About
Since 1975, we have been campaigning for the principles of multiculturalism to be fully realised across our state. We work with migrant and refugee communities to create a more cohesive society through education, advocacy and community development.
As representatives for our stateโs culturally diverse communities, we also work to influence government and industry policies to create a fair and inclusive society.
Our Vision
To live in an inclusive Australian society that actively upholds the principles of multiculturalism.
Our Mission
To strengthen culturally diverse communities through advocacy, leadership, education and empowerment.
Our Impact
Since 1975, we have been campaigning for the principles of multiculturalism to be fully realised across our state. We work with migrant and refugee communities to create a more cohesive society through education, advocacy and community development.
As representatives for our stateโs culturally diverse communities, we also work to influence government and industry policies to create a fair and inclusive society.
300+ members
Our members are made up of ethnic community organisations, non-for-profits, multicultural services providers and individuals.
$150,000 in Funding for 2022-23
$150,000 in Funding for 2022-23 as provided through Multicultural NSW to sustain community harmony and social cohesion.
75+ Cultural Communities Represented
Through our membership, we represent over 40 different ethnicities, spread across 32 language groups.
Meet Our Board Of Directors
The ECCNSW Board of Management is a subset of the Membersโ Forum and includes all office bearers.
Peter Doukas OAM
Elected Chair in 2013 and re-elected in 2015 and 2019, Peter Doukas was the youngest ever Chair of ECCNSW. He also served as Secretary between 2009 and 2013 and
presided over significant changes to the internal governance structure of the organisation. Mr Doukas is managing Director of law firm Denison Toyer, based in the Sydney CBD and operating mainly in commercial, administrative and estates law. He has worked in corporate governance since 2006 and has provided extensive advice to associations, and NGOs around compliance and governance. He is currently the Chair of FECCA and serves on various other non-profit boards.
George Bouteris
Elected 2022 and 2017. George has worked in the real estate industry for 48 years, in both the Sutherland Shire and Inner West markets with LJ Hooker Marrickville and now Raine & Home Commercial with his son Anthony. George is member of Property Council of Australia, Real Estate Institute of NSW, andย Board Member of the ESTIA Foundation (Part of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese).
Christine Lynch OAM
Elected 2015 as board member. Member of AHEPA Australia Ltd 50 years, served as national president 2013-2015. A member of the Greek Young Matrons Association since 1984, committee member of St Basilโs Ladies Auxiliary for over 20 years, and member of the Hellenic Women of Sydney committee.
Abbas Alvi
Elected 2022 and 2012. Founder President Australia India Business Council; President, We Australians Are Creative Inc; Director of Community Resource Network; Director Mount Druitt Community Agency; and Member of the Art Advisory sub-Committee of Blacktown. Mr Alvi is a strong advocate of environmental protection and renewable energy.
Ada Cheng
Ada Cheng is a qualified Social Worker and holds a Master degree in Community Management. Ada has over 25 years of experience in Aged Care Management and has a proven track record in service planning and development.ย Ada serves as the CEO of Australian Nursing Home Foundation.โจ
Suellyn Lin
Elected Board Member 2022 and 2015. Ms.Lin is a Managing Director of Food Import/Distributing Company OZ PACIFIC P/L and has been involved in Multi-grains and Organic Food areas since 2003. She is an Australian Quarantine Accredited Person. Elected President of Taiwanese Womenโs Association in 2000.ย
Indarjit Khuman
Elected to Board in 2019. Served in various Board positions for over thirty years. Established first Sikh Gurdwara in north shore Sydney. Performed over the years in Sydney Shell Folkloric festival. Former member of ministerial consultative committee. Counter chair of Care Worldwide, a community welfare organisation.
Siddique Panwala
Principal Solicitor with Unisaj Legal a Law firm at Parramatta โ Sydney.ย ย He has served as Treasurer of Federation of Ethnic Communitiesโ Council of Australia (FECCA). He is legal adviser of Indian Crescent Society of Australia, Vedic Parisad โ Australia, AUSPAK Women Association and Shuhag Charity. He served ECCNSW as Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. Mr Panwala is a former Human Rights Activist, Development Consultant and Legal Trainer practised in the High Court of Gujarat โ India. Mr Panwala under Universal Interpreters and Translators (UIT) providing interpreters and translation in more than 100 languages.
Amir Salem OAM
Amir has more than 25 yearsโ experience in teaching and program management at TAFE Multicultural Education program and is president of the Australian Egyptian Forum Council. Heย was also the lead tutor on a project which developed a training program for Australians doing business in Asia and the Middle East.
Meet Our Talented Team
Our hardworking Staff are committed to promoting the principles of multiculturalism and working vigorously towards the future development of a multicultural society.
Mary Karras
Mary is a passionate believer in the principles of multiculturalism. Mary brings to her current role as Chief Executive Officer of the ECCNSW a wealth of learning and experiences as a result of her work with diverse communities.
Louise Easson
Louise started work with ECCNSW in February 2020. She has a strong background in media and communications, previously working as a Media Advisor for Premiers, Federal and State Ministers.
Esther Lozano
Esther is an experienced multimedia journalist and communications officer with an extensive career both in Australia and Spain. She currently works as journalist and radio broadcaster at SBS.
