Migliorino says when you think of FECCA most people think about migration settlement issues.  He wants to change that.

“FECCA should be an effective advocate across a range of key CALD [cultural and linguistically diverse] issues: women’s, ageing , youth, disability, refugees” says Migliorino.

Everyday issues affect CALD communities too, especially given the length of time some communities have settled in Australia.

With a strong background in policy, Migliorino is especially interested in participating in policy debates.

“We can’t have an effective debate unless we’re informed” he says.

As far as I’m concerned most public policy issues affect CALD communities too, so when governments are developing their policies, we should be there at the table”.

It’s no use complaining after the fact, we should be proactively putting forward our case during policy development, he says.

He’s keen on developing a position through consultation and building relationship with other peak advocacy bodies.

“I’d like to form a working relationship with MRC’s [migrant resource centres], issue specific groups such as the National Ethnic Disability Association NEDA as well as ‘mainstream’ groups such as ACOSS” he says.

You can sense his passion when it comes to refugee issues.  Migliorino has been an outstpoken critic of the demonising of the current wave of boat people.

“There’s a ‘moral panic’ but I don’t think it’s justified,” he says.

Off-shore processing is wrong on so many levels, what about Australia’s international obligations under United Nations treaties?

He says it’s cheaper and more effective to process the refugees in Australia and therefore doesn’t make sense from an effective policy perspective.

He chooses ‘refugees’ quite deliberately rather than ‘asylum seekers’.

It’s hard not to feel Migliorino’s energy and commitment, after spending even a short time with him, not only is it obvious, but I also found it infectious!


FECCA is the peak organisation representing non-English speaking constituents with members in all states and territories as well as 15 regional centres.

Pino Migliorino is also Managing Director of Cultural Perspectives a cultural communications and research consultancy.