A strategic briefing for advisors shaping Australia’s political, policy, media, and philanthropic future.
Why SOMA 2026 exists
Multicultural Australia is no longer a marginal issue or a side portfolio, it is the state of the nation.
Yet advisors across government, opposition, crossbench, media, philanthropy, and civil society are still forced to make high‑stakes decisions without a shared, credible, and current picture of multicultural power, pressure points, and political reality.
The State of Multicultural Affairs (SOMA) 2026 is a closed‑door, advisor‑level briefing designed to fill that gap.
SOMA is not a conference. It is not a celebration.
It is a strategic intelligence intervention, grounded in data, lived political experience, media analysis, and community power mapping, built specifically for people who advise those in power.
Who SOMA 2026 is for
SOMA 2026 is designed for:
- Ministerial, shadow ministerial, and crossbench advisors
- Senior policy advisors and chiefs of staff
- Political party strategists and campaign directors
- Media, narrative, and communications advisors
- Philanthropic and foundation program leads
- Senior public servants working at the intersection of policy and community impact
If your role involves anticipating risk, reading political signals, managing fallout, or shaping reform, SOMA is for you.
What advisors will gain
1. A real picture of multicultural Australia in 2026
Not demographics. Not platitudes.
You’ll receive a grounded assessment of:
- Where multicultural political power is consolidating — and where it is fragmenting
- Which communities are mobilising quietly, and which are disengaging entirely
- How trust in institutions has shifted post‑election, post‑crisis, and post‑culture‑war cycles
2. Risk signals advisors are currently missing
SOMA 2026 surfaces early warning indicators that rarely appear in briefing notes.
This is designed to help advisors prevent avoidable crises, not manage them after the fact.
3. Multicultural power mapping — beyond token engagement
We move past advisory councils and roundtables.
Advisors will be walked through:
- How multicultural influence actually flows (informal, relational, digital, transnational)
- Why some engagement strategies consistently fail
- What credible, durable influence looks like in a multicultural political environment
4. Strategic implications for policy, politics, and narrative – most importantly Social Cohesion
SOMA 2026 directly addresses:
- Policy design risks and blind spots
- Electoral and reputational consequences of mis‑steps
- Media framing errors that escalate rather than contain issues
- Social cohesion strategies
Advisors leave with clear implications for how they brief up, plan ahead, and intervene smarter.
What makes SOMA different
- Advisor‑only by design. This is not a public forum.
- Independent.
- Data‑informed, politically literate, culturally grounded.
- Delivered by people who have operated inside real political and media pressure environments.
SOMA is built by COMPELL, drawing on work across political reform, media accountability, and multicultural leadership systems.
Format
- Closed‑door briefing (online-only)
- Curated advisor cohort
- Strategic presentation
Detailed agenda and location are shared with confirmed participants.
Request Video Recording
Attendance at SOMA 2026 was invite-only to ensure the integrity of the briefing environment.
If you are an advisor, or lead a team of advisors, you can request a video recording below. If you are not an advisor, but believe you would materially benefit from SOMA 2026, you can make a request as well.
Australian government | Adult Civics education | Multicultural Women in Politics | Multicultural Women Political Candidate Training Program | Civic Capabilities | Women for Election | Pathways to Politics | Governance | Multicultural representation | Social Cohesion | CALD communities | Media Literacy | FECCA | ECCV | Scanlon Foundation | VMC