Ballarat Interfaith Network and the Islamic Society of Ballarat are joining together to present an open day at the Mosque of Ballarat on April 16. Details below.

The post below is cross posted from the blog of the Ballarat Interfaith Network, Beside The Creek.

Ballarat Interfaith Network

is happy to promote

for the

Islamic Society of Ballarat

an opportunity to visit

the Mosque of Ballarat

on 16 April 2016

details below

The theme of the event is

'Come to Common Terms'

Lecture by Sheikh Waseem Razvi on interfaith dialogue

#BALLARAT IS TELLING IT LIKE IT IS AND SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER - #LET THEM STAY

Posted by Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council on Sunday, 7 February 2016

Neel, Sugaa and kids are in imminent danger of deportation. Please join the Ballarat people supporting them. Details below.

The family above are known to many Ballaratians. They have charmed us. They have lived peacefully among us raising their children - in spite of the difficulties placed in their way by the Australian Government. 

There was a time when Neel worked. But the Australian Government denied him work rights. Since then, the Ballarat community has provided support for the family - and was pleased to do so. The politicians and bureaucrats involved in the forthcoming deportation don't know this family. We on the ground in Ballarat do. We want Neel and Sugaa and the kids here among us. Please come and support the family --- and let the powers-that-be know that they are doing something wrong if they deport them.

Celebrating Humanity on Eureka Day, 2015 t Bakery Hill - St Paul's, 305 Humffray Street - 5.30 to 7pm - an afterwork venue

We are celebrating at Saint Paul's, Bakery Hill in #Ballarat this evening. To-day, December 3, is the day we celebrate...
Posted by Brigid O'Carroll Walsh on Wednesday, 2 December 2015

x

Climate march in Ballarat - Saturday 28 November 2015

See more pics at The Courier
Ballarat marchers calls on Australian leaders to act on climate change

By Alex Hamer

Nov. 28, 2015, 6:30 p.m.

People's push: Isobel Monie and Menna McAlpin at the BREAZE and Ballarat Climate Action Group Climate March on Saturday. The two women spoke on behalf of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. PICTURE: Luka Kauzlaric

Ballarat joined major cities all over the world by hosting a climate rally on the weekend. 

The Saturday-afternoon march from outside Town Hall to Camp Street brought over 150 people together to show their support for action on climate change. 

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will travel to France on Sunday before the COP21 conference. 

The crowd was optimistic about change at the summit. 

Organiser Ian Rossiter, the president of BREAZE, said people were certainly hoping for a stronger approach to curbing emissions from the world leaders who will attend. 

“There was a groundswell of optimism (at the march),” he said. 

“People are thinking the climate talks might lead to unilateral, international moves to curb emissions.” 

About a third of the crowd indicated they had travelled to Melbourne for Friday’s rally, which drew 60,000 people to the CBD. 

Irene Salmont, who came from Daylesford for the rally, said she was there because it was such a crucial fight. 

“It’s one of the most important issues, ever, really,” she said. 

Renée Ludekens agreed, saying Paris was a chance for countries to come together to do something. 

“We need confirmed lower emissions agreements,” she said. 

The last big climate change summit, in Copenhagen, ended without any major agreement, and the message coming from speakers on Saturday, including Buninyong MP Geoff Howard, was that limiting the damage from climate change was all an agreement could hope for. 

Deputy Mayor and Greens councillor Belinda Coates said the effects of a harsher climate were already being felt in Ballarat. 

“We’ve had the hottest in spring in 107 years...and the second driest ever,” she said. 

Cr Coates said it was also possible to make change on a city level, where she said much of the fight against climate change was happening. 

The crowd had assembled behind the Art Gallery of Ballarat on Camp Street for the speeches, and those applauding the strident calls for change ranged from the very young to the more experienced members of society. 

Mr Rossiter said extreme weather events had started to hit the big end of town, which is why he was confident Paris would see a binding agreement. 

Mr Turnbull has already pushed his climate change credentials before the summit, putting forward a declaration on the issue at the Commonwealth heads of government. 

“Ahead of COP21 it is a powerful signal to other countries of the world to show a similar level of ambition and commitment to working together for a strong result in Paris,” he said.

