| Annual General Meeting2.00pm Sunday 30 August 2009
at the ECC premises, 221 Cope Street Waterloo All ECC Members are strongly encouraged to attend and participate. Hear and meet our political leaders from both Government and Opposition taking about issues vital to our ethnic communities in NSW. Members should exercise their democratic rights and actively take part in the voting for the new ECC Management and Executive Committees. Everyone involved or interested in the multicultural development of New South Wales is welcome to attend. Click for the Agenda __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ GREEN GLOBE AWARDS 2009 - HIGHEST AWARD GOES TO ECC The Ethnic Communities Council (ECC) of NSW has been awarded the prestigious Premier's Sustainability Award as part of the 10th Green Globe Awards. The ECC was recognised as having the best environmental sustainability project out of all businesses, government and community projects in New South Wales. For a community based organisation to win such an award, given some of the major multinational corporations also involved, is an extraordinary achievement. 
The Green Globe Awards are the leading environmental awards in NSW and give recognition to the outstanding achievements in the sustainable use of natural resources and leadership in tackling climate change. Winners of the 2009 Green Globe Awards were selected by an independent panel of expert judges and announced at a gala event hosted by the Hon. Carmel Tebbutt, Minister for Climate Change and the Environment on Tuesday 28 July. The award was presented by Minister Tebbutt to ECC's Chair, Jack Passaris OAM, the Executive Officer, Mark Franklin, to the project officers involved with the water and energy saving projects, Helen Scott and Joyce Fu and to the Chinese speaking educator Elsa Cheung. "The Green Globe Awards honour organisations that put sustainability and environmental management at the forefront of their operations," Ms Tebbutt said. The chair of ECC Jack Passaris OAM congratulated all the staff that participated in the projects.
The Ethnic Communities Council was also awarded the Community Sustainability Green Globe Award for its work with 350 restaurateurs and dry cleaners of non English speaking background. The Ethnic Communities Council of NSW has been educating migrant communities throughout the State on sustainability and environmental issues for the past 12 years.
Supported with funding from the NSW Climate Change Fund, ECC's Waterless Wok for restaurants and Energy Saving in Asian Dry Cleaners programs helped small businesses upgrade vital equipment to improve water and energy efficiency. The ECC's programs rely on the effective and meaningful community engagement processes conducted by the Bilingual Educators. They are responsible for the support and participation in the community networks, public recognition and celebration achievements, utilisation of the community media and strong communication of environmental messages. The training of the Bilingual Educator is part of the Ethnic Communities Sustainable Living Project, sponsored by the DECC (Department of Environment and Climate Change). Achieving the Premiers Award for 2009 shows the determination of our Member ethnic communities to not just care for our environment and to live more sustainably, but to actually take a leadership role for the whole NSW community. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BEYOND MATURITY BLUES - Depression and Older People 
COTA in conjunction with "Beyond Blue The National Depression Initiative", has developed The Beyond Maturity Blues peer education program to raise awareness and promote the understanding of depression. Informative, interactive sessions delivered by trained Peer Educators are available free of charge to seniors groups, clubs and organisations.
The focus of the sessions is on learning about depression - its symptoms and treatments, methods of prevention, how to support those living with depression, and what you can do to enjoy better health.
Due to the success of this program, the program has been expanded in order for Italian speaking peer educators to deliver to community groups from September 09.
COTA NSW is also calling for Italian speaking volunteers over 50 years of age, to take part in training to deliver these information sessions to Italian seniors groups. For further information and bookings please contact Dougie Wells COTA NSW
02 9286 3860 or visit www.cotansw.com.au/beyond-maturity-blues.aspx __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CANCER INSTITUTE NSW BREASTSCREEN MEDIA CAMPAIGN 
Approximately one in nine women in NSW will develop breast cancer in their lifetime and it is the leading cancer in females, with over 75% of breast cancers detected in women over 50. CANCER INSTITUTE NSW is rolling out a new BreastScreen NSW media campaign to encourage all women aged 50-69 years to have a screening mammogram every two years. The campaign includes a series of ad in Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Greek, Italian, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese. The campaign provides women with information about who should screen and why, what to expect when they visit BreastScreen NSW, and an emotional motivation for having a mammogram. The BreastScreen NSW service is a personal, female-centred service with the aim of detecting breast cancer early. For more information visit www.cancerinstitute.org.au/cancer_inst/campaigns/breastcancer.html
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Media Release
9 June 2009 ECC NSW AGAINST THE VIOLENCE The Ethnic Communities Council of NSW joins The Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA) in condemning the recent violent attacks against Indian students in the strongest terms said ECC Chair Jack Passaris OAM.
