annual report 2010 –2011 - Multicultural Development Association

1
A message from Chair of the Board
i introduction
The Multicultural Development Association’s (MDA) organisational narrative traces its origins
from a meeting 13 years ago among a small group of passionate refugee and multicultural
advocates under a hills hoist in a suburban back yard. Today the MDA employs 76 permanent
staff, around 200 casual staff, and 192 volunteers and oversees a budget of $10.7 million dollars
through which it delivers a comprehensive range of settlement and multicultural programs
and services to thousands of clients.
We have been guided throughout by two inexorably interwoven commitments core to our
organisational direction and to our hearts and souls: first to the right of refugees and migrants
to empowered and equitable participation in our Australian community and second to the
development of Australian multiculturalism seeing ourselves as a whole community, united and
inclusive in diversity. We work towards both because there cannot be one without the other.
This has not been a year like any other. In January our beautiful city and much of this amazing
state was laid low by a series of natural disasters. Here at MDA, as well as carrying on with their
regular work, the staff pulled out all stops to make sure their clients were safe and linked into
systems of support. Many refugees themselves launched into the post flood cleanup to give
something back to the community they feel has given to them. There are many moments when
as Chair of the Board of this organisation I have been filled with admiration and respect for the
passion, commitment and very hard work of our staff and for the strength and resilience of the
clients with whom we are privileged to work. The brilliant response of the MDA community
to the January floods was one such moment.
In spite of the drama of the floods, MDA picked up and carried on. This past year has witnessed
the achievement of two significant milestones. The successful tender for the Humanitarian
Settlement Strategy (HSS) funding and the partnership between MDA, Queensland Program
of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPASTT) and Brisbane City Council to
establish the new Brisbane Multicultural Centre. They are the culmination of an incredible
effort by many as well as a launching pad for an exciting new stage in our journey out from
under the hills hoist.
This report documents a snapshot of an amazing 12 months. It is not just a snapshot of
activity; it is a snapshot of the wide community of people who coalesce around the MDA,
even if not all their faces are visible. The staff, the volunteers, the members, the colleagues,
the sector partners, the stakeholders, the funding bodies, the CEO, the management team,
the community groups and leaders, my colleagues on the board and most of all the clients…
this is the community of people who are the MDA. This is their report.
Warren McMillan Chair of the Board
MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION | ANNUAL REPORT | 2010 – 2011
1