Move over, John Farnham : You're the Voice: Our Anthem from Women for climate action and hope for all

YOU'RE THE VOICE - an anthem from women for climate action and...

You're the Voice: Our Anthem from Women for climate action and hope for all. #LoveEarth #IMTHEVOICE Be inspired, sing with us, join us and use your voice to share it widely. www.voice.1millionwomen.com.au

BREAZE ASKS US TO JOIN A PEOPLE'S CLIMATE MARCH : #MELBOURNE OR #BALLARAT : DETAILS BELOW

Join a People’s Climate March

In Melbourne Friday 27th Nov:

Meet at the Ballarat station to catch the 3.20pm train to Melbourne, and participate in the march from the State Library;

In Ballarat Saturday, 28th Nov:

Meet at the front of the Ballarat Town Hall at 2pm for a march to Alfred Deakin Place, where we'll gather and listen to speeches.

Breaze has invited Ballarat’s Federal, State and Council elected representatives, together with other civic leaders to address the crowd at the conclusion of the walk on what they would ask the delegates at the Paris Climate Talks to negotiate on behalf of the Ballarat community.

“I have invited Ballarat’s politicians, church leaders and the Committee for Ballarat to address our gathering. I would like to show that addressing runaway climate change is a concern not just from environmentalists, but is now posing major risks to our economy, is potentially the greatest threat to our existing social systems and has the capacity to cause unprecedented numbers of refugees due to the projected impacts on food and water.” said Ian Rossiter President of BREAZE.

“As a grandparent I am motivated to provide residents with empowerment to take on this historic challenge. It is the consumer choices and behaviours that we make now that will determine how much warmer the earth will be for our children and grandchildren.”

“I am urging the people of Ballarat to show our local, state, national and international leaders that we care about the future we are creating by attending one of the People’s Climate Marches. The Melbourne People’s Climate March takes place on Friday 27^th November at 5.30pm and we hope that many Ballarat residents will catch the 3.20pm train to attend. As this is difficult for many with work and study commitments, we have arranged the Ballarat Peoples Climate March on the Saturday afternoon.”

What: As part of a worldwide series of marches over the period 27 to 29 November residents are invited to show their support for an international accord for commitment for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the UN Paris Climate Talks (to be held the following week).

When: Saturday November 28^th from 2pm to 3pm.

Where: Marchers are asked to assemble in Sturt Street Gardens (Queen Victoria Square) opposite Ballarat Town Hall, Corner of Sturt and Armstrong Streets. The assembly will walk as a group at 2.20pm to Alfred Deakin Place in Camp Street (approx. 500 metres) to hear addresses.

Who: The event is being organised by BREAZE and Ballarat Climate Action Group 2015 and is non-politically aligned. 
The United Nations are conducting the Paris Climate Change Conference from 30 November until 11 December with the intent of reviewing and strengthening commitment from all members to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Time is running out if we as global citizens are going to slow down and limit the impacts of climate change and ensure a safe climate for our children and grandchildren.

Citizens around the world (on the weekend of 27 to 29 November) are attending People’s Climate Marches in major cities to show concern, commitment and support for increased action to avoid the impending humanitarian, environmental and economic crisis that our current rate of emissions will cause in coming decades.

Our politicians and delegates need to see visible support for signing up to international accords to increase renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare our communities for the impacts of global warming that we are locked into as a result of emissions over the last century.

Breaze has invited Ballarat’s Federal, State and Council elected representatives, together with other civic leaders to address the crowd at the conclusion of the walk on what they would ask the delegates at the Paris Climate Talks to negotiate on behalf of the Ballarat community.

“I have invited Ballarat’s politicians, church leaders and the Committee for Ballarat to address our gathering. I would like to show that addressing runaway climate change is a concern not just from environmentalists, but is now posing major risks to our economy, is potentially the greatest threat to our existing social systems and has the capacity to cause unprecedented numbers of refugees due to the projected impacts on food and water.” said Ian Rossiter President of BREAZE.

“As a grandparent I am motivated to provide residents with empowerment to take on this historic challenge. It is the consumer choices and behaviours that we make now that will determine how much warmer the earth will be for our children and grandchildren.”

