Profile: Cockburn Chinese Community Association
The City of Cockburn has one of the largest multicultural populations within Western Australia. With many residents being first- or second-generation Chinese migrants, there is a great need for the work and support of the Cockburn Chinese Community Association. Find out more about the Community Citizen of the Year Award-recognised Not-For-Profit below.
Why it started
Ning Yan from Cockburn Chinese Community Association (CCCA) describes Australia as a “multicultural community where people from different countries and cultures come together to make their dreams come true”. CCCA believes that maintaining, developing and nurturing Chinese culture and identity is of fundamental importance to the Chinese community, and removing the communication barriers between communities of different cultural backgrounds is equally significant.
How it started
CCCA was established in 2018, when the City of Cockburn was planning to have a meeting with local residents of Chinese backgrounds. Former President, Carol Zhang, set up a Wechat group to notify this information to the Chinese community. Around 120 people attended the meeting and a few activities had been organised within the community to celebrate Chinese festivals, so the council suggested establishing a Not-For-Profit organisation to serve more people.
Contribution to the community
CCCA has introduced and developed tailor-made services for the culturally and linguistically diverse community, the local Chinese community in the Cockburn area.
Each year, CCCA organises a number of celebration activities on Chinese traditional festivals and participates in events held by local councils and communities. CCCA has also organised mask and food donations to local charity groups and other community groups. Within all of these activities and events, CCCA presents Chinese culture and traditions to the local community and gets them involved in the celebration, which helps to encourage the Chinese community to feel confident that they are contributing members of the Cockburn community.
CCCA has also organised monthly seminars or lectures on different topics. The topics have focused on the questions the local Chinese community have or the problems they have faced. Members first attended English training in aspects of social security, welfare, medical and health issues, and then passed the information to the community in Chinese. The attendants had learned more about Australian social practice via these seminars and made their daily life easier.
Furthermore, CCCA has also held monthly senior club activities and kids’ club activities. The senior club provided a venue where people could gather together to chat and play games with each other, which was warmly welcomed by the elderly people in the Chinese community. CCCA has organised a cultural performance group, where a number of senior ladies gathered to dance every week, performing at different occasions and events held by other community groups or local council and local nursing homes. The kids’ club activities provided an opportunity for parents to learn and play with their kids. All of these activities have facilitated Chinese communities to integrate with the local community, raised their quality of life, and maintained and developed Chinese culture.
Recognised for community service
In 2021, CCCA was awarded the Active Citizenship Award from the City of Cockburn in the Community Citizen of the Year Awards. Ning explains how “the Community Citizen of the Year Award in 2021 encouraged our committee members to continuously contribute to our community service projects.”
Since 2018, Cockburn Chinese Community Association has shown leadership in supporting cultural diversity by introducing and developing innovative services to the Chinese community and by removing barriers between Chinese community and the broader community. During this time, CCCA has demonstrated Chinese cultural competency and strengthened the capacity of the Chinese community.
Find out more about the Cockburn Chinese Community Association here
Nominations for the Community Citizen of the Year Awards are open all year round. To nominate a community group for the Active Citizenship Award, click here.