In 1978, Ulla Bartels, started working as a volunteer home tutor, teaching conversational English to a recently arrived Laotian refugee. Within a few weeks, Ulla's student became a class of twenty. As the student's trust of Ulla grew, they began to ask her assistance with a wide range of settlement issues such as unemployment advice, tenancy advocacy, assistance with filling out all sorts of government forms, etc.

Ulla's house became an office, and she gradually enlisted other volunteers to help with the workload, and attracted services such as the Adult Migrant Education Service to Carramar to provide English classes. Later on, the group of volunteers formed a management committee and developed a constitution so that they could apply for government funds. The group called itself the South-East Asian Community Assistance Centre (SEACA).

During 1980, SEACA received a grant from the Western Sydney Area Assistance Scheme to employ a part-time Coordinator, and Fairfield City Council permitted the group to use an office in the Cabramatta Civic Centre.

Over the next few years, the organisation grew in size as it became involved in a wide range of services and issues, and received funding for a social worker, bilingual welfare workers, a youth development officer and a part-time community worker to continue to work in the Carramar area.

The organisation also changed its name to Cabramatta Community Centre (CCC) in recognition of the wide variety of cultural backgrounds of the people who accessed the Centre and lived in the area.

In 1995 Fairfield East Community Organisation ( the original Carramar service), and Lotus House (the Indo-Chinese Youth Women's Refuge) became independent of CCC.

Today, Cabramatta Community Centre is a very large and diverse community organisation.

Click here for photos of the early days of CCC.