“I am urging the people of Ballarat to show our local, state, national and international leaders that we care about the future we are creating by attending one of the People’s Climate Marches. The Melbourne People’s Climate March takes place on Friday 27^th November at 5.30pm and we hope that many Ballarat residents will catch the 3.20pm train to attend. As this is difficult for many with work and study commitments, we have arranged the Ballarat Peoples Climate March on the Saturday afternoon.”

The UN Paris Climate Change Conference will be exploring international accords that may limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, recognising that the earth has already warmed by 1 degree and we are experiencing unprecedented frequencies of measuring new records of extreme weather conditions.

Since formation in 2006, BREAZE and other groups have worked collaboratively with all levels of government to provide information to our community on how to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions through focussing on energy efficiency in homes, sustainable transport options, promoting in season regional foods, conserving water, recycling and re-using materials and the uptake of renewable energy.

Interfaith Service for Victims of Terrorism in #Paris & #Beirut - 6pm TONIGHT @ Christ Church Cathedral, #Ballarat

Everyone is invited to attend

an Interfaith Service

for the Victims of Terrorism

in Paris and Beirut

at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral,

49 Lydiard Street South, Ballarat

at

6pm Thursday 19 November 2015

Please feel free to download the above poster

and distribute as widely as possible.

Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, Ballarat

EVENTS IN #PARIS AND #BEIRUT: Plans for an Interfaith Service of Remembrance this Thursday in #Ballarat

Please stay tuned.  

Plans are underway for an Interfaith Service of Remembrance at 6pm on Thursday 

related to the recent events in #Paris and #Beirut. 

It will be held at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, Lydiard Street, #Ballarat.

Remembering - the war to end all wars : the Charter of Rights at Bakery Hill, the first document of participatory democracy in Australia

Cross posted with permission  from Advocacy @ St Paul's

To-night at 6.30pm at St Paul's Anglican Church, 3-5 Humffray Street, Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Advocacy@ St Paul's is joining with the Ballarat Trades & Labour Council to celebrate the Charter of Rights, drafted by the English chartist John Basson Humffray who was a leading figure in the events leading up to and surrounding the Eureka Rebellion. Members of the modern-day Ballarat Reform League are interested too.  The site on which St Paul's is located is believed to be the site of the "Monster Meeting" of 10,000 miners who gathered to hear the Charter of Rights.  Hedley Thomson, Chair of Advocacy @ St Paul's, will read the Charter of Rights. Brett Edgington, Secretary of the Ballarat Trades & Labour Council, will speak.  The Charter of Rights is Australia's first document relating to the concept of participatory democracy.

To-day is not only the anniversary of the Charter of Rights. It is Remembrance Day, the day when we commemorate "the war to end all wars".  Below is a letter written earlier this year by Hedley Thomson with reference to the idea of 'nation building' in which he references the events of Eureka. If you want to let us know that you are coming, please go here.

14^th May 2015

The Editor

‘Ballarat Courier’

PO Box 21

Ballarat, 3353

Dear sir,

In the lead up to the 100^th Anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, the ‘nation building’ significance of the event was often mentioned. This assertion needs to be challenged. Aside from the disaster that was Gallipoli, for three quarters of a century prior, European settlers had a clear-eyed view that the Australian landmass would one day comprise one nation. For example:

1840s – colonial governments agreed that there should be one railway gauge to facilitate trade and transport throughout what would one day be a single nation. The fact that the one gauge objective was not achieved was to do with subsequent technical decisions, not a change of vision.

• 1854 – the Eureka rising – no civil war was required to affirm the commitment to establishing a parliamentary democracy; the death of two-dozen people was enough. What’s more, Eureka was a multi-cultural event at a time when Australia was the most multi cultural ‘nation’ on Earth.

• 1860s onwards - the Australian Constitution was developed over 40 years by the ‘founding fathers’, including Ballarat’s own Alfred Deakin. Here was true leadership, providing us with a parliamentary and electoral system with a sensible pragmatic structure to ensure representative democratic government.

• 1880s – the works of Henry Lawson and other writers, with their strong references to a sense of being Australian, independent of spirit, the mother country left behind.

• 1901 – Federation – the culmination of the past 60 years’ work.

