Access welcomes funding to support an inclusive Queensland

Access Community Services Limited (Access) is one of 19 organisations to receive funding for three years to connect Queensland people with opportunities for inclusion in local employment, services, social networks and industries.

It will receive a share of more than $7.4 million over three years under the Community Action for a Multicultural Society (CAMS) program to employ multicultural community workers to undertake systemic and group advocacy and community capacity building activities for the benefit of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and to strengthen multiculturalism across Queensland.

For over 30 years Access Community Services Limited has been delivering integrated and needs-based programs and services to refugee and migrant communities across settlement, employment and training, social enterprise, housing, allied health, youth and community based supports.

Access will be funded under the CAMS Program in Logan and the Redlands to deliver projects that provide local economic and social inclusion outcomes with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Access has been delivering the CAMS program in Logan for nearly 10 years. It is the first time the program has been extended to Redland.

Through its history of CAMS program delivery, Access has identified and prioritised the extent and needs of culturally diverse communities and devised a suite of activities that build the capacity of CALD communities and maximise economic and social outcomes.

The program will deliver activities including:

• Community leader forums: to identify emerging needs and appropriate responses
• Capacity building workshops: working with CALD communities, broader services, social and industry networks to be more culturally responsive
• External training: to build the capacity of ethnic communities or to build the cultural capabilities of mainstream service providers
• Mentoring opportunities: will recruit and train a pool of volunteers to act as mentors for community leaders
• Activation of a community space: a place for ethnic community leaders to come together to discuss issues within their communities and mentor other community members

The project will work in partnership with community, co-designing a series of capacity building initiatives. Partnering with private, public and community sectors, it will facilitate high level engagement that equips ethno-specific communities to become empowered, vibrant and self-sufficient.

Access will facilitate direct support to foster sustainable community capacity across the regions. With a vision of the sector working collectively to meet the multidimensional needs of culturally diverse communities, the project aims to strengthen relationships, unlock opportunities and deliver active economic and social participation.

In Redlands, Access will link with existing services to empower culturally diverse and linguistically communities (CALD) to achieve their ambitions.

Access Community Services, one of Australia’s leaders in multicultural issues, became a subsidiary of Settlement Services International (SSI) in December 2018.

SSI General Manager for Clients, Partnerships and Business Growth, Sonia Vignjevic, said Access would work with communities to understand their capacity and structures.

“Access will strengthen relationships, unlock opportunities and deliver active citizenship,” she said.

Access Community Engagement and Development Manager, Blaise Itabelo, said that Access had a vision of the sector working collectively to meet the multidimensional needs of CALD communities.

“Our approach in delivering targeted services benefits from collaboration with other organisations to achieve optimum outcomes for our clients,” he said.

Media enquiries: SSI Senior Communications Officer Rebeka Selmeczki; 0468 998 300 rselmeczki@ssi.org.au