With a rich 70-year history, the "Polish Community Council of Australia" (PCCA), interchangeably known as "Rada Naczelna Polonii Australijskiej" (RNPA), is a nation-wide umbrella authority empowered by its member organisations to represent and act on behalf of the Polish Community of Australia, engaging with all tiers of government in Australia and internationally.
PCCA / RNPA provides a central point of representation for all Polish immigrants and their descendants whose interests primarily lie in perpetuating the Polish language, traditions and cultural heritage in their adopted homeland, Australia.
The Constitution of RNPA articulates its commitment to “upholding the values of democracy, freedom, justice and respecting human rights”, whilst its aims and objectives are:
(a) to represent the Polish community in Australia, defend its rights, promote its interests and provide support to Polish organisational activities within Australia;
(b) to liaise and co-operate with people, institutions and organisations in Poland;
(c) to promote the Polish language, traditions and culture in Australia;
(d) to raise awareness of Poland, its culture, history and current position in Australian society by promoting Polish literature, music and all forms of the arts;
(e) to raise awareness of the contribution of Polish migrants to the wellbeing of Australia and of Polish cultural heritage in Australia;
(f) to co-operate with organisations from outside the Polish community in Australia and abroad, whose aims are consistent with the principles, aims and objectives of the Council;
(g) to promote loyalty to Australia within the Polish community;
(h) to encourage and assist Australians of Polish origin to actively participate in all spheres of Australian political and social life;
(i) to uphold Christian ethics and values in the Polish Australian community;
(j) to support Polish youth developmental and educational activities;
(k) to act as a forum for the development of Polish community activities in Australia;
(l) to raise funds and establish funds and foundations, and to make gifts, donations, and loans for any purpose that is consistent with the aims of the Council;
(m) to invest any income not immediately required for fulfilling any of its objectives; and
(n) to do all such other acts and things as may appear incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above objectives.
