Victoria’s proposed new multicultural agency will formally recognise multifaith communities and impose restrictions on recent political officeholders seeking its senior positions after the government accepted amendments to its multicultural reforms.
The Legislative Council passed the Multicultural Victoria Amendment Bill 2026 on Thursday with changes, sending it back to the Legislative Assembly for consideration.
The bill would replace the Victorian Multicultural Commission with Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria, combining the commission’s community-engagement work with multicultural policy and grant administration currently handled by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
The government had originally proposed calling the organisation Multicultural Victoria. It agreed to add “multifaith” to the name after pressure during parliamentary consideration of the legislation.
Opposition multicultural and multifaith affairs spokesman Evan Mulholland said the change formally recognised the place of religion within Victoria’s diverse communities.
“Culture cannot be separated from faith and faith cannot be separated from culture,” Mr Mulholland said.
“Our communities know this and this major concession from the government is an important achievement.”
The change is largely one of recognition rather than institutional design. The new organisation would still assume the functions proposed in the original bill and be led by a Multicultural Coordinator General, two deputies and a community advisory group.
The government argues that bringing policy, grants and community engagement together will give multicultural and multifaith communities greater influence over decisions and improve coordination across departments.
All existing programs, funding agreements and events administered by the Victorian Multicultural Commission would transfer to the new body. One of the two deputy coordinators would be required to come from regional Victoria, while the advisory group would include representatives from different communities, faiths, occupations and locations.
The overhaul is based on recommendations from Victoria’s multicultural review, led by former Victorian Multicultural Commission chair George Lekakis. The review consulted more than 600 Victorians through more than 50 sessions.
Questions remain over whether the new structure will provide a stronger independent voice than the commission it replaces. The existing commission is a statutory body charged with giving independent advice to government, although it has operated within the Department of Premier and Cabinet since 2015.
The proposed organisation would have independently appointed leaders but would also absorb policy and grant functions currently performed within the department. Supporters say this would give community representatives more direct influence over government decisions. Critics may question whether combining advocacy and administrative responsibilities could reduce the distance between the organisation and the government of the day.
The council unanimously supported an opposition amendment establishing a 12-month cooling-off period for people who have recently held specified political roles before they can be appointed coordinator general or deputy coordinator general.
Mr Mulholland said the safeguard would protect the organisation from partisan appointments.
“Representing and championing multicultural communities are not plum positions for Labor mates. The Liberals and Nationals have protected these communities from being used as a political football by this government,” he said.
A more contentious part of the legislation gives the multicultural affairs minister power to direct certain public-sector organisations to use VITS LanguageLoop, the Victorian Government-owned interpreting and translation provider.
The opposition has described the provision as a threat to private interpreters and translators and criticised the government’s consultation with the sector.
“It’s clear the government did no consultation or engagement with this important sector before inserting a mandate that LanguageLoop be the sole provider for government departments in the legislation,” Mr Mulholland said.
The bill does not automatically make LanguageLoop the exclusive provider across every government service. It creates a ministerial power to direct designated public-sector organisations to use the company, meaning the practical effect will depend on which organisations and services are covered by future directions.
Concerns have been raised about the possible effect on freelance practitioners and established in-house interpreting services, particularly in hospitals. LanguageLoop has also previously faced criticism from interpreters over pay and working arrangements.
The government maintains that the measure will allow essential interpreting work to be assigned to a publicly owned provider and improve consistency in access to language services.
The legislation is intended to take effect from October 1, subject to the Legislative Assembly agreeing to the council’s amendments.
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