This in-person workshop series, delivered by Enliven Victoria in partnership with SEPHU, builds practical skills in inclusive engagement, co-design, evaluation, and trust-building with multicultural communities. Tailored to local context and delivered across four SEPHU subregions, each 4–5 hour session is designed for professionals in health, community, and social services. Participants will gain tools to improve cultural responsiveness, strengthen engagement practice, and contribute to more equitable and community-informed health and wellbeing outcomes.

Purpose and objectives

This workshop series is designed to build the capability of organisations across the SEPHU catchment to engage more effectively, inclusively, and equitably with culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Participants will:

• Strengthen their understanding of inclusive and culturally responsive engagement practices
• Build practical skills in co-design, trust-building, and participatory evaluation
• Apply learnings to improve community trust, support equity in service delivery, and embed inclusive practices across programs and partnerships

This training supports SEPHU’s broader goals of improving health outcomes through community-led, place-based, and culturally safe prevention initiatives.

Target audience

These workshops are tailored for:

• Professionals from health, community, and social service organisations within the SEPHU catchment
• Staff involved in community outreach, stakeholder engagement, program delivery, and partnership development

Suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners seeking to deepen their engagement capabilities in multicultural and community settings.

Key learning topics

Workshops are structured around four core themes:

• Foundations of Community Engagement
  • Inclusive and equitable engagement principles
  • Reflections from community leaders on power, trust, and lived experience
• Tools for Community Engagement
  • Practical tools for culturally responsive and strengths-based engagement
  • Case study: Own It Campaign (SEPHU and multicultural partners)
• Evaluation Techniques for Diverse Communities
  • Culturally appropriate and inclusive evaluation approaches
  • Strategies for improving participation and feedback
  • Activity: When Words Matter – improving evaluation language and design
• Building Trust in Place and with Community Leaders
  • Strategies for local, place-based trust-building
  • The role of cultural brokers and community leaders
  • Case study: COVID-19 learnings from the Multicultural Community Engagement Network

Additional components include:

• Social Network Analysis (SNA): Mapping engagement ecosystems, identifying gaps and collaboration opportunities
• Catchment-Specific Insights: Regional diversity profiles and local engagement trends to inform practice

Training format

• Mode: In-person
• Duration: 4–5 hours per session
• Participants: 20–25 per workshop
• Regions: Delivered in four locations across SEPHU’s subregions
• Facilitators: Led by Enliven Victoria, with contributions from SEPHU, community leaders, and SNA experts

Participants will complete a pre-workshop registration form to inform local content tailoring based on context, experience, and needs.

Dates and schedule

• Tue 10/2 - Frankston - for orgs across LGAs of Frankston Mornington and Peninsula
• Thu 12/2 - Cranbourne - for orgs across LGAs of Dandenong, Casey, and Cardinia
• Tue 17/2 - Montone - for orgs across LGAs of Kingston, Bayside, and Monash
• Thu 19/2 - Caulfield North - for orgs across LGAs of Stonnington, Port Phillip, Glen Eira

Facilitators

• Enliven Victoria – specialist organisation in health literacy, cultural responsiveness, and inclusive engagement

Additional contributions from:

• SEPHU staff providing catchment-specific data and strategy context
• Community leaders sharing lived experience
• SNA specialists supporting mapping and systems thinking

Practical Application

• Sessions are grounded in local examples, dialogue, and real-world engagement challenges
• Participants will engage in interactive activities and collaborative problem-solving
• Take-home resources and tools are provided for immediate use within teams and projects
• Local tailoring ensures sessions are relevant, actionable, and community-informed

Benefits

Participants will:

• Strengthen confidence and skills in engaging with multicultural communities
• Improve the cultural responsiveness of their organisation’s engagement practice
• Apply inclusive evaluation approaches and improve use of feedback
• Foster cross-sector collaboration and build engagement networks
• Contribute to more equitable, connected, and community-led approaches to health and wellbeing

Registration and contact information

• Maximum Participants: 25 per session

To book, please register here. For any other enquiries, please contact Ken Young, Consumer and Community Engagement Partnerships Lead at Kenneth.Young@monashhealth.org  or 0408 341 795.