The Andrews Labor Government’s ongoing investments in Victoria’s diverse communities are making sure more multicultural community organisations will get the support they need to grow, recover and strengthen.

Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ros Spence today announced 77 multicultural and multifaith community organisations will share $2.4 million from the latest round of the Labor Government’s Priority Response to Multicultural Communities program.

The funding will be used by community organisations to strengthen workforces, including through professional development programs and jobs training.

The Water Well Project, which provides health and wellbeing support to communities from migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, is being funded to develop a mentor program that will help attract, train and retain and volunteers and develop a long-term strategic plan.

Ubuntu Project will use its grant to deliver training and wellbeing programs to support the mental health of staff, volunteers and community leaders in response to the impacts of the pandemic, so they are better able to assist members of the Ethiopian, Somali and Sudanese communities.

The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria and four of its regional partners will share in more than $200,000, which will be used to upskill its community partners, so they are able to provide pandemic recovery services for multicultural communities across Victoria.

The Priority Response to Multicultural Communities program has provided $28.9 million since it began, supporting more than 360 community organisations and one million Victorians.

To find out more, visit vic.gov.au/priority-response-multicultural-communities-during-coronavirus-covid-19