Blue Christmas aims to honour people who have lost loved ones, or those who feel sad and alone at Christmas, in a special event at Shepparton’s Senior Citizens’ Centre on December 22.
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Carols by Candlelight 2017
Greater Shepparton City Council proudly presents the return of our beloved local family tradition, Carols by Candlelight. On December 17, Shepparton’s Queens Gardens will once again come alive with the merry sounds and joyful smiles of Christmas.
Shepparton: Free Christmas Day Lunch
Don’t be alone at Christmas, come along and enjoy the Christmas Spirit with others at the McIntosh Centre at the Shepparton Showgrounds on Christmas Day.
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Hannukah Blessings
Hanukkah 2017 begins in the evening of Tuesday, 12 December ad ends in the evening of Wednesday , 20 December. Here, we bring you the traditional Hannukah Blessings as the Menorah is lit during this Jewish festival.
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Melbourne: The William Cooper Legacy
The Council of Christians and Jews (Victoria) would like to invite you to a presentation on the legacy of William Cooper, an indigenous Australian who protested the treatment of Jews to the German Consulate in Melbourne, 79 years ago. This presentation will take place at the Jewish Holocaust Centre, Elsternwick on the afternoon of Sunday 10 December.
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Faith Communities Statement on Family Violence and Violence against Women
At the Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference – held in Bendigo – Faith Communities Chair Murray Davies launched the Victorian Faith Communities Statement on the prevention of family violence and violence against women.
2017 Social Cohesion Report
The tenth Scanlon Foundation national survey was conducted in June-July 2017. The report was released on 30 November 2017 in Melbourne. These findings build on the knowledge gained through the nine earlier surveys (2007, 2009-2016) which provide, for the first time in Australian social research, a series of detailed surveys on social cohesion, immigration and population issues.
What is a Guru?
In this day and age, many people are attributed to be guru’s of one kind or another. Some call themeselves black-belt gurus of computer code, others are guru’s of math and trigonometry; still more are hailed as guru’s of cooking or survival on remote islands. What is the origin of this term guru, and what does it mean? Does being a guru mean you cultivate people who are dependent upon you – or do you cultivate independence? What – exactly – is a guru and the origins of this term?
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Religious Short Film Prize
The Religious Short Film Prize is an opportunity for film-makers to explore the religious quest through a powerful contemporary medium. The Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture has initiated this venture as part of its commitment to promoting the lively interaction between the arts, religion, faith and culture. The Centre believes that there is wisdom to be found in such an interaction which can contribute to a vision of hope and the common good for Australia. A prize of $5,000 will be awarded to the winning entry.
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Blue Christmas
Blue Christmas – a service of remembrance and hope that honours people who have lost loved ones in that year and those who feel sad and alone at Christmas will be presented at the Senior Citizens Centre on the evening of Friday, 22 December 2017 at 7pm.
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A Woman of Zen
As a woman studying Zen, I had heard Buddhist teachings that females were less able than males to practice the dharma and recognize their awakened nature. This belief was not surprising. Having grown up in the U.S. in the 1950s, the assumed inferiority of women was the air I breathed. And though the feminism that emerged in the 1960s helped me see through these assumptions, I continued to struggle with them.
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Making Luck Happen – A Practical Approach to Creating Opportunities
What is Career Ready Advantage? This is a program designed to help La Trobe University Students actively prepare for their life beyond La Trobe. It is structured to make it easy to record and build on your experiences – through part time work, internships, participation in volunteering, international experiences, professional involvement etc.
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Judaism: Searching Oneself on the Way Forward
Rabbi Stephen S. Pearce, senior rabbi emeritus of Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco writes of the Journey: the biblical journey of Abraham, and the inner journey of those who follow the footsteps of Abraham in faith. Abraham embarked on two journeys: one physical, to settle the land of Canaan; and the other, spiritual, to make a great nation, thus becoming the progenitor of the People Israel.
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Social Cohesion: My Faith, My Business
Cultural competence and understanding the other are key issues in building strong, effective workplaces with diversity among the workforce. Much understanding and trust are needed for all to accomplish their goals – giving of goods and services, return on investment of time, talents and resources, and satisfaction with the goals of the work enterprise. In this presentation, an account is given of the faith and work presentations given to industry leaders, HR Managers and workplace leaders.
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Citizenship and Values
How do changes to government policy impact new arrivals’ communities and the celebration of people becoming citizens? This presentation by Chris Hazelman will explore the processes to become an Australian citizen, the complexity of citizenship laws in the context of individual experiences of new arrivals and the government’s proposed changes to the Australian Citizenship Test.
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Sport as a Social Connection Tool
Sport lends itself to community building and resilient communities. Sport gives individuals a sense of worth, belonging, participation and achievement. In this session, Sam Atukorala – AFL Diversity Program Ambassador, and Community Ambassador for Cricket Australia gives an overview of how Cricket and Football build strong individuals, strong communities.
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Future Voices: building young people’s skills, aspirations and connection to community
Future Voices Incorporated is a not for profit charity established in 2016, working with the diverse communities in Shepparton, Victoria to meet an identified need voiced by the newly arrived African refugee community. Research tells us that most extensive types of volunteer work conducted by refugees and humanitarian entrants involve helping with the settlement of their own communities. Future Voices has grown from this grassroots concept and from the community itself, with African community leaders, in developing the program concept. Critical to success has been the building of trust, listening to the real needs of the communities and helping them to make their ideas grow.
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2017 Social Cohesion Conference Welcome
On September 27, 2017 La Trobe University, partnering with the Shepparton Interfaith Network and the Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District, presented Social Cohesion in the Goulburn Valley: Looking Back, Looking Forward, a conference to revisit the issues explored in the 2007 Conference and to consider the issues facing us today going forward as a regional community. On this page, we bring you the Conference Welcome from the sponsoring organisations.
Conference Welcome – Mayor of City of Greater Shepparton
Cr. Dinny Adem, Mayor of Greater Shepparton opened the 2017 Conference Social Cohesion in the Goulburn Valley: Looking Back, Looking Forward. We bring you his opening remarks.
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Inclusion, Diversity, Globalisation and Talent: a new perspective
One of the key issues of this conference were the emerging challenges due to factors that have largely remained unaddressed (eg employment, gender issues, religious, ideological or cultural beliefs and values which underpin some of the tensions), and to their likely impact on a socially cohesive Goulburn Valley in the future. Employment was the front and centre issue of this social cohesion conference. Andrew Keast of Refugee Talent gave an insight into how a dedicated agency puts strategies into place to aid refugees in gaining employment.
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