Australia’s Labor government has announced $500,000 in funding for a migrant and refugee women’s shed and community bus in Perth, which it says will help social cohesion.
The facility in the suburb of Cannington will be run by the Multicultural Services Centre of Western Australia (MSC WA), will be the first of its kind in Australia, and will feature a community garden, commercial kitchen, workshop spaces, community activities, and “potential income generation”.
The Albanese government funding, provided under its $170 million Supporting Multicultural Communities Program, includes $450,000 to build the “culturally and linguistically diverse” women’s shed, and $50,000 for a bus to provide access to services provided by the MSC WA.
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Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly, who is an Egyptian Muslim immigrant, said in a social media post announcing the funding on Friday that her background meant she knows “how important it is to get the opportunities to participate, contribute, and build a future”.
“Social cohesion really is about community, about building a community, about building trust between people,” she said.
“And having a women’s shed like this, where women from all different ethnic backgrounds can come together, can recognise and utilise their skills, and can learn new skills on that pathway to employment, that pathway to income earning, really does help in creating those bonds of trust.”
Dr Aly visited the site on Thursday with Swan MP Zaneta Mascarenhas, whose ethnically Indian parents came to Australia via Kenya, and MSC WA chief executive Ramdas Sankaran, WAMN News reported.
“For too many women, the barriers to finding work aren’t a lack of ability or determination. They’re a lack of opportunity, connections and support,” Dr Aly said.
“When we help women build skills, find employment and achieve financial independence, we’re not just changing individual lives. We’re strengthening families, supporting businesses and growing our economy.”
Mr Sankaran said the income-earning opportunities created by the shed should help migrant and refugee women manage the cost-of-living crisis, and said he hoped to see similar facilities built across the country.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has handed out $386 million in multiculturalism grants since May 2022, with 88% of the money going to Labor-held seats, according to a One Nation analysis released in September.
Of religion-linked grants, Muslims received $86.7 million (30% of the total), followed by Jews on $77.4 million (27%), Christians on $71 million (25%), Hindus on $31.1 million (11%), Sikhs on $11.2 million (4%), and Buddhists on $4.3 million (2%).
Header image: Left, Dr Aly announcing the funding. Right, Dr Aly during her tour of the facility (Instagram).
