I have lost faith in our multicultural institutions 

For many years, I spent hundreds of hours of my life volunteering as part of interfaith dialogue. I was driven by the belief that bringing people of different faiths together made Australia a better place for everyone, because we would all be able to support one another in times of crisis. I spent years as a board member of the Faith Communities Council of Victoria (FCCV), I attended a multifaith camp in my first year of university run by the Anti-Defamation Commission, and I was invited to countless forums to speak about Judaism to non-Jewish audiences.  

I have not stopped believing in friendships across faiths. We need allies, and some of the most meaningful support our community has received since October 7, 2023, has come from individual people of faith who have chosen to show solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community. What I have stopped believing in is the idea that formal interfaith institutions, with all their committees and endless dialogue, are an effective vehicle for building those relationships or responding when one community is under attack. 

So, when I saw this week that the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) had been involved in consulting with the Victorian Government about the new multicultural body, which is due to replace the Victorian Multicultural Commission and establish a new entity, Multicultural Victoria, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.  

Do you know why the Victorian Multicultural Commission is being replaced? The Victorian government conducted an extensive review and included the following asinine observation about why it was being replaced noting, “questions were raised about whether the Victorian Multicultural Commission remained fit for purpose, given increased social cohesion challenges from local and overseas events, as well as the evolving needs of multicultural communities.”