkd.in/gyvkANR3

Our Family Violence team held a morning tea today to create conversations about gender-based violence as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. Many staff members from around our Carlton office gathered to pay respect to the 86 women who were killed as a result of gender-based violence in 2024. It allowed everyone to reflect through conversation, group activities, and a 2-minute silence. [Image Description: 14 people are meeting in a classroom-like room. Some of them are sitting down at a table while others are standing up. They are all watching one person talk.]

Explore is currently recruiting for youth researchers! The program engages young people in contemporary research projects by providing research and training opportunities for young multicultural people. Explore gives young people paid opportunities to research into areas that match their own skills and interests too! Interested? Find out more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/gZy-7yv6 [Image Description: Michelle is a Taiwanese-Malaysian Australian woman. She has long brown-black hair and is wearing a grey striped. buttoned shirt and black jeans. She is standing in front of a brick wall and smiling. There is a large quote in white text next to her. It says "I don’t think the program would have gone as well as it did if not for the group of young people who despite coming from different backgrounds, had a lot in common.”]