Multicultural Victoria, a grant values clause, and a whole-of-government strategy are just three of the major actions announced today with the release of the Victorian State Government’s Multicultural Review report.
Taking in submissions from over 640 Victorians at 57 consultation sessions, and more than 150 peak bodies and community groups, the Victorian Multicultural Review makes significant mention of the strain on social cohesion recent events such as COVID-19 and overseas conflict have had.
After a difficult two weeks begun by national anti-immigration protests, Premier Jacinta Allan is keen to reinforce her commitment to protecting multiculturalism in Victoria.
“We are one Victoria and we’ll never be divided. Multiculturalism isn’t the problem – it is the solution,” she declared at the launch of the report.
It concedes the limits of existing infrastructure, particularly the Victorian Multicultural Commission which plays ‘a largely ceremonial role’, instead proposing Multicultural Victoria – a five-member advisory council with an expanded remit – to take the place of the VMC.
Multicultural Victoria will be headed by an independent Chair, the Multicultural Coordinator General, and two deputies, one to be selected from regional Victoria. According to the Government’s website, its job will be to ‘drive community engagement, advocacy and accountability’, ‘develop multicultural policy’ and ‘deliver programs’.
State Multicultural Minister Ingrid Stitt says the establishment of Multicultural Victoria will re-orient the state’s focus on social cohesion.
“Multicultural Victoria will strengthen leadership of the sector and reset the agenda after such a challenging five years,” she said.
The Victorian Multicultural Review calls on unity to be reinforced through a four-year whole-of-government strategy which will come into effect from 2026, and ‘require multicultural needs to be considered in all Cabinet decision-making’ according to the Government’s Media Release.
“The Review is just one part of addressing social cohesion – but it’s the most important part of all, because a vision for a united Victoria starts by listening to multicultural communities and empowering them to lead,” Minister Stitt said.
In addition, a Social Cohesion Commitment will be made a mandatory part of all grants that use Victorian Common Funding Agreements, meaning applicants will be required to demonstrate their values and ‘reject exclusion, racism and violence’, a move which has led to some backlash.
The Government’s response notes the Commitment is ‘not designed to be a punitive instrument. It is designed to set a standard.’ Those in breach of the Commitment ‘could be required to rectify it, apologise, make internal changes, or even forego the grant.’
The Commitment will be piloted with multicultural grants by the end of 2025, before being rolled out in standard funding agreements across all Government portfolios.
Premier Jacinta Allan is adamant the actions will ‘reset the multicultural agenda’ after a difficult few years.
“This is our vision for a united Victoria – strong anti-hate laws, strong values, and a strong society, with multicultural organisations as our stable partners and multicultural people as our champions of cohesion.”
Alongside the Victorian Multicultural Review, Premier Allen has announced an additional investment of $925,000 to encourage visitation of museums such as the Bendigo Golden Dragon Museum, The Islamic Museum and the Holocaust Museum.
“Multicultural museum visitation has sadly fallen at such a critical moment in time. We’ll help more Victorians learn the lessons of the Holocaust and hear the stories of Islam, Judaism and more.”
Translating and interpreting services will be formally recognised as an ‘essential service’ – it is unclear what this will entail at this stage. Five million dollars will be allocated to a capacity-building grant to help organisations address ‘conflict and division’.
“Our new capacity grants will make organisations stronger so they can be a part of the change,” Minister Stitt said.
The Victorian Multicultural Review was first announced in December 2024, has made 41 recommendations for reform, and was led by George Lekakis AO with support from an advisory group including Hass Dellal AO, Carmel Guerra OAM, Miriam Suss OAM and Mark Duckworth PSM.
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