Building a New Life in Australia - now in Amharic

"Building a New Life in Australia" (BNLA) is an important five-year project about how refugees and other migrants settle into life in Australia. It is conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS). We at MMM are involved in several ways, such as participating in community engagement aspects of the study, conducting cultural awareness training workshops, and developing the multi-lingual website.

This is Year 2 of the study. The research explores:

• What is life like for humanitarian migrants as they settle into communities all around Australia?
• Are humanitarian migrants healthy and happy? 
• What difficulties are humanitarian migrants facing, and how are they coping? 
• How well are services able to help humanitarian migrants settle? 
• How can governments make sure new humanitarian migrants in Australia have the best possible settlement experience?

The research covers 1,500 survey participants from 20 language groups. As an example, click on the image below for a screenshot of the Amharic information. Press here to check out the BNLA website in other languages.

Nominations Open for New People of Australia Ambassadors

Do you know anyone worthy of nomination?

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Australians can now nominate their own local champions who have helped to promote inclusion and strengthen community relations under a new ambassador program set up by the Gillard Labor Government.

The People of Australia Ambassador program will see up to 40 local champions selected from nominations submitted by the public across the country.

The ambassador program is a key initiative of the Gillard Government's new multicultural policy - The People of Australia - announced earlier this year.

People of Australia Ambassadors will champion inclusion and provide advice to the new Australian Multicultural Council and to the Government about effective initiatives which promote belonging and leverage diversity in our communities.

Prime Minster Julia Gillard today encouraged Australians to nominate outstanding individuals from their neighbourhoods who have encouraged participation in their community.

Ambassadors will be appointed for a 12-month period and have key roles in annual community events and celebrations including Harmony Day on 21 March.

Communities and individuals can nominate a representative who has contributed to promoting the benefits of social cohesion and diversity, or has played a pivotal role in building strong community relations in Australia.

Nominations for the Ambassador roles need to be submitted before 7 October.

All nominations will be considered by the Australian Multicultural Council.

For more information on the program and nomination process.
See: www.amc.gov.au

Source: Joint media release with Julia Gillard - Prime Minister of Australia and Kate Lundy - Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.