Educational and Cultural Office
The Education and Culture Office at the Embassy of Italy in Australia has jurisdiction in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It coordinates, in these territories, the various activities aimed at promoting the teaching of the Italian language and the diffusion of our culture in the country.
The Education and Culture Office is currently directed by Valentina Biguzzi.
The Office’s role is mainly to coordinate the teaching of Italian both at school (K-12) and university level (Italian departments) and to draw up agreements with the governments of the various states, in order to implement and consolidate the dissemination of the Italian language and culture.
Cooperazione Linguistica
Various agreements have been signed in the linguistic and cultural sphere between Italy and Australia. The reference framework agreement is the Cultural Cooperation Programme between Italy and Australia of 8 May 2015. On the basis of this document, Memoranda of Understandings were then signed with the Education Departments of the individual States.
In the MOUs, a number of strategic actions are identified, such as exchanges, twinning and visits at all levels (students, teachers, managers, administrative staff), scholarships, joint projects, support for quality teaching with training courses and the availability of resources to draw on, strengthening the Language Assistant programme by facilitating the arrival of young graduates in Foreign Language Teaching, and much more.
Bilingual schools and universities
The formation and expansion of bilingual schools continues to remain a real priority for the Italian Education in the World System in Australia. There are currently four bilingual schools in Australia: Yarralumla Primary School in Canberra, South Brunwick Primary School, Footscray Primary School, and Footscray Primary School in Melbourne and the Italian Bilingual School in Sydney Italian Bilingual School. One of the most interesting and ever-expanding approaches to the teaching of Italian, in use at these schools, is the CLIL approach, which in Australia is also referred to as the Immersion programme, which involves non-linguistic disciplines (DNL) taught in Italian.
At university level, Italian is taught in 20 universities, with specific degrees, doctoral or post-doctoral programmes, or even simply with secondary courses for students of various faculties.
Cultural Cooperation
In synergy with the many subjects present on the territory and with the Italian community, the Education and Culture Office implements a series of actions for the promotion and marketing of Italian culture, aimed at users of Italian origin, but also at people with different backgrounds, eager to get closer to Italian culture and to come into contact not only with Made in Italy, but also with the roots of Western culture.
The great diffusion of Italian culture is also due to the presence of an important Italian community in Australia, consisting of more than one million people.
In order to promote cultural events that cover the various aspects of our ‘Italian way of life’, the Education and Culture Office has constant and constructive contacts with all the members of the Italian network in the country, as well as with various associations, such as the Accademia della Cucina Italiana. With their collaboration, events are organised to spread Italian culture and Made in Italy.
The Office also collaborates with the ACT and Federal Governments, with prestigious Australian institutions, such as the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the National Museum of Australia, the National Film and Sound Archive, the National Gallery, with other Diplomatic Missions and with the European Union, to plan and implement joint events.
Among the most significant cultural events are those promoted annually by MAECI: the Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo (SLIM), the Settimana della Cucina Italiana nel Mondo (SCIM), the Fare Cinema film festival and the Settimana del Design. Within the framework of the Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo (Italian Language Week in the World), the national conference of Italian teachers in Australia, an event now in its seventh edition, is particularly noteworthy.
Finally, the participation of Sistema Italia in Australia in various cultural initiatives is lively and constant, including the Multicultural Festival, the International Music Festival and the Italian Film Festival.