Prima Nota

Prima Nota was very pleased to attend the launch of Embolden’s Strategic Plan 2027–2030: Leading Lasting Change as an Associate Member of Embolden.

Our connection with Embolden grew through We Listen And We Don’t Judge, Prima Nota’s peer-support initiative built around listening without judgement, reducing isolation and helping people connect with appropriate support when needed:

https://primanota.org.au/welisten/

It was a meaningful afternoon of learning, reflection and connection. We were grateful to hear from Minister Alice Rolls, Alex Joseph JP and Maria Hagias, with Sareena Saunders as MC and Taylor Power welcoming guests to Country.

We also especially valued the conversations beyond the formal program- including a wonderful chat with Gillian Lewis from Wake Up To Change, and meeting Shelly Jones, whose beautiful performance was one of the highlights of the event.

For community organisations like ours, relationships with specialist services matter. Strong networks help make support more visible, trusted and accessible for people from migrant and multicultural communities.

Thank you to Embolden for bringing together specialist services, Associate Members and people with lived experience around a shared commitment to lasting change.

We are very glad to be part of this network. 💛

As Rosh Hashanah begins, Prima Nota wishes a happy and peaceful New Year to everyone in our community who is celebrating.

May 5787 bring sweetness, good health, hope and new beginnings- and may the year ahead give us more opportunities to come together, support one another, and build communities where everyone can feel that they belong.

Shana Tova U’Metuka- may it be a good and sweet year. 🍯🍎

We are delighted to announce that a presentation co-authored by Prima Nota Chair Nina Iouguina and Dr Shawn O’Donnell has been accepted for the FECCA 2026 Conference in Canberra.

The presentation brings together two complementary perspectives.

Dr O’Donnell draws on more than 30 years of medical practice with marginalised and Indigenous communities across Canada, Australia, Ireland and the United States. At times, he was the only medical doctor serving communities across hundreds of kilometres in northern Canada.

Nina brings more than 20 years of community work, extensive board and executive governance experience, and a background in data analysis, evaluation and leadership. Her own life has crossed the former Soviet Union, the United States, Canada and Australia, giving her a deeply personal as well as professional understanding of migration, institutions and belonging.

Together, they examine whether behaviours commonly attributed to “cultural difference” may also be shaped by poverty, housing insecurity, trauma, institutional distrust, difficulty navigating systems and the absence of belonging.

Their presentation asks an important question:

How can services respond effectively if structural marginalisation is mistaken for culture?

We are enormously proud to see this important contribution joining the national conversation on multiculturalism, equity and belonging.

Happy Father’s Day from Prima Nota.

Russian composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff was one of the major figures of classical music in the early twentieth century. But behind the famous music was also a father who, in his forties, moved abroad with his wife and two daughters and had to rebuild his professional and family life in a new country.

More than a century later, that part of his story feels familiar to many immigrant families in Australia.

Today, 8.8 million Australians- 32% of the population- were born overseas. Behind that number are millions of individual stories: changing countries, rebuilding careers and communities, carrying language, memory and culture forward, and creating a new sense of home for the next generation.

On Father’s Day, we celebrate the fathers, grandfathers and father figures who have been part of those journeys- and all the fathers who help make a place feel like home.

Happy Father’s Day. 💙

We are incredibly proud to share that Prima Nota Inc is now a registered Australian charity, formally registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), effective from 16 April 2025.

This is much more than a new title.

Charity registration is not something an organisation simply declares. It follows a formal regulatory assessment against Australian charity law- including an organisation’s charitable purposes and public benefit, not-for-profit character, governing framework and compliance with the ACNC Governance Standards.

For more than a year, our volunteer team has worked towards this milestone: developing our governance, policies, documentation and organisational processes, carefully addressing our regulatory obligations, and building Prima Nota on a strong and accountable foundation.

And we did this work ourselves.

Behind today’s announcement are countless hours of research, preparation, discussion and meticulous work by our committee- alongside everything else our team has continued to deliver in the community.

Registered charities also accept ongoing obligations of governance, reporting, transparency and accountability. We regard that responsibility- and the public trust that comes with it- as a privilege.

To our wonderful team: this one belongs to all of us. ❤️

What a privilege to join the African Communities Council of South Australia for the ACCSA Art Exhibition. ❤️

Prima Nota was also represented by its committee members Aliona Kosloff and Brenton DeLurant, who spent the afternoon enjoying the work of wonderful artists including Nikita Mistry (Nikita Mistry | Portrait Art For Sale) , Adhis Cole and Piath Thuc, and connecting with artists and community leaders from across Adelaide.