On the basis of this history of Australia, it is arguable that our ‘nation’ was more independent, self-supporting and self-assured then than we are now! 

Hedley Thomson

Victorian Trades Hall Choir will be performing at #BallaratTradesHall - 7 November @ 7.30pm. Tix on sale now!

On Saturday 7th November at 7:30pm VTHC Choir will be performing 'I'll Be There' - songs and stories of solidarity. Tickets are on sale now for a fantastic night at the Hall. http://www.trybooking.com/IWNU
Posted by Ballarat Trades Hall on Wednesday, 23 September 2015

Sustainability Victoria is coming to #Ballarat : Community Conversation on Climate Change

You are invited by Sustainability Victoria, to‘Community Conversation on Climate Change’.- for community groups,...
Posted by Buninyong Sustainability - at Royal Park on Monday, 12 October 2015

The Charter of Rights - Eureka's founding document : Australia's first document of participatory democracy : an event to celebrate

As we lead up to the Eureka anniversaries here is an event to put in your diaries.

Posted by Ballarat Reform League Inc. on Wednesday, 7 October 2015

Sustainability Victoria community engagement events in the Grampians Region : #Horsham & #Ballarat :

Sustainability Victoria is hosting a series of ‘Community Conversations on Climate Change’ across regional Victoria throughout October and November 2015.

The purpose of these events is to bring together representatives from across the community sector (community groups, not-for-profits, schools, local government) to connect with each other, share lessons and exchange knowledge about leading climate change projects in the region and from across the state, and to inform Sustainability Victoria’s future program design and community engagement offer.

In the Grampians region, there will be 2 events:

Horsham, Thursday 22 October – 9.45am to 1pm (concluding with lunch)

Ballarat, Wednesday 28 October – 9.45am to 1pm (concluding with lunch)

Please put one of these dates in your diary.  

An invitation including all the event details with a full agenda will be sent shortly.

Notes from a crisis : Homelessness in #Ballarat : Feedback from a Forum

Cross-posted from Beside The Creek
The blog of the Ballarat Interfaith Network.

The above PowerPoint presentation

has been gathered and edited  from 

the feedback of participants at the Forum.

Not only can it be viewd on line -

it can be downloaded and screened.

Please give it wide coverage in your groups and associations/

Please encourage people to attend the next Forum on 9 October.

Details to be announced

On 21 August 2015, approximately 80 people gathered at the Eastwood Leisure Centre in Ballarat for a Forum on Homelessness. The place was packed. The place was lively. 

People working in organisations related to Homelessness were present. Some of these gave presentations of their work. Most of these were in government funded organisations but there were some present who received no government funding whatsoever and relied wholly on community support to fund their activities.  Prominent among the latter was The Soup Bus - a well known #Ballarat institution.  

A favourite of many people was Josh Wilkins, the founder of One Voice.  One Voice operates without government funding and provides free, clean shower facilities for homeless people.  Keep watch because there may be a #Ballarat version pop up thanks to the energies of local people.  A bus has already been given for the purpose but there is much more to be done before bus and showers can hit the road. Josh said that his ambition is to become like the community of Sant'Egidio in Italy who started small but now have moved on to providing health care and facilities.  

There were people from the general community who were concerned about Homelessness and who were seeking solutions to this grave problem. The forum was co-sponsored by Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council and Ballarat Interfaith Network. Many thanks to Father Constantine Osuchukwu (Treasurer, B.I.N. and Interfaith Officer, BRMC) and Margaret Lenan Ellis (Public Relations Officer, B.I.N.) who were at the forefront of organising the Forum and a special thanks for the great job that Father Constantine did in chairing proceedings.

If you attended, the Homelessness Forum or if you were prevented from attending, another gathering will be held on 9 October. Stay tuned for further details.

Ballarat Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network News : Grandmothers Light the Dark vigil to-morrow night : David McPhail is fundraising

From Hayley, BRASSN Volunteer Database Co-ordinator...

Here are three pieces of information for you being passed on from BRASSN (Ballarat Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network). The first is a link to an ASRC Newsletter titled 'Are we doing enough'? The second is a Light the Dark vigil held in Ballarat this Monday at 6pm. The third is from BRASSN member David McPhail, who will be participating in the Run 4 Refugees with a Ballarat team.


