Happy Independence Day India! FINACT wishes Australia-India friendship continues to grow to new heights, bringing prosperity and peace to the region. 

ACT in Lockdown

For the first time in 12 months, we are back in a lockdown. This is unfortunate but not unexpected. ACT government has acted swiftly to contain the spread of COVID-19 infection in the community. Good to see both the Federal and ACT governments are working together to respond to the latest breakout of COVID-19 cases in Canberra. 

FINACT continues to play a critical role in assisting Canberrans (and Ken Behrens!) in many ways, including providing accurate and timely information on the current situation, financial assistance available to families from Federal and ACT governments, assistance to the community, etc.

Please follow advice from ACT Health and take it seriously. Stay home unless it is essential to travel, in which case follow the rules strictly. Stay calm and seek help when needed. Most importantly, get vaccinated! This should help us to come out of restrictions sooner than later. Do the right thing and stay safe Canberra! We’re here to help!

FINACT elected a new Committee!

I take this opportunity to thank the FINACT members in electing me and the rest of the members to lead FINACT for the next 12 months. We will do our best to continue the strong foundation laid by the past presidents in making FINACT a go-to organisation in providing valuable services to all Canberrans.

We look forward to meeting member organisations and community leaders, seeking suggestions and issues that need to be addressed, ensuring community harmony. We should not take good things in life for granted. We should look for ways to improvise. 

Many thanks and appreciation to the outgoing Committee

On behalf of the new Committee, I thank Dr Sunita Dhindsa and all the members of the outgoing Committee for the outstanding service to the community in the last two years!  

Shanti Reddy

FINACT President

Please do not open/click on messages on your mobile received from any unknown numbers.

Thousands of Australians targeted by Flubot malware phone scam 

Annual General Meeting - New Executive Committee

FINACT General Council elected the following Executive Committee members at the Annual General Meeting held on 25 July 2021:

1. President - Dr Shanti Reddy
2. Vice President - Mrs Sejal Patel
3. Secretary - Mr Rahul Ravindranathan
4. Treasurer - Mr Balinder Singh
5. Public Officer - Mr Ravi Krishnamurthy

EC has co-opted following positions:

1. Women’s Representative - Ms Divya Ravikumar
2. Community Coordinator - Mr Praneeth Galla
3. Cultural Coordinator - Mrs Kanchan Vaikyl
4. Youth and Sports Representatives - Mr Ashwin Padmanabhan (UCIA) and Ms. Soniya Jeena (ANU-InSA) 
5. AusIndia Coordinator - Mr Rattesh Gumber

If you or you know someone who has migrated to Australia in the PAST 15 YEARS, here is an opportunity to share cultural experiences in an ANU survey for an Honours’ Psychological Thesis!

Responses are non-identifiable and confidential.

Complete this 15-20 minute online survey to share your experience or forward this link to someone you know who has migrated to Australia in past 15 years: https://bit.ly/3lFuGrS

The findings of this study will provide great insights into the cultural experiences of those who have recently migrated to Australia. As well as be super helpful for my honours thesis!

So if you or someone you know can participate, please complete and/or share.

Thank you so much in advance, it is greatly appreciated!

Tanvi Nangrani 

Your input/event for FINACT newsletter is appreciated and welcome

Newsletter for communities

You will appreciate that newsletters are critical instrument and platform to meet our functional, operational and strategic communication needs. We have been using this infrastructure for long to effectively interact with you.

Funding under the digital grants from the ACT Government has further boosted our capabilities and confidence in meeting our objectives. We thank the ACT Government for their generosity that enables us to extend our tools to our member associations. Please see below for more information on how you can use this feature.

As you know FINACT newsletter is generally published once a month. If our member associations like to publish their organisation's event in the FINACT newsletter, please provide the following information:

• Event name, date, time and venue followed by text
• Text in word format (not PDF)
• Text within 150 words
• One image/picture if needed.

If you have a flyer ready for the event then FINACT can also publish the flyer in the newsletter.

You can submit this information at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by the last week of month - marked as For FINACT Newsletter.

What else FINACT can do for you?

We acknowlege that not all associations can afford to have mailing lists or tools to regularly interact/communicate with their members. FINACT has tools and capacity to be of your assistance. You may subscribe your members on our subscription page.

Sponsorship Appreciated for FINACT Events

We understand that one of the main reasons to sponsor a tournament and any event could be to promote one’s business and generate goodwill in the community.  Sponsoring the FINACT events will give you brand recognition among the fastest-growing community group of Indians in the ACT and increase sales or traffic to sponsor’s website through their banner on our website (www.finact.net.au ).

Indians are the fastest growing population in Australia. This has resulted in increased air traffic between India and Australia; increased telecommunication; and enhanced trade and cultural ties. For sporting events - players and their supporters make playing cricket a fiercely competitive and memorable event. They will promote the game and use your services to show their appreciation.

In addition to providing an excellent opportunity to connect with the Indian sub-continent communities, the FINACT events' sponsorship will:

• enable sponsors to reach out to wider community groups in ACT and surrounds
• fulfil sponsors business objectives and attract sizeable potential customers
• provide a lasting impression of their business
• promote sports and physical activities in the community
• motivate and assist young players participating in the tournament and community activities
• attract favourable feedback from organisers and media partners
• generate great feel-good stories in Indian community and back to India and neighbouring countries and
• fulfil sponsor’s corporate and social responsibilities

If you are willing to or interested in sponsoring our events, please contact us soon.