Marina Antonas
Marina has worked extensively in both the Government and non-Government sectors. Her knowledge, expertise and experience in aged care, informs policy development and implementation and best practice in service delivery.
Natalie Phan
Natalie joined ECCNSW in July 2020. With over 10 years of experience in professional office assistant positions, she is now a versatile SSD Support Officer for the Inner West Sector Support Development and Training Program.
Vanessa Papastavros
Vanessa has worked in the government and non-government sector, and has served as a media and communications adviser for two Federal Members of Parliament. Vanessa is now National Manager of โSpeak My languageโ โLiving well with disabilityโ.
Patricia Vaz
Patricia joined ECCNSW in 2015 as a Bi-lingual Educator. Currently she is supporting a project called VoteTalk2 that looks at building the confidence of CALD and Aboriginal communities, so that their votes count during the next general election.
Christine Ahn
Christine started working at the ECCNSW in June 2015. She has coordinated a number of projects including the EPA NSWโs Bin Trim Project 2, EPA NSWโs Food Smart Program and Cancer Institute NSWโs Tobacco Control Project.
Mariette Mikhael
Mariette started working at the ECCNSW in June 1999. For the last few years she has coordinated a number of projects including the state-wide Household Problem Waste, Water Wise for Multicultural Communities, Tech Savvy Seniors and Ku-ring-gai Cultural Connections for Sustainability projects
Karen Li
Karen joined ECCNSW in 2013, to provide administrative support to the CEO, Project Managers and all ECC officers in a wide range of tasks.
Patrick Wang
Patrick joined ECCNSW in 2018, he has over 10 years financial & management accounting experience in various industries, heโs specialised in SMEโs accounting systems, data analysis and reporting.
Rosa Stathis
Rosa is an experienced communications and community engagement specialist. With a deep knowledge and understanding of multicultural communities, Rosa is supporting the ECCNSW to engage and build capacity in emerging communities as part of the Multicultural Peaks Program funded by Multicultural NSW.
Our History
The Ethnic Communitiesโ Council of NSW was established in 1975 at Sydney Town Hall by a mass rally of all ethnic communities in the presence of two former Prime Ministers, Hon. Gough Whitlam and Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser.
The ECC in NSW was the first such organisation in Australia and went on to assist in the establishment of ECCs in other States and also the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia.
- 1975
- 1979
- 1989
- 1993
- 1999
- 2000
- 2006
- 2009
- 2010
- 2012
- 2014
- 2019
- 2021
- 2025
1975
Ethnic Communities Council of New South Wales is founded at Sydney Town Hall.
1979
The Councilโs advocacy is successful in the establishment of the Ethnic Affairs Commission, later named the Community Relations Commission and today known as Multicultural NSW.
1989
As the Councilโs Membership reaches 150 organisations, our influence grows. We successfully lobby for amendments to the Anti Discrimination Act 1977, making New South Wales the first state to make it unlawful for a person, by public act, to incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of a person or group on the grounds of race.
1993
The Council coordinated the NSW consultations on the Racial Hatred Bill on the request of the Commonwealth Attorney General.
1999
The Council was engaged by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games to provide advice on multicultural issues in the lead up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics
2000
The Council petitioned successfully for a definition of โmulticulturalโ to be included in the โCommunity Relations Commission Actโ in response to NSW State Governmentโs omission of the word in the Act. This resulted in the โCommunity Relations Commission and Principles of Multiculturalism Act 2000.โ
2006
Staff commenced the successful โWaterless Woksโ water saving program on behalf of the NSW Government. The program, which targeted Asian restaurants in metropolitan and regional areas, resulted in annual water savings of 98 million litresโan 82% reduction.
2009
The Council is awarded the Premierโs Sustainability Award in the 10th Green Globe Awards for having the best environmental sustainability project out of all businesses, government and community projects in NSW.
2010
The Council entered a partnership with Macquarie University and SBS to develop the Media Mentorship Program. The following year, we worked with Macquarie University to introduce the Building Inclusive Communities Awards presented at parliament House.
2012
The Councilโs Membership reaches 300 organisations.
2014
Coordinated response to the Federal Governmentโs proposed changes to section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. Over 100 members took action.
2019
ECCNSW launched the Speak My Language (Disability) program through funds granted by the Commonwealth Department of Social Services. Led by ECCNSW, theย program was delivered via an historic partnership between all State and Territory Ethnic and Multicultural Communities’ Councils across Australia for the first time.
2021
The Council becomes a vocal advocate for minority groups impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, distributing resources in-language and speaking out in the media against racial discrimination during the lockdown periods. The NSW Government partnered with ECCNSW to deliver rapid antigen tests (RAT) to vulnerable culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
2025
As the Council celebrates its 50 year anniversary, it officially transitions its status to a company limited by guarantee to signal a new chapter in its operations.
Our Regional Members
Over one-third of our stateโs population now lives in regional areas, and more people from migrant and refugee backgrounds are choosing to make regional New South Wales their home.
Our regional members extend the mission of strengthening multiculturalism into regional towns and cities to ensure culturally diverse people can thrive wherever they are in New South Wales.
https://www.mcww.org.au/
https://www.facebook.com/youngmulticultural/