1. Are we doing enough?http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=82e876b44181fbd9253ccb957&id=767d0e716d&e=bb7f6d4f6a

2. Subject: IMPORTANT Come and join us to Light the Dark for Aylun

• Sorry for the late notice but this event has just been advertised by Get Up and so the
• Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children Ballarat (https://www.facebook.com/GrandmothersBallarat) and their Friends invite you to join them outside the Ballarat Town Hall 6pm Monday 7th September at 6pm to Light the Dark. We will stand in solidarity with people throughout Australia who support refugees and asylum seekers. Please bring a candle or torch.
  
  The image of a Syrian child's lifeless body washed up on the shores of a Turkish beach this week brought the world to its knees. His name was Aylan Kurdi, and he was just three years old.
  
  The sad reality is that Aylan was one among millions of desperate people forced to flee from war and persecution. The world is facing a global refugee crisis on a scale we've not seen since WWII, but Australia - our lucky country of a fair go for all - is not doing enough. We can do better to help these people.
  We need to do better.
  
  That's why on Monday night, we will light a candle to remember Aylan Kurdi. We will stand together in solidarity with ...people across the world who are forced to ask for protection from countries like ours. We'll shine a light in the darkness, in protest of our country's abandonment of the world's most desperate people, who seek only safety and protection.
  
  We will send a message to the world that our government's inaction does not represent us, and that Australia says welcome.
  
  
  3. Ballarat Run 4 Refugees running the Melbourne Marathon. Sponsor David Mac Phail to raise funds for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
    Would you like to support the ASRC by sponsoring our marathon and by circulating this email through your networks.

  I am running Melbourne Marathon again this year with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre [ASRC]. We now have a Ballarat team which includes asylum seekers and refugees. Sophia, my daughter, is also running her first marathon with us. Ballarat Run 4 Refugees is raising much needed funds for Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

  
  

  ASRC gets no government funding and is completely dependent on fundraising. Last year Run 4 Refugees raised about $250,000 which was about the amount spent on accommodation.  In my role as volunteer Case Worker with ASRC I am able to say first hand how well this money is used for people who are otherwise homeless. 

  
  

  For 14 years the ASRC has been fighting for the human rights of asylum seekers. Over 10,000 people have been provided with sanctuary, support and hope by the ASRC in this time and thousands of people have won their freedom through this work. Your donation will help provide services to support people seeking asylum: legal appointments, housing, health care, employment services, English language classes, food and advocacy.

  
  

  You can make a donation by clicking on the link below to go to my fundraising page. There is also links to the ASRC web page for more information about the organisation.

  
  

  My fundraising page:  http://run4refugees15.gofundraise.com.au/page/ballaratr4r

  
  

  Hope you can sponsor me again this year.

  Thanks for your support,

  David

  
  

  David Mac Phail,
  Ballarat.
  0419368199.

Meet Rohullah - Riding for Refugees 2015 - on Wednesday night in #Ballarat

Julian Burnside gets an intelligent & committed response from Grandmothers Against the Detention of Refugee Children and their supporters --- at the #Ballarat Public Library 15-08-23

Section of the crowd to hear Julian Burnside speak at the Ballarat Public Library, Doveton Street.

Julian Burnside.

In the background is FroG, Ian Hall of  the Facebook group site,

Parliaments of Australia --- our future.

Almost 200 people turned up at the Ballarat Public Libary this afternoon to hear renowned lawyer Julian Burnside speak at length on the refugee situation in Australia.  While there were significant numbers of men in the audience, the majority of the audience were women of all ages.

The event was organised by Grandmothers Against the Detention of Refugee Children Ballarat.  Big ticks go to Pauline McKenzie and Cath McDonald of the #Ballarat Grandmothers for their successful organisational effort.  And big ticks to the people who came.  We hope more of you will be donning the purple at more of our events!

Addendum - 15-08-24: and the event has gained coverage in Ballarat's local newspaper, "The Courier".

It goes without saying that Burnside acquitted himself well.  What was outstanding was the intelligence of the questions coming from the audience. Even Burnside remarked on this.  The questions reflected an audience with a detailed and concerned interest in the refugee cruelty dished up by both Liberal/National and Australian Labor Parties.

