The Chinese Community Council of Australia (Victorian Chapter) Incorporated (CCCAV) is an advocacy body for the Chinese community in Victoria. It also facilitates community development, assisting all Chinese descendants residing, working or studying in Victoria.
Recently, the CCCAV received a community settlement grant (SGP) from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), to assist new Chinese family migrants, who have arrived here within the last 5 years, to become self-reliant and readily participate equitably in Australian society as soon as possible after arrival.
CCCAV President Dr Stanley Chiang says: ‘as part of a natural progression of settlement encountered by any migrant group, Chinese migrants face a series of problems including language barriers, lack of social and cultural understanding of the host country, accessing information on day to day living matters such as education, health systems, transportation, law and financial issues and hence integration.’
To address the issue, the CCCAV initiated its settlement program in 2012, organised a petition with other Chinese community groups in Victoria and lobbied Victorian State and Federal Members of Parliaments for support.
‘Australian governments, traditionally perceive that our community is doing fine, not understanding that culturally, overseas Chinese are unfortunately conditioned to be complaisant and hence they are usually most reluctant to complain to authorities and ask for help. We believe that increasing government support and grant funding would help us to assist the government to ameliorate the current situation vis-à-vis other newly arrived communities’ explains CCCAV SGP leader Dr Anne Pang.
With the SGP grant, the CCCAV will collaborate with organisations and community groups to deliver settlement education and referral assistance to family migrants, especially those with low English proficiency, to access information of basic settlement needs and to access support offered by the Australian Government.
澳華社區議會維州分會（ CCCAV ）是維州華裔社區的代表，協會旨在促進社區發展以及幫助所有在維州的華裔更好地工作，學習和生活。
近日，澳華社區議會維州分會獲批移民與公民事務部（ DIAC ）定居服務撥款計劃。這項撥款計劃將用於協助抵澳五年內的新華裔家庭移民，使其能夠盡快自力更生並能平等地融入澳大利亞社會。
澳華社區議會維州分會主席將天麟醫生說：“與其他移民群體所經歷的一樣，華裔移民面臨著一系列包括語言障礙、缺乏對主流社會和文化的融入，以及日常成活中所涉及的教育，醫療保健制度，公共交通，以及應對不同的法律和政治制度等方面的種種問題。”
為了解決這個問題，澳華社區議會維州分會於2012年啟動定居服務計劃項目並向移民與公民事務部（DIAC）提出定居服務撥款計劃申請，我們發動了維州華人協會簽署請願書並遊說維州以及聯邦議員以取得他們對此項目的支持。
澳華社區議會維州分會定居服務項目領導人黃碧瑤博士指出: “澳大利亞政府認為在華裔社區中沒有諸如其他社區的定居問題。由於對當地文化理解的不足使得海外的華人普遍趨於順從政府指導。因此多數情況下他們都不願意向政府反映問題、尋求幫助。作為華裔社區的一員，我們認為更多的政府支持和補助資金將有助於我們協助政府改善目前華裔社區面臨的狀況。”
澳華社區議會維州分會獲得政府撥款後將與一些組織和社區團體合作， 以便對新移民家庭提供更好的教育及轉介服務，尤其是幫助英語水平較低的新移民家庭獲取基本的信息以及獲得澳大利亞政府所提供的支持和幫助。