Beautiful art, great conversations and genuine cultural exchange- exactly the kind of connections we want to keep building.

Thank you to Mary Jepngetich Langat and ACCSA for the warm invitation and welcome. We’re looking forward to more! ❤️

We’re happy to share a new opportunity from Multicultural Communities Council of SA (MCCSA)
Flourishing in South Australia: Digital Skills and Community Participation.

The free structured Adult Community Education course is designed to help women from multicultural communities strengthen their:

• digital and communication skills
• education and employment pathways
• confidence in professional settings

📅 Every Thursday, 3 September- 10 December 2026
⏰ 10:00 am- 2:00 pm
📍 113 Gilbert Street, Adelaide SA 5000

Places are limited to 12 participants, and eligibility criteria apply.

For more information or to register:
📧 [email protected]

We encourage women in our community who may benefit from this program to have a look and get in touch with MCCSA. 🌿

On 13 August, we held our first information session with Services Australia for South Australia’s Russian-speaking community. It was an incredibly informative and practical session. We learned about different payments and support available to families, JobSeeker, pensions, what can happen to certain payments when travelling overseas, and importantly, how to access Services Australia information and assistance in Russian language.

The size of the group turned out to be just right. Everyone could listen to the general presentation and ask questions, while there was also time afterwards for people to speak with Roxanne individually- either independently or with the assistance of an interpreter - about their own circumstances.

A huge thank you to Roxanne Brinkies, Multicultural Services Officer at Services Australia, for sharing so much useful information, patiently answering our many questions, and making time for individual conversations.

We are also incredibly grateful to Jelena Lavrinovic, NAATI Certified Interpreter, for providing Russian-language interpreting throughout the session. Jelena’s professionalism, warmth and gentle approach helped make everyone feel comfortable and welcome.

Jelena can also be contacted directly for interpreting and translation services, including assistance with official documents:

📞 0467 490 616
✉️ [email protected]

Thank you to Multicultural Communities Council of SA for generously providing the space and making us feel so welcome.

And a special thank you to Terra Fiera Studio | Crafts & Workshops- fresh, delicious and prepared with so much care. ❤️

We would love to continue these conversations with Services Australia. If there is a topic you would like covered at a future session, something you would like explained in more detail, or information about Australian government services that you find difficult to access in Russian, please let us know in the comments, by private message, or at [email protected].

Your questions will help us plan what comes next. 😊

Last Sunday, 9 August, Prima Nota was grateful to take part in a Listening Circle facilitated by Behishta Anwar as part of the Australian Civil Society Coalition on Women Peace and Security.

Sitting with women leaders from different communities was a valuable reminder that we do not have to agree on everything to work towards the same goal: peace and security for women and children, safety for our families, and communities where people can live without fear.

At a time of growing division and polarisation, tensions can also emerge between communities themselves. Jewish, Muslim, migrant, refugee and other communities may experience fear, grief, discrimination and insecurity in very different ways. Those experiences are not identical- but they all deserve to be heard.

That is why spaces like this matter. When we sit at the same table, listen to one another and recognise both our differences and our shared concerns, it becomes harder to reduce each other to labels.

Thank you to Behishta Anwar for bringing us together, to the Australian Refugee Association for their warm hospitality, and to all the women who shared their experiences.

The work of the WPS Coalition is especially important because these conversations do not end in the room- they help bring women’s community voices into the broader conversation about peace, security and social cohesion.

Prima Nota joins the wider South Australian community in unequivocally condemning the attack on the Semaphore Workers Club and the use of N**i symbols to deface its premises.

N**ism is inseparable from racism, antisemitism, persecution and the dehumanisation of people because of who they are. The appearance of these symbols in our community should concern all of us.

Prima Nota is home to people from many different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Some of us come from communities whose families have experienced the devastating consequences of N**ism firsthand. We know how important it is to stand together when hatred is directed at any part of our community.

No one should face hostility, intimidation or exclusion because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, language or cultural background.

We stand in solidarity with the Semaphore Workers Club and with all those who reject hatred and division.
There is no place for N**ism in South Australia. There is no place for ethnic hatred in our community.

My statement on the attack on the Semaphore Workers Club and the South Australian trade union movement.

You can stand in solidarity with them this afternoon from 3.30pm at 93 Esplanade, Semaphore.