Queensland Multicultural Awards winners 2014
The 2014 winners were announced on 30 August 2014 at a gala dinner attended by 280 people. For the first time since the awards began in 1990, tickets were available to attend this prestigious event, keeping in the theme of this year’s Queensland Multicultural Week, Everyone’s Invited.
Corporate and community organisations were encouraged to host a table and invite their clients and stakeholders from multicultural communities to be a part of this exceptional networking opportunity.
The spectacular 2014 awards trophies were designed by artist Dusan Bojic a self-taught and self-represented artist whose goal is to cross-pollinate different spectrums of creativity. Each trophy is an individual piece of glass art, hand painted and embellished with crystals. When lit from behind the crystals luminate and fill the room with colour.
Queensland Multicultural Ambassador
Award recipient: Mrs Dawn Elizabeth Hay, Rockhampton
Mrs Dawn Hay has been a volunteer for the past 50 years and has assumed many roles in her sustained effort to promote multiculturalism in the Central Queensland region.
As the current President of the Central Queensland Multicultural Association, Dawn has been integral to the successful delivery of a range of events and programs that support an inclusive community. She has worked tirelessly to increase community understanding around a multicultural Queensland and was the driving force behind the recent Taste of the World Festival.
Dawn has encouraged people from multiculatural communities to settle in the region and has led significant educational and employment initiatives to make a difference for all those who choose to make Central Queensland home.
Award recipient: Professor Shahjahan Khan, Toowoomba
Professor Khan has helped settle many refugees and Muslim international students into the community and supported their religious needs. He has also helped Muslims in Brisbane and the Gold Coast by giving Islamic lessons and lectures and providing valuable information on Islamic practices.
His sustained commitment to social harmony and advocacy for Queensland’s multicultural communities has been demonstrated by his many community roles and fundraising activities, including serving on government advisory committees, coordinating the Islamic Centre at the University of Southern Queensland, and serving as the Vice-President of the Islamic Council of Queensland.
Young Cultural Diversity Ambassador
Award recipient: Mr Paul Joseph, Woodridge
Mr Paul Joseph is 20 years old and a voluntary-leader and advocate for the rights of young multicultural Queenslanders. Paul was raised in a refugee camp in Sudan before coming to Australia in 2001.
Paul is currently studying a Bachelor of Business at Griffith University. He participated in the Follow My Lead Youth conference and then undertook a three month student and vocational placement in the Social Inclusion and Support Services Division of Access Community Services Ltd.
Paul is also a youth leader with the Queensland African Communities Council (QACC), has helped organise forums for the 2014 Africa Day Festival and represented the QACC at various forums.
Paul’s volunteer efforts have promoted a greater sense of belonging for newly arrived African community members. He is a passionate advocate on youth issues and an active and capable young ambassador for a multicultural Queensland.
Business (with 20 or more employees)
Award recipient: Littles Lawyers, Brisbane
Littles Lawyers provides cost-effective and efficient legal services for people from multicultural backgrounds. The firm is committed to ensuring fair and equitable justice for people who may have limited English and a lack of knowledge of the Australian legal system.
The firm employs legal staff from a variety of cultural backgrounds to ensure the provision of competent, culturally sensitive legal services to its clients. By harnessing multiculturalism through its Strategic Growth Plan, Littles Lawyers have rapidly expanded their operations and now has Irish, Chinese/Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, Indian and Vietnamese legal divisions.
Littles Lawyers has also maintained a unique work experience program for law students from non-English speaking backgrounds and plays a part in a variety of multicultural community events through an active sponsorship and participation program.
Entrepreneur
Award recipient: Mr Michael Nee, Eight Mile Plains
For the past 25 years Michael Nee has been the driving force behind the highly successful Michael’s Oriental Restaurant and Function Centre.
Beginning in 1989, Michael’s vision for the business has enabled him to develop the restaurant into a large function centre that trains and employs staff from a variety of multicultural backgrounds.
The enterprise builds cross cultural understanding by respecting the religious and cultural traditions and needs of the different groups that use the restaurant and function centre. By recently becoming 100 per cent halal, the restaurant has demonstrated a keen recognition and understanding of the needs and sensitivities of the local area’s Muslim population.
Michael is passionate about working with multicultural community groups such as the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) and Cambodia Vision, and has hosted a number of successful fundraising events for these groups.
