Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): My adjournment is for the Minister for Local Government, and the action that I seek is for the minister to provide information on any responsibility local governments have to proactively work to eliminate discrimination in our communities.

My community is proudly multicultural. As a second-generation migrant, I am proud to be a part of that. A big chunk of my electorate falls within the Darebin local government authority, as does all of the electorate of Preston and a little piece of your electorate too, Speaker. In Northcote more than 30 per cent of residents were born overseas, and in the seat of Preston that number is almost 50 per cent. I am not going to explain to the house the importance of our migrant communities or detail the contribution they continue to make to our community—surely that is not contested.

For almost 30 years the Darebin Ethnic Communities Council, or DECC, has served its community as the peak body for migrants new and old, including asylum seekers and refugees. Too often these communities can be marginalised and their voices unheard. DECC’s chairman has previously noted that many refugees and CALD community members who do not feel comfortable talking to authorities often turn to DECC. DECC has also played a vital role in bringing diverse groups together by creating connections and amplifying their voices—ensuring social inclusion and multiculturalism are reflected in policy and reforms at all levels of government.

For many years DECC’s work has, quite rightly, been supported by an annual funding agreement with Darebin council. It makes sense. They are a well-respected and trusted local institution representing over 100 member organisations within the City of Darebin. Their contribution is immeasurable, so it baffles me as to why DECC have had their funding abruptly ended by the council. Apparently the council have put in place a new grants process and DECC simply fell short. I suspect there is something else going on here. Unfortunately the representations that DECC make are not fashionable. They do not have thousands of Facebook likes or Instagram followers. No—they are concentrating on the welfare of their local community, but like many local issues, they are not part of the Darebin councillors’ global agenda so they are not front of mind at Darebin council.

DECC’s funding ran out in June of last year, and they have been working tirelessly ever since on the smell of an oily rag and the goodwill of their volunteers. I have been contacted by many residents mortified at council’s decision to deprioritise our multicultural communities. It might be easy to sit idly by and let these things slip through to the keeper, but I do not intend to do that—not when I see rights hard fought for and hard won systematically eroded. Disappointingly, racism lurks not far from the surface in some quarters, as we have seen with the recent vilification of our Chinese community. We should all be concerned when the values of diversity and equality are put on the backburner and when those with less access to resources and opportunities are sidelined and silenced. We should all be very concerned—and we are.