Held Multicultural Festival Showcasing Their Cultural Diversity & Inclusion

On Friday, 25 November 2022, CASS staged a Multicultural Festival at Hurstville Marana Auditorium titled “Celebrating Cultural Diversity and Inclusion – International Day of People with Disability – Australia 2022”,  promoting understanding of the cultural diversity, inclusiveness and talents amongst people of CALD backgrounds with disability. The event was supported by a grant from the Multicultural NSW with the venue kindly provided by the Georges River Council.

The event was attended by over 300 people. Special guests included the Hon. Peter Poulos MLC, Parliamentary Secretary for Wollongong and the Illawarra, who represented the Hon. Mark Coure MP, Minister for Multiculturalism and Minister for Seniors; Mr Chris Minns MP, Leader of the NSW Opposition; Mr Stephen Kamper MP, Shadow Minister for Multiculturalism; Clr. Ben Wang of Georges River Council who represented Clr. Nick Katris, Mayor of Georges River Council; Clr. Nancy Liu of Georges River Council and Ms Renee Kastanias, Communications Manager of NSW Ageing and Disability Commission.

CASS Deputy Chairperson & Secretary, Mr. Anthony Pang, together with other Board members, including Henry Pan OAM, Sean Zhang, Tica Lee, Teresa Chu and Winnie Fung were present to support this meaningful occasion.

The honourable guests unanimously praised CASS for providing a platform for the community of disability services, which achieved remarkable results and impact. They appealed to all sectors of the society paying more attention to the welfare of people with disabilities and their carers. Everyone is encouraged to embrace and share cultural diversity and traditions, build mutual understanding and respect among community groups of diverse backgrounds. 

The motivational speaker, Bilal El Jami, gave an inspiring speech in which he shared his story of achieving success in life through hard work as a person with disability. Everyone in the audience was moved and motivated by his perseverance and can-do spirit.   

A video celebrating the 19th anniversary of CASS Disability Services was played to commemorate the work and achievements CASS has done for the multicultural communities. Stage performances were kick started by a lively dance performed by the participants of CASS Disability Services Day Program. Audiences were deeply impressed by their enthusiasm and cheered passionately for them as it was amazing to see people with disability demonstrating their talents and potential.

A series of multicultural performances followed afterward, pushing the event atmosphere to another climax. Performances included Chinese Tai Chi Kungfu dance, traditional Korean drum dance, Tibetan Dance, Indian dance and line dance performed by a Vietnamese Group, etc. All performances received rounds of applause.

Apart from performances, there were booths of traditional games, snacks and refreshments, art & crafts, and folk costumes, demonstrating the beauty of multiculturalism and diversity. Attendees enjoyed the activities and were impressed by the art & crafts made by the participants of CASS Day Program.

There were also services organizations hosting booths on-site to provide useful information to attendees, including Services Australia, NSW Ageing and Disability Commission (ADC), Carer Gateway, Georges River Council – Community Capacity Building Team, Multicultural Community Liaison Officer, St George Police Area Command, GambleAware Multicultural Service, NDIS Local Area Coordination (LAC), Latrobe Community Health Services, Disability Gateway and Legal Aid.

The event ended successfully in a burst of joy and received overwhelming positive feedback.

CASS wishes to thank all attendees, participating organisations and community groups and volunteers for their tremendous support and assistance enabling the successful holding of the event.