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Australia has a vibrant and growing Jewish community. It is estimated there are approximately 110,000 Jews living in Australia, with the Former Soviet Union and South Africa continuing to serve as significant sources of new members of our community. In common with many other Jewish communities in democratic, culturally diverse societies, Australian Jews are concerned with the continuity of the community, particularly via Jewish education, but also through active policies of inclusion of all Jews in organised Jewish life. We feel our close and passionate relations with the Israeli people both reflect and assist our desire to develop a strong and vibrant Jewish community. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) is the peak, elected representative organisation of the Jewish community, with the presidency reverting from Melbourne to Sydney and back to Melbourne at the completion of each 2-3 year presidential term. Taking advantage of modern communications technology, the national executive of the community's roof body represents the geographic and demographic nature of Jewry on the island continent after almost fifty years of rotation of complete Executive Committees between the major Jewish centres of Sydney and Melbourne. As a well established and relatively secure Jewish community, Australian Jewry is conscious of its responsibilities to smaller communities in the region. The Asia Pacific Jewish Association, based in Melbourne, provides an array of services to Jewish communities and families in a region marked by tremendous distances, cultural diversity and a general lack of understanding of Jewish history and contemporary Jewish concerns.