About
About ECA
A volunteer-run association bringing Eritrean-Australians together — for celebration, for support, and for the generation coming up behind us.
Modernist architecture in Asmara, a UNESCO World Heritage city · photo credits
The Eritrean Community in Australia (ECA) is a not-for-profit incorporated association based in Melbourne. We exist to give Eritrean-Australians a place to find each other — at a festival, at a soccer game, at a funeral, or on the phone when someone needs a hand.
We serve anyone in the community who wants to be part of it: families who arrived decades ago, people who arrived last year, and young people born here who are working out what their heritage means to them. Partners, friends and neighbours of the community are welcome at almost everything we run.
How ECA started
ECA began the way most community organisations do — informally. Families who had settled in Melbourne were already gathering for holidays, weddings and funerals, and already helping each other with the practical business of arriving somewhere new: finding a rental, understanding a letter, getting a child into a school.
What was missing was continuity. When someone moved away or got busy, whatever they had been quietly holding together tended to stop. Becoming a formal association was a way of making that work outlast any one person — a committee that changes hands, a bank account that is accountable to members, and a calendar people can plan around.
Since incorporating, ECA has grown into the annual Community Festival, a youth mentoring program, a scholarship fund and the help directory on this site. All of it is still run by volunteers, and all of it still depends on people offering time.
This section is a placeholder written from the general shape of how community associations form. Replace it with ECA's real history — who started it, when, and why — in src/pages/about.astro.
What we do
Events and celebrations
The Community Festival, Independence Day, Martyrs' Day, Ramadan iftars and both Eids — the gatherings that keep people connected across a year.
Youth programs
Mentoring, an annual scholarship fund, sports days and career nights for young Eritrean-Australians finding their footing.
Community support
A directory of practical help, plus people who will sit with you and go through a form, a letter or an appointment.
Advocacy and partnership
Representing the community with councils, schools and other organisations, and partnering where it helps our members.
How we're run
ECA is an incorporated association registered in Victoria. A committee of volunteers, elected by members at the Annual General Meeting, is responsible for running it. Nobody is paid.
The committee meets monthly. Financial records are presented to members at the AGM, and members vote on committee positions and any significant decisions about the association's direction. If you want a say in how ECA is run,becoming a member is how you get one. You can see everything we are working on, including what has stalled, on theprojects board.
The committee
Elected for 2026
President
Overall direction and representing ECA publicly
Vice President
Supports the President and steps in when needed
Treasurer
Finances, budgets and reporting to members
Secretary
Meetings, records and member communications
Youth Officer
Mentoring, scholarships and youth programs
Community Support Officer
The help directory and one-to-one support
Past committees
Everyone who has held a position, year by year. The association is the sum of these people's time.
2025
President · Vice President · Treasurer · Secretary · Youth Officer
Names not yet published
2024
President · Treasurer · Secretary · General member · General member
Names not yet published
Names are added as former committee members confirm they are happy to appear. If you served on a committee and would like your name shown — or removed —email us.
Contact us
Everything reaches the same inbox — picking the closest match just helps us sort it and get it to the right person faster. We usually reply within a few days.
- General enquiriesAnything that doesn't fit below.
- MembershipJoining, renewing, or trouble signing in.
- EventsTickets, stalls, performing, or running something with us.
- Volunteering & referencesHelping out, or asking us for a reference.
- Community supportHelp with forms, appointments or finding a service.
- Partnerships & mediaSponsorship, press, or working together.
Details
Melbourne, Victoria
ABN 00 000 000 000
Incorporated in Victoria