DCJ Community Engagement Team

The Multicultural Policy and Engagement (MPE) team leads the development and the implementation of state-wide multicultural community engagement for the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ).

MPE aims to build multicultural communities’ awareness of the NSW justice system, as well as DCJ services and programs available. The team does this through connecting the community with various service access points and the promotion of rights and responsibilities of the community under NSW law.

Community Liaison Officer (CLO)

The team consists of three multilingual Community Liaison Officers (CLO). They are the conduit between multicultural communities of NSW and DCJ. DCJ’s CLOs are often the first contact for the community when engaging with the DCJ.

The CLOs cover all of NSW as a state-wide region that includes both metropolitan and regional locations.

Key Role Function

The CLO collaborates and partners with multicultural communities and government agencies on projects and events that promote harmony, community cohesion, community safety and crime prevention. These projects and events aim to raise awareness and upskill communities about issues that impact them, and where to go for support or further information.

The CLO creates a platform for the community and DCJ to exchange information and advice, whilst promoting the services and programs delivered through the Department. 

These CLO functions facilitate capacity building of multicultural communities and key stakeholders improving outcomes for the NSW community.

Core work

CLOs partner with stakeholders to deliver projects and initiatives that address community issues, including:

• Promotion of the Work and Development Order (WDO) scheme to multicultural communities. As a result, the scheme is now more accessible to communities due to an increase in multicultural WDO sponsorships.

• Collaboration with religious leaders and community leaders to assist with recognizing and appropriately responding to domestic family violence (DFV). We engage with leaders about DFV through various activities including the DFV Declaration and the Domestic and Family Violence Seminars: Find out more here.

• Partnership with NSW TAFE to host Law Expos. This allows students to gain more information about Australian law. As a result, students gain exposure to services, attend information sessions and legal workshops.

• Conduct Court Open Days (CODs) at courts across NSW. CODs are designed remove the stigma associated with courts and demystify court processes. 

• Deliver the Multicultural Community Engagement Conference. The Conference is designed to increase awareness on best practice when working and engaging with multicultural communities: Find out more here.

Benefits of collaboration with the Team

The Team is continuously exploring opportunities to work with and assist other government and non-government organisations to:

• Collaborate on projects/initiatives to deliver better outcomes for the community.
• Advise on best practice when working  with multicultural communities including policy considerations and consultation advice.
• Disseminate key messages to the community.
• Deliver a suit of information sessions to train staff working with multicultural communities as it relates to the work of DCJ.

Each community is unique, speak with our experienced Community Liaison Officers on how we can tailor information sessions and workshops with topics that best suit the needs of your community.

Upcoming events: 

To find out about upcoming events please check our events calendar.

Contact

For more information, or to organise a community information session or workshop, send us an email to multiculturalengagement@dcj.nsw.gov.au