“Nishi Puri” (President MAC) The Multicultural Association of Canberra says there is a dire lack of culturally appropriate aged care facilities in the ACT, with many culturally and linguistically diverse Canberrans dreading the prospect of entering a facility.
For many, English is not their first language, religion is important and they are used to eating traditional meals.
Association president, Nishi Puri, says the capital needs multicultural aged care homes. “They can’t have meals of their choice, for example, it’s all western cooking that they come across,” Ms Puri said. “The carers may not speak the language that they are speaking and because of the age of some of the multicultural community they may not know English”.

MAC and Gopio in collaboration with Feros care and Wellways Australia organised a very informative session on suicide prevention and aftercare. It was followed by a book launch of HOPE which contains very important and useful information on who to contact when seeking mental health support.
Many thanks to Shravan from Wellways and Richa from Feros care for their support and presentation of the excellent workshop. It was sad to hear some real stories but MAC is glad that it was able to provide a platform for such a forum and that a lot of support is available.
Post-Covid, the community requires more support relating to mental health and we will be organizing more such events for community mental health and well-being.
Thanks to MLA Peter Cain, Dr. Fuxin Li President of Multicultural Language school, FINACT President Shanthi Reddy Ji, community leaders, and members who attended this event which was fully booked out Jewel of India’s catering was superb as usual

Mac & Gopio Celebrated Holi and Harmony Day on Sunday the 20th March 2022, at Jewel of India.. The objective of the event is to spread the message of Harmony and celebrate through the vibrant colours of the Holi festival. It was a great experience to mash up Eastern Tradition with Western Culture together and get a different but Delicious Flavour out of it. The Indian cuisine with the Holi Colours of love and Harmony among a diversity of cultures Heated Up the level of the event to its top.

The event was attended by dignitaries and multicultural community members and friends from different cultural backgrounds. Among the dignitaries who attended the event includes, Hon  Senator David Smith Opposition leader Ms. Elizabeth lee, Nicole Lawder MLA, Deepak Raj Gupta OAM, Shanti Reddy, President FinAct, and all Indian community leaders,  Ravi Krish, Amardeep Singh, Cheema Manpreet, Niranjan Aggarwal and all our friends who made this a memorable event.                                                                                                      The event was inaugurated with an amazing Harmonic Tune of flute by Mr. Gana (Srilanka). followed by the Holi and Hearth touching songs by Moin Qureshi (Pakistan). The Cusine was arranged with great variety and all the people highly enjoyed it. Our special thanks to the management of ,“Jewel of India”. The food is a chance where you physically taste the warmth of the other culture and feel their love and care through your own Tastebuds. MAC & GOPIO, thanks to those who turned up in this event and made it successful. We appreciate people, the sponsors, and all those who are a part of our team, We believe in diversity and “Together we can do miracles”.  

We had a very successful Movie day on 15_^th March 2022 at the Hoyts cinema Woden. MAC and GOPIO screened the film “Kashmir Files” exclusively for its community members.  Over 80 people participated in this eye-opener movie which is based on the plight of Kashmiri pandits in 1990. We express our gratitude to the event sponsor Rakesh Bhutani Ji for his generous help and support. Thank you Hon MLA Ms. Nicole Lawder, we appreciated your attendance, and we also thank you, everyone, for their presence to watch the movie “Kashmir Files” at the Hoyts Cinema. Thanks to Hoyts Cinema for accommodating our needs.

 The University of Canberra has formally thanked the Multicultural Association of Canberra (MAC) and the Global Organisation for People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) for helping to support the University’s international students.  Click to Continue Reading …… (22/02/2022).

On 22/2/22 the University of Canberra presented a plaque to President Nishi Puri who is president of both organisations. This plaque was presented for the ongoing support of MAC & Gopio for their contributions to UCX which is a food pantry for international students in UC.

Multicultural Association of Canberra in support of GOPIO had a fabulous event on 26th January 2022. Although numbers were capped due to Covid, we still had nearly 100 attendees at Weston Creek Community center.
The event was graced by the Indian High Commissioner Mr. Manpreet Vohra and his wife Naseem Vohra, Hon Minister for Multicultural affairs Ms. Tara Cheyne, MLA Guilia Jones, Minister Rebecca Vassaroti, MLA Andrew Braddock, community leaders from various cultural groups like Africa, Bangladesh, China, Korea, and India.
The event started with acknowledgment to the country, opening speech by Multicultural Association president Nishi Puri with messages on Respect, Reflect and relate by distinguished guests and community leaders’ showcasing of culture by First Nation People and Indian, Bangladesh, Chinese, Sri Lankan, African Colombian, Middle Eastern and Latin communities. It was diversity at its best and we are privileged to be a part of Australia’s rich migrant heritage. A day to reflect on the history of Australia, celebrate our Covid heroes, and share the Australian community spirit. After all, we are all a part of the Australian story which makes Australia day unique and special for all Australians.
It was also a day to congratulate the Indian diaspora who were celebrating 75th Indian Republic day which incidentally falls on the same day. Dinner was served at the end along with refreshments and drinks at the start. Once again, we thank NADC for giving us this opportunity to celebrate Australia Day with our Multicultural communities

Today the Seniors group met at Palmerston to attend a Christmas party hosted by MCCI. It was a lot of fun to meet Santa and get presents Christmas lunch was yummy followed by group games. Multicultural Association of Canberra thanked MCCI for doing a wonderful job throughout the year in spite of Covid challenges It was a pleasure to be invited to the Christmas party MAC is proud to have initiated this group with MCCI. Seniors are having a wonderful time each week. Due to the Christmas holidays, this group will reopen on 13 Jan 2022. The other group initiated by MAC with Carers ACT will reopen end of January next year Have a happy festive season everyone and don’t forget to wear your mask indoors. In the spirit of giving MAC committee members and the community donated Christmas goodies and clothing generously to blue door shelter.

On 12/12/21 MAC and GOPIO organized a retreat at Birrigai facilitated by Art of Living. This event was organized for multicultural community to feel happy and build resilience which they were experiencing during Covid lock down.The whole day workshop focused on Yoga, Meditation, Reflection and Team building skills and also providing opportunities to make new friends and socially interact. Special thanks to Facilitator Krishna Nadimpalli and Art of Living team to facilitate this event flawlessly. All participants enjoyed this retreat and felt recharged.

This event was covered by ABC television and televised at pm on the same day. Link of the news clip is below:

MAC initiated a mental health workshop on 5/12/21 at Bharat Int in Belconnen for community well being and mental health post Covid lock down. Community was feeling the pinch of social isolation and this was the perfect timing. Dr Deepa Shingal a physiactrist was the facilitator of this event and she gave us lots of tips on how to reduce stress and keep mentally healthy and happy. Participants enjoyed a hands on workshop which was very interactive. This was followed by a yummy lunch at Bharat. This event was supported by MHCC and GOPIO.

MAC celebrated Diwali on 31st November 2021 at jewel of India in Manuka.It was a very multicultural event whereby many community leaders from various associations like Bangla desh, Srilanka and Africa participated along with Indian community leaders and members of the Canberra community. The event started with lighting of lamps, speeches by the politicians and cultural event. this was followed by a scrumptuos lunch at Jewel of IndiaThere was representation from High Commission of India by Counsellor Narendra Rana, and also Minister Rebecca Vassaroti, MP David Smith and MLA Nicole Lawder

It was a pleasure to announce that Senator David Smith, MLA Nicole Lawder and Raman Bhardwaj have accepted to be MAC patrons.

This event was supported by ACT govt and GOPIO.