Small Business
Award recipient: Red Chair, Sunshine Coast
Established in 2001, Red Chair is a Sunshine Coast-based performing arts and events management company that supports, promotes and produces multicultural works. The company is now nationally recognised as a major production and touring company for multicultural works.
Red Chair provides regular employment and showcase opportunities for multicultural artists in Queensland's music, dance and theatre sectors. The business specialises in the staging and management of social and cultural events including tours, conferences, corporate functions, product launches and performances.
Since 2011, Red Chair has also developed a community orchestra model which has been successfully used in a number of high profile and demanding performance settings, including the Woodford Folk Festival.
Education and Training
Award recipient: Australian City College, Springfield Central
Established in 2000, Australia City College (ACL) is a well-established Registered Training Organisation specialising in training students whose first language is not English. The College has distinguished itself as an innovative education provider to students from African, Middle Eastern or Asian backgrounds.
ACC engages students into the learning process to meet the challenges of ever-changing social and economic environment. This is done by adjusting assessment methods to stimulate multicultural students to gain a skill that is specific to their own cultural situations.
The College also adapts its training delivery to significantly reduce the adverse impacts, and learning difficulties that multicultural students who are new to Australia often encounter.
By adopting this sensitive approach, the College has distinguished itself as one of Queensland’s most innovative providers of niche education and training services. The success of the College is measured by its high rate of student graduations and the positive feedback it has received from industries employing its graduates.
Award recipient: Work & Welcome: Supporting migrants and refugees into employment, Brisbane
The Work & Welcome Program is a private school-based initiative delivered in partnership with the Multicultural Development Association in 14 workplaces throughout Queensland. This innovative program has achieved notable success with 80% of participants going onto to employment or further training on completion of the program.
The Work & Welcome Program, which was founded by Padua College teacher Mark Taylor in 1993, is funded entirely through voluntary staff donations.
It assists newly arrived refugees and migrants to find employment and focuses on achieving the best fit between the participant’s skills, interests and ambitions, and the host organisation’s ability to provide a supportive work environment.
Work & Welcome supports host organisations to navigate the complexities of cross-cultural engagement, and provides ongoing advice to the supporting staff and program participants alike.
Public Sector
Award recipient: State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane
The State Library of Queensland is dedicated to enriching the lives of all Queenslanders by creatively engaging people with information and knowledge.
Delivering a broad range of multicultural programs, the State Library offers:
- the LOTE collection
- Together We Grow
- Creative Community Computing
- Mobile Media Lab
- Sharing Stories
- Memories of a Forgotten People: Australian South Sea Islanders
- Brave New Welcome.
The State Library has implemented a range of workplace and human resource strategies, programs and policies which support, enhance and promote Queensland’s multiculturalism including the Multicultural Workforce Strategy 2012–16, Work & Welcome and the Multicultural Work Experience program.
Communications and Media
Award recipient: Multicultural Development Association (MDA) - Media and Communications Team, Brisbane
The Multicultural Development Association (MDA) media and communication team have made an outstanding contribution to the positive media portrayal of Queenslanders from multicultural backgrounds. The team has been instrumental in the marketing of Queensland’s iconic cultural events including the Luminous Lantern Parade and World Refugee Day.
The team at MDA have delivered more than 60 positive print articles, produced more than 30 radio interviews and have highlighted more than 10 different news stories that celebrated Queensland’s rich multiculturalism.
The team supports the vision of MDA by enabling greater reporting on the contribution multiculturalism makes to Queensland. The team also has a large presence on Social Media with on average 14,000 people engaging each week with them on their Facebook page.
Outstanding Volunteer (Greater Brisbane)
Award recipient: Ms Kamania Butler, Woodridge
Ms Kamania Butler has volunteered for a variety of agencies for over two years and has worked in the Logan area and has contributed significantly to a range of initiatives to support young, multicultural Queenslanders.
Kamania commenced volunteering in 2012 and now actively participates in the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network.
Kamania’s volunteering has made a significant impact on the community as well as enabling her own personal development and growth in her own confidence.
Kamania is a young active member of our community whose accomplishments demonstrate the benefits of volunteering. Her efforts have promoted a greater sense of belonging for the young people in her community.
Award recipient: Mr Surendra Prasad, Wishart
Mr Surendra Prasad has been an active community volunteer since immigrating to Australia in 1987. Surendra’s service demonstrates a sustained and long standing commitment to volunteering and to supporting multiculturalism in the community.
