Aged care and ageing services for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people are set to undergo revolutionary change as Australia comes to grips with an ageing population and spiralling public health bills. Former senior bureaucrat and academic Professor Peter Shergold,…

The word ‘multicultural’ entered the national vocabulary in August 1973, via the Immigration Minister Al Grassby. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/mongrelnation/the-life-and-times-of-australian-multiculturalism/5140978

Helping increasing numbers of refugee children who have been exposed to violence or trauma is emerging as a major challenge for agencies working in the settlement area, according to victims of torture support agency Foundation House. The organisation’s 2012-2013 Annual…

Up to 50 AMES students contributed artwork and photography to the recent Big West arts festival. One group of students learned embroidery skills and created a giant kite made from embroidered fabric. “The class had fun learning embroidery and fabric…

Red-faced authorities will resume searching this morning for 14 asylum seekers in Christmas Island bushland after it was discovered they were living among a larger group undetected on a beach since their boat sunk on Monday. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/shipwrecked-asylum-seekers-live-on-christmas-island-undetected-for-four-days/story-fni0xqrc-1226776435092

RED-faced authorities will resume searching this morning for 14 asylum seekers in Christmas Island bushland after it was discovered they were living among a larger group undetected on a beach since their boat sunk on Monday. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/shipwrecked-asylum-seekers-live-on-christmas-island-undetected-for-four-days/story-fni0xqrc-1226776435092

Lawyers for the Australian Defence Force have told the Government they fear that turning back asylum seeker boats under Operation Sovereign Borders could be illegal, leaving their personnel exposed to personal and professional risk. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/12/06/defence-force-concerned-turn-back-boats-policy-may-be-illegal

An education expert says Australia’s poor ranking in an international education report card shows continuing disadvantage among students from migrant and refugee backgrounds. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/12/04/oecd-report-shows-education-inequality

Australia’s leading asylum seeker organisation the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has secured a commercial building at Footscray in Melbourne’s inner west through Ray White Commercial. http://www.raywhitecommercial.com.au/news/articles/office-building-at-footscray-melbourne-leased/

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has thrown down the gauntlet to Labor and the Greens by using his powers to cap the number of permanent protection visas for asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat. http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=930912

The Australian government has been frustrated in its attempts to re-introduce Temporary Protection Visas for refugees on a full-time basis, with the opposition Labor party and the Greens joining forces to block it. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/aus-government-blocked-from-reintroducing-temporary-protection-visas/1228800?autoplay=1228824

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has raised the prospect of Australia leaving the United Nations refugee convention after a key plank of the government’s border protection plan was scuttled in the Senate. http://au.prime7.yahoo.com/q1/news/a/-/national/20134719/pm-puts-refugee-convention-in-spotlight/