Tuesday, 14 October 2025

 Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (12:11): My question is for the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. Minister, the Centre for Innovative Justice at RMIT University in collaboration with Africause, a community-led organisation, has developed a culturally appropriate, holistic, evidence-based restorative justice model to address harms experienced and needs in the African diaspora. Minister, your Labor government was presented with this model in August 2024 but shamefully rejected funding this model. Minister, can you please explain why your government has refused to fund this evidence-based model to support multicultural communities to achieve community-led solutions?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:12): I thank the member for that question. This particular area is outside of the multicultural affairs portfolio and in fact sits with the justice ministers; however, I am happy to talk to the other supports through the multicultural affairs portfolio that our government provides to the very diverse African community. Of course there are many different cultural backgrounds within that community here in Victoria. The 2024–25 budget has delivered $17.2 million of support through both the multicultural affairs and education portfolios in support of a particular piece of work, which is the Victorian African Communities Action Plan. That is all about making sure that we are working closely with community leaders and members of those communities in different parts of our state on extremely successful programs, such as the homework club programs which are keeping young people engaged in school. We know that that is a critical factor when it comes to preventing people from disengaging from school and perhaps engaging in behaviour that is not going to see them thrive as young adults. We have also provided $24 million since 2018–19 to deliver the specific action plan that has been developed through close work with the African communities consultative committee, which is co-chaired by Pauline Richards, the member for Cranbourne.

In light of the some of the recent pressures within the African community, particularly the South Sudanese community, and the shocking events that we saw in Cobblebank recently, I want to just take a moment to again reiterate my deep condolences to the families and the whole community, who have been so significantly impacted by the shocking murder of those two young boys. Our government has been engaging very closely across a number of different portfolios with the South Sudanese community in particular to talk about what other supports the community needs from government to ensure that they recover from this particular event and that they also are working closely with their young people on making sure that crime prevention and community safety are at the heart of that work.

 Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (12:15): The Premier has said in her own media release that Labor wants ‘locals to bring local solutions to government’. Minister, your Labor government has been sitting on these community-led solutions for over one year now. Labor’s failure to back this model undermines social cohesion and denies the African diaspora the equitable support it deserves. Minister, will you commit to supporting Africause with their solutions, which have been handed to your government on a silver platter?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:15): I thank the member for her supplementary question. It is not appropriate for me to talk about funding for particular individual organisations on the floor of the chamber. There is a proper process which each department undertakes around grant applications. All of those grants have guidelines which community organisations are required to adhere to. I can only speak for those grant programs that I am responsible for in the multicultural affairs portfolio, and those grant streams cover various different things. I have recently announced, with the Premier, that there will be a $5 million social cohesion fund that will be available to support communities, and the guidelines will be issued soon.