The Victorian government will fund the purchase of land to build aged-care facilities for the Indian community in Melbourne, the state’s premier Daniel Andrews announced on Tuesday.
If re-elected, the Andrews government will invest up to $14.5 million to purchase land for two new Indian aged-care facilities in Melbourne’s west and south-east, where the majority of the Indian community dwells.
“The purchase of land removes the first impediment to building a special aged-care facility for the elderly Indian migrants. Members of the Indian community can then raise the required funds to build and establish an aged-care which offers community-specific food and space, in two suburbs – one in Melbourne’s west and one in the south-east,” Premier Andrews told media on Tuesday evening.
Source: SBS Hindi
Victoria with its 170,000 residents born in India is home to the largest India-born population in Australia.
Premier Daniel Andrews with Australia India Strategy Group Source: SBS Hindi
Victorian government announces South Asian communities’ advisory council
The Victorian Government has announced the make-up of the newly established South Asian Communities Ministerial Advisory Council which will look at the issues faced by the South Asian community in Victoria.
“The Advisory Council will identify priority issues for South Asian communities across Victoria such as discrimination, education, employment, health and family violence and develop responses to them through the South Asian Communities Action Plan,” a government release said.
28 individuals from a diverse range of cultural, religious and professional backgrounds, representing Victorian communities of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Bhutanese heritage were selected through a competitive Expression of Interest process to be a part of this advisory council.
The Advisory Council will be chaired by the Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott and include the Victorian Multicultural Commission Chairperson Helen Kapalos.
Indian flag hoisted at Federation Square in Melbourne. Source: SBS Hindi
Members of the Ministerial Advisory Committee are: Aakash Kumar, Amit Zutshi, Ayesha Bux, Bandu Dissanayake, Batul Gulani, Bom Yonzon, Chandra Bamunusinghe, Chidambaram Srinivasan, Deepa Rai, Deepak Vinayak, Iqbal Hossein, Jamuna Parajuli, Manjula O'Connor, Manzoor Mian, Marshie Perera Rajkumar, Muhamad Shahbaz Chaudhry, Nikki Jain, Parsuram Sharma-Luital, Raj Saini, Rana Shahid, Rhea Dhillon, Ripan Sethi, Savindhi Perera-Jainudeen, Sharif As-saber, Tania Jayasinghe, Vidya Datta, Vinayak Kolape and Yogen Lakshman.
Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott said, “The Advisory Council creates a direct line of communication between South Asian communities and the Victorian Government to respond to issues.”
“This Advisory Council will guide, inform and strengthen our work and engagement with South Asian communities.”
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