On 8th of December, Sound of Hope Australia hosted the ‘Engage Australia Celebration’. Government partners were very pleased with the event, many people went to their booth and ask them questions. Michael, who came to this event with his kids, told the reporter,”I saw quite a few government agencies here, they are really helpful to the Chinese people here, to better understand the Australian system.”
Ms Ada Ly from Australian Tax Office said, “This event is really good, people from various places came to consult with us.”
Ms Ly said, “Tax Office is the first government department working with Sound of Hope, from then lots of different departments come along. After seeing so many government agencies are working with Sound of Hope today, I’m really happy for you guys, congratulations. “
“I felt great working with you guys, because the program is great, the host is great, the events every year is great, I’m having a great time.
She reminded everyone, if you haven’t lodge your tax return before 31st of October, you can still go to ATO website to lodge it.
Di-Hong Lam from Department of Human Services said, This event is very successful, a lot of people came to him to ask about welfares in Australia.
Mr Lam said, “I have been working with Sound of Hope for quite a while now, we have always kept a great relationship, and it has been really pleasant working with you guys.”
Mr Lam reminded those people who want to apply for age pension, there are a few condition they have to meet, “The first one is they have to be above 60, the second is that they need to have lived in Australia for more than 10 years, and the third one is to pass the means test.”
Hong Ong from NSW Police told us, from morning to noon, there are close to 100 people went to her booth. The questions ranged from simple questions like how to call police to questions about domestic violence.
Ms Ong said, “Sound of Hope is doing really well. I remember you guys started off as just radio, then you expanded to internet, now you have your own app, that’s amazing, you guys are always improving.”
When asked about the information she wants to pass on to the public, Ms Ong reminded people, if you want to contact police, 000 is for emergency, if it is not emergent, call 131 444.
She then said there is one more thing, “please don’t get your kids in front of me and say, ‘look, this is Officer Ong, if you are being naughty, I will tell her to arrest you’, I have been saying this everyday, don’t scare your kids.”
NSW Fair Trading employee Vicky Chen said, she think this event is really successful, “we saw a lot of consumers come to our booth to ask about purchasing products, everyone got a lot out of it.”
Miss Chen said it has been a good time working with Sound of Hope, “through this platform, Fair Trading is able to spread the messages to more customers, this is great.”
She reminded people, “if the product you purchased had some issue, you as a consumer, has the right to ask for refund, return or repair. Even if it had gone pass the warranty period, your right is still being protected. “
Ivy Donaldson from NSW Trustee & Guardian, said she is really happy with this event. she said NSW Trustee & Guardian has done a lot of event through Sound of hope, “now a lot of people come to us for heritage management.”
“A lot of people come to ask questions, and took our materials with them, we are running out of things to give away.”
After working with us for one year, Ms Donaldson said people have better understanding about NSW Trustee now, “their questions are more specific, I think what we are doing is working, a lot of them have heard our radio show and had some preliminary understanding, they are now ready to go deeper and start to make some plan.”
Ms Donaldson reminds people should prepare early, “In Australia, heritage and will is an important area, so people must seek professional legal advice. Furthermore, people should plan ahead, it would be too late when you are not able to do it.”
Ying Zhu from NSW Communities and Justice said, this event is great, a lot of participants.
Ms Zhou said, through working with Sound of Hope for the past two years, a lot of people now knew about foster family, and knew that they do child rescue and protections, it has gotten a lot more publicity in the Chinese community.
Ms Zhu would like to call for more Chinese family to register to become foster family, “everyone can help these vulnerable kids among us, and spread some love to them.”