The Victorian Government strengthens safety outcomes for multicultural communities through dedicated projects and government actions.
The Department of Transport and Planning’s (DTP) Road Safety for New Arrivals delivered a range of activities to improve road safety for multicultural and disadvantaged communities under the $1.5 million Community Road Safety Grants Program. These include the Wimmera Driver Education Initiative, CALD Green Light Initiative, Safe Driver, Changing Gears and multicultural communities radio safety advertisements. Other activities include the Know Your Vehicle program for the Nepalese community, 2 cycling‑safety programs — the Safer Cycling for Nepalese Community Language School Students and Living and Learning Kids Summer Bike Program — and the Safer Pedestrians: Stepping Out in Safety project for the Karen community (DTP: $240,000 in 2024–25).
The TAC L2P program helps young learner drivers without access to a supervising driver or a suitable vehicle to complete the mandatory 120 hours of driving practice. The program connects young people with fully licensed driver-mentors. Individual program providers support learners from multicultural backgrounds to access culturally appropriate driver mentors to help young people get the driving practice needed for a driver’s licence. Around 21% of participants are EAL (English as an Additional Language) learners. In 2025 DTP translated a series of L2P documents to remove barriers for young people and their families, improving understanding, trust and engagement with the program. As a first for L2P in Victoria, this initiative promotes equity and inclusion by ensuring more learners can benefit from the support available (DTP: $9 million in 2024–25).
The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action’s (DEECA) Farming Safe and Well Program is a statewide initiative improving health, safety and wellbeing for Victoria’s farming communities while promoting multicultural inclusion. In 2024–25 the program focused on increasing access to farm safety education and mental health support in regional areas where multicultural communities contribute to the agricultural workforce.
Partnering with industry groups such as Fruit Growers Victoria, the program produced 2 safety induction videos, translated into 5 languages (Bahasa Indonesia, Bislama, Fijian, Mandarin and Samoan). The program also analysed publicly available safety resources for multicultural communities to identify gaps and inform new resources about safe work practices and cultural safety on farms.
By delivering multilingual resources and engaging trusted community leaders, the Farming Safe and Well program is improving safety outcomes and fostering inclusion and social cohesion across Victoria’s diverse farming regions (DEECA: $75,000 in 2024–25).
Case study - TAC L2P
Leyla* is a young woman from a refugee background who took part in the TAC L2P Program delivered by Laverton Community Integrated Services. Leyla migrated from Turkey with her mother. As a newly arrived refugee with no extended family or established support networks in Australia, obtaining a driver’s licence was a major obstacle to her independence, education and employment opportunities.
Through the program, Leyla accessed a vehicle, trained volunteer mentors and culturally responsive coordination. This enabled her to complete supervised driving hours, build road safety knowledge and develop confidence.
Since getting her licence, Leyla can travel independently to attend classes, look for work and help her mother with daily activities.
Leyla describes the program as life-changing, highlighting the support of her mentor and L2P coordinator.
* Name changed to protect the person’s identity.
The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing’s (DFFH) Supporting Multicultural and Faith Communities to Prevent Family Violence program supports culturally tailored, community-led primary prevention initiatives delivered by Victorian multicultural, faith and settlement organisations.
Since 2021 the program has supported 33 organisations and implemented projects that have reached more than 35,000 people across more than 80 multicultural and faith communities. These projects have also strengthened community capability to identify early signs of violence, challenge harmful norms and promote gender equality.
In 2024–25 the Victorian Government extended the program, supporting broader statewide reforms to strengthen culturally appropriate responses to family and sexual violence, including workforce capability building; better access to specialist services for migrant and refugee communities; and initiatives to embed culturally safe practice across the family and sexual violence sectors (DFFH: $2.1 million in 2024–25).
DFFH’s Working Together program strengthens collaboration between multicultural community organisations and specialist family and sexual violence services to improve safety and support provided to migrant and refugee communities.
The program began in 2021–22 with Commonwealth funding through the Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses 2023–25 Federation Funding Agreement.
Phase 2 funded 17 partnerships. This included 10 projects focused on family violence and 7 focused on sexual violence in multicultural communities.
The partnerships involve a broad range of services and organisations in regional and metropolitan Victoria. They support established and newly arrived migrants and refugee communities to deliver targeted interventions for women from South Asia, South-East Asia, the Pacific, African communities, and Muslim women and children.
The program includes capability building, workforce development and program coordination activities delivered by peak bodies (DFFH).
In the 2023–24 State Budget, the government allocated $6 million to deliver community-led antisemitism and Islamophobia projects. Funded organisations include the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Zionism Victoria, Melbourne Holocaust Museum, Melbourne Grand Mosque, Islamic Museum of Australia, Islamic Council of Victoria, Board of Imams Victoria and the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights. They are funded to deliver a range of projects including awareness campaigns, reporting services, mental health supports and educational programs
(DPC: $2 million in 2024–25).
Case study - DFFH
In 2024–25 DFFH’s Supporting Multicultural and Faith Communities to Prevent Family Violence program funded AMES Australia to expand its Preventing Violence Against Women Leadership Program into the regional communities of Ballarat and Mildura. This extension supported emerging leaders from Afghan, Arabic-speaking, Indian, Korean, Nepalese, South Sudanese, Sri Lankan and other multicultural backgrounds. Regional participants often experience limited access to culturally safe services and local prevention programs. Across 2024–25 participants took part in multi-week training on gender equality, respectful relationships, bystander action and the drivers of violence.
Low initial male participation prompted AMES to adapt its curriculum, introducing a culturally relevant module addressing men’s experiences of loneliness, conflict and gendered expectations. This shift deepened engagement and ensured the program resonated across diverse cultural groups. One participant reflected, ‘This is the first time I’ve seen content that really speaks to men’s experience in this space. It was powerful and resonant.’
The program delivered strong quantitative results:
- There were 24 graduates across Ballarat and Mildura.
- Participants more than doubled their understanding of key prevention concepts, including the drivers of violence and prevention approaches, based on pre- and post-program surveys.
- Participants showed a 98.6% improvement in understanding bystander action.
- Participants showed a 63–68% improvement across prevention skills (planning action, public speaking, workplace and community action).
The course has inspired regional community-led prevention projects in both locations. By embedding lived experience and adapting to regional realities, the program strengthened local leadership and created sustainable pathways for ongoing, culturally informed gender-based violence prevention work.
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