Surendra has served as a director on numerous boards and committees as well as organising the Seniors Multicultural Dinner during Seniors Week for past three consecutive years. He is Vice Chair and adviser of the Federation of Pacific Islanders Communities of Queensland. He was also instrumental in organising the first open air Diwali Festival in Brisbane in 2010.
Surendra has also served as a mentor with the Linking Leaders for Change Project and continues to make a direct and vital difference to the lives of those he assists in his community.
Outstanding Volunteer (Regional)
Award recipient: Mr Samuel Miszkowski, Gold Coast
Mr Samuel Miszkowski has been a long-term volunteer and advocate for multiculturalism on the Gold Coast. Samuel has championed the values of multiculturalism and social cohesion in Queensland, and as a business person he regularly commits his own time and money to initiate and support multicultural activities, including the Gold Coast Chanukah Festival.
Samuel was also a driving force behind establishing the Queensland Museum of Tolerance (QMOT) which is intended to offer interactive educational tools to examine the impact racism and prejudice globally, with a special focus on understanding the Holocaust.
Outstanding Community Organisation (Greater Brisbane)
Award recipient: Co.As.It. Community Services Inc, Albion
Co.As.It. is a well-respected and trusted not-for-profit charitable organisation that promotes multiculturalism through their aged and community care support programs. The organisation has a wide range of programs and initiatives including aged care support, an Italian language centre, various cultural events and cultural briefings for a wide range of mainstream service providers.
Since Co.As.It.’s inception in Brisbane in 1978, the organisation has expanded their support solely from the Italian community to incorporate other culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Much of the organisation’s initiatives are the result of the efforts and work of a dedicated team of volunteers and staff.
Co.As.It. now offers a wide range of programs and services aimed at assisting families and individuals including crisis intervention, advocacy, community education, counselling, and support for frail elderly and people with disabilities and their carers.
Outstanding Community Organisation (Regional)
Award recipient: Welcoming Intercultural Neighbours Inc, Gladstone
Welcoming Intercultural Neighbours Inc. (WIN) is a not-for-profit organisation that has successfully promoted the benefits of multiculturalism and delivered an impressive range of programs for Gladstone's multicultural community.
WIN’s projects include:
- English classes
- computer skills training
- first aid certifications
- information sessions
- the Gladstone Language Cafe
- the ESL support program
- volunteer programs
- cultural awareness training programs.
WIN is also involved in the delivery of the Gladstone Cultural Diversity Forum, social integration events and the Gladstone Multicultural Partnership.
Other notable initiatives include information sessions on health, education, and Australian law, as well as an advocacy service and Aussie Induction sessions which give new arrivals an insight into Australian customs and the Australian way of life.
WIN has received substantial funding support from QGC Pty Limited, the recipient of a special Minister’s Corporate Partnership Award.
Minister’s Award for Corporate Partnership
Award recipient: QGC Pty Ltd, Gladstone
QGC Pty Ltd is the recipient of the Minister’s Corporate Partnership Award for their generous financial support of Welcoming Intercultural Neighbours (WIN), a not-for-profit organisation that helps new residents and their families settle into the Gladstone region.
QGC Pty Ltd, a BG Group business, is a leading gas explorer and producer who has provided more than $550,000 in funding to support WIN implement a new strategic plan and deliver a range of community and corporate services to help newcomers settle into Gladstone and their new community.
Minister’s Award for Community Harmony
Award recipient: Mr Rajesh Sharma –Indian Mehfil, Ipswich
Mr Rajesh Sharma is the owner of three Indian restaurants called Indian Mehfil, which means ‘get together’, located in Brisbane city, Mount Gravatt and Ipswich. Mr Sharma is also the owner of Stumps Hotel in Ipswich, three bottle shops and a sports store in Ipswich.
Every year Mr Sharma invests significantly back into the Queensland community, particularly in Ipswich through events such as Diwali—the Hindu Festival of Lights, which brings the entire community together in the spirit of community cohesion and harmony. Every year all of his staff work as volunteers and give money back to Ipswich community.
In early 2014, two of his staff members were beaten, stabbed and racially abused in an attempted armed robbery at his Ipswich restaurant. Despite this attack and the damage to his property Mr Sharma renewed his desire to remain in the Ipswich community and was the inspiration behind the Queensland Times “Stand Against Racism’ rally on Saturday 12 July 2014.