Media Releases

Today, the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) made a submission to the Government’s consultation on Australian citizenship. You can read the submission here.

“Citizenship is symbolic of acceptance into the Australian community and is highly valued amongst immigrant groups”, says Joe Caputo, FECCA Chair. “FECCA highlights the importance of citizenship policy to achieving and maintaining social cohesion in the Australian community”.

FECCA opposes the discriminatory and unnecessary proposed changes to the citizenship test, pledge and eligibility criteria which are included in the Government’s citizenship discussion paper. Joe Caputo maintains, “A greater emphasis should be placed on civics and citizenship education as part of the process of attaining Australian citizenship, in place of the citizenship test; which is a one-off test where an individual can only achieve a pass or fail”.

FECCA has not addressed the revocation of citizenship for dual nationals engaged in terrorism in this submission, and will instead make a submission on this issue to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security inquiry into the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015 for consideration.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755, media@fecca.org.au.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) warmly congratulates all recipients of awards on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2015.

FECCA Chair, Mr Joe Caputo, acknowledged the diversity of recipients of Queen’s Birthday Honours, and paid tribute to those Australians who, like FECCA, continue to campaign for social justice, support and nurture cultural diversity, advocate for refugee rights and speak out against racism.

Mr Caputo said “I particularly would like to congratulate Dr Bulent Hass Dellal on his award as Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of his tireless service to the multicultural community. Dr Dellal is has given so much back to the community and has provided leadership and inspiration to others.” Mr Caputo took this opportunity to confirm that Dr Dellal will be a plenary speaker at the FECCA Conference in Sydney in November this year. Dr Dellal will consider multiculturalism as a defining characteristic of Australia, within the conference theme of ‘Multiculturalism in Action: Building a better future for all Australians’.

Further, Mr Caputo stated “We are also delighted to see Mr Peter Scanlon acknowledged with the Officer of the Order of Australia award, recognising his amazing philanthropic contributions promoting social cohesion and the benefits of diversity in Australia’s society. FECCA has strong links with the Scanlon Foundation and congratulates Peter on his award.”

FECCA would like to see more recognition, through the Honours system, of grassroots activists and volunteers who work tirelessly to make Australia the diverse and vibrant society that it is. “We should remember to acknowledge the efforts and contributions of those who work with and for our multicultural communities on the ground. Their dedication to community work is at the heart of the Australia’s multiculturalism,” Mr Caputo concluded.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755, media@fecca.org.au.