H.E Francesca Tardioli, the newly arrived Italian Ambassador to Australia visited Co.As.It. Sydney, the leading Italian community organisation in NSW. The Ambassador, accompanied by the new Italian Consul General Andrea De Felip and Italian Senator Francesco Giacobbe, travelled to the heart of “little Italy” in Leichhardt to meet with President Lorenzo Fazzini, Vice President Lou Bacchiella, Treasurer Giovanni De Bellis, General Manager Thomas Camporeale and Senior managers to discuss the work of Co.As.It. and future plans for the organisation.
Before the official meeting the Ambassador was taken on a tour of Co.As.It. head office in Leichhardt, “Casa d’Italia”, an iconic three level building on Norton Street with both the Italian and Australia flag adorning its façade.
“Co.As.It. has over 200 staff and we have assisted tens of thousands of Italians for the past 50 years and will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the new generations of Italian Australians”, says Lorenzo Fazzini, Co.As.It. President.
Community Services Manager, Maria Angelatos, presented community services programs including Home Care Packages, Home Help Services, Social Support Group Program, Allied Health and Therapy Services – Social Work, Community Visitors Scheme, Mental Health Program, Drug and Alcohol Program, Gambling Help Program, Youth and Family Program, Welcome to Australia Program. Co.As.It. has also been a part of a range of Health Campaigns throughout the year including; 10,000 Italian Roses Project, Multicultural Dementia Campaign Project, Diabetes NSW Campaign and Bowel Screening Campaign.
Co.As.It. took this opportunity to highlight to the Ambassador some of the issues the organisation faces as a result of the current aged care platform, My Aged Care.
“From January 2019 to December 2019 we have received 186 enquiries for an aged care enquires. We have referred these consumers to My Aged Care for an assessment and they are all still waiting for an outcome”, says Thomas Camporeale, Co.As.It. General Manager
Sara Villella, Principal of the Italian Bilingual School, then went on to present Language Services programs including; Insertion Program, Out of School Hours (OSH) Program, Story time per Bambini Program, Out of School Hour Care Program (OOSH), Heritage tours, Italian classes for Adults, Italian for Health, Aged Care and Corporate Sector and CELI certification program.
“Timing of the communication of funding from Italy is critical for the Insertion program in schools and the implementation and success of significant projects in NSW”, says Thomas Camporeale, Co.As.It. General Manager
At the end of the meeting the Ambassador was taken on a tour of Co.As.It. Italian Forum Cultural Centre. The Ambassador has also planned a visit to the Italian Bilingual School (IBS) in Meadowbank in the coming months.