Australians are proud of a peaceful multi-cultural society in which we welcome visitors and newcomers of all backgrounds. We know that the authorities are making every endeavour to identify and apprehend the perpetrators, and we hope that they will soon be brought to justice.
Meanwhile we join in our national apologies to the victims and the assurances given to the Indian people that such incidents are not typical of a welcoming Australia.
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ECC CHAIR JACK PASSARIS AWARDED ORDER OF AUSTRALIA MEDAL
The Order of Australia Awards ceremony was held on 6th may 2009 at the Government House where Jack Passaris received his medal by the Governor. On 7th may there was a celebration dinner held at the Parliament House in honour of all the recipients of the Order of Australia Medal. 
Present at this event was the former senior vice chair of ECC NSW the Hon. Henry Chan, who represented the Premier. The Treasurer of ECC NSW Ms. Edna McGill OAM and the Secretary Mr. Emmanuel Valageorgiou also attended this dinner and it was an enjoyable evening.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ YEAR OF THE BLOOD DONOR 2009 The Federal Government has designated 2009 the Year of the Blood Donor, which coincides with the 80th anniversary of blood collection services in Australia. The official start to Year of the Blood Donor took place in Melbourne's Federation Square on Wednesday 25 February 2009.
As part of the program, NSW Blood Service representatives gave presentation at the Ethnic Communities' Council on Wednesday 27th of May, 6:30PM. The presentation was led by Garry Wolfe - Operations Manager NSW/ACT and Rod Jones - Donor Service Manager NSW/ACT, aiming to address and to promote the importance of regular blood donations within the community.
If you want to save a real life, donate blood. To arrange this, please call 13 14 95 or visit www.donateblood.com.au. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ GREEK NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE DAY - 22 March 2009 Organised by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and Inter-Communities Council of NSW 
It was a successful day.The Celebration began at Martin Place Cenotaph with a memorial service led by his Eminence Archbishop Stylianos. A procession then followed from George Street to the Opera House, which included a police escort, members of the Greek RSL sub-branch, Greek Scouts of Sydney, Dancing Groups, Brotherhoods and Associations, Saint Andrews Theological College, followed by the 3 bilingual Greek Orthodox Colleges and students from 20 afternoon Greek schools. Following this, was a concert at the Sydney Opera House where over 8,000 people gathered.
Distinguished guests included: His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, The Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP, The Hon. Nathan Rees MP Premier of NSW, the Greek Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic, the High Commissioner of Cyprus, the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP, The Hon. Carmel Tebbutt MP Deputy Premier of NSW, Mr Barry O'Farrell MP, The Hon Gough Whitlam, Mr Stepan Kerkyasharian Chair of CRC, the event co-ordinator of the day Mr Jack Passaris OAM, and many other guests. National Human Rights Consultation
The National Human Rights Consultation provides the opportunity for you to share your views on human rights. It is a chance to hear people's ideas about human rights and talk about ways to protect and promote human rights in the future.
Key Consultation Questions:
- Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and promoted?
- Are human rights sufficiently protected and promoted?
- How could Australia better protect and promote human rights?
You can share your views by making a written submission either online or by post. You can also attend a community roundtable discussion. For more information visit the official website www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au.
____________________________________________________________________________ On 17th of December 2008, more than 50 members and friends of the ECCNSW gathered together to celebrate the End of the Year.
Among the guests was the Hon Laurie Ferguson MP,Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services.
The Chairman, Jack Passaris, wished all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Yearthanking them for their help in building a better multicultural society._____________________________________________________ |