Burnside's political advice - particularly in relation to the "sometime soon" election?  Don't vote for the Lib/Nats or for Labor.  These votes may well end up, with preferential and/or proportional voting, in the hands of the usual major parties. However, a sufficient protest drop in the primary vote of the major parties would be noticeable to them.  And, Burnside said, much as it might be seen as a wasted vote, people can also vote "informal". An informal vote is one which does not meet the requirements of the electoral act. It may be blank or it may be incomplete.

And to top things off, the Grandmothers have named Burnside "Chief FroG".  In Grandmothers' terms, a FroG is a Friend of Grandmothers and it is the title usual given to male supporters.

And here is a Burnside item from Ballarat's "The Courier" -

giving refugees entry to Australia on a number of conditions --

most significant of which is to allow settlement only in regional Australia.

Divisive rallies bring violence to the streets of Melbourne and a forceful police intervention as Muslims celebrate Eid

THESE ARE THE HEADLINES REGARDING 

WHAT HAPPENED IN MELBOURNE

ON SATURDAY 18 JULY 2015 

AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE.

Who was the centre of attention in front of and near Victoria's Parliament House yesterday?  Reclaim Australia and their associates wanted to provide a double focus of attention: themselves and Muslims living in Australia.

No Room for Racism and its sympathisers were equally determined on a dual focus: to counter the racism of Reclaim Australia and its cohort and to make the public aware of their organisation.

Did the events of the day go as planned for both sides?  Possibly. Possibly not.  However, it seems that there were elements on both sides who were prepared for trouble one way or another.  

A group with a similar title to Reclaim Australia hit Ballarat early in 2014.  Restore Australia arrived in Ballarat trying to incite antagonism to the building of a mosque in the city - a city which was the site of Australia's first document demanding democratic rights.  As can be seen from this Facebook presence, drumming up opposition to the mosque being built by Ballarat's small Islamic community was not too successful.  

What Restore Australia did not take into account in the Ballarat situation is that community friendships had already been forged within the broader community by the time they blew into town.  The local Islamic community had friends - a broad spectrum of friends.  And the then Mayor was an early responder.

Meanwhile, amid all this swirling of clashing tensions and violent police intervention, what were Muslims doing? Yesterday was the beginning of Eid celebrations. Muslims were enjoying themselves. Behind them was a month of fasting. Now can come the feasting.  Perhaps Reclaim Australia chose the day and date deliberately with an intent to insult Muslims - or perhaps they knew there would not be a Muslim in sight or hearing of their rampage!

The Faith Communities Council of Victoria has issued the following statement.

Statement on Nationwide Rallies:  Faith Communities Council of Victoria The Faith Communities Council of Victoria (FCCV) has issued the following statement in light of reports that over the weekend of the 18/19th July 2015, Reclaim Australia is planning nationwide rallies which we believe are divisive and not in the nation’s best interests.  The acceptance of our multicultural and multifaith society is one of Australia's greatest achievements and assets. The celebration of this rich diversity that exists in our society ensures we remain innovative, resilient and globally competitive - all of which enhances our society and increases our standard of living. Like any asset, our multicultural and multifaith identity needs to be continuously nourished and threats to undermine it need be addressed. The current environment fueled by economic uncertainty and fear is encouraging the rise of extreme groups like Reclaim Australia and UPF (United Patriots Front), who are intent on disenfranchising minorities and disturbing the peace within our society. These groups demonstrate they possess anti-Muslim, anti-Asian, anti-Indigenous, anti-Semitic and anti-Refugee sentiments. We, the Faith Communities Council of Victoria, actively discourage any kind of involvement with these groups and see them as a threat to peace and social cohesion within our society.  We believe there has to be a continuous dialogue promoting multiculturalism and multifaith. We also encourage all to discourage others from supporting these groups in any way. The harmony and diversity in our society is the basis of the beauty of Australia, and we request your support in maintaining this. Faith Communities Council of Victoria is comprised of the following peak bodies: Baha'i Community of Victoria, Brahma Kumaris Australia, Buddhist Council of Victoria, Hindu Community Council of Victoria, Islamic Council of Victoria, Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria and Victorian Council of Churches.