Stories
- Lily Ah Toy - second generation Chinese
Her philosophy in life was 'work hard, always be honest and give a helping hand'.
- Hurriyet Babacan - Turkey
Hurriyet's parents engendered an awareness of social issues and social justice in her from a young age and this has been reflected in Hurriyet's work and career choices.
- Faith Bandler - second generation South Sea Islander
Faith was greatly affected by the experiences of her own father, kidnapped in 1883 at the age of thirteen from the island of Ambrym, Vanuatu, and transported to Mackay, Queensland, where he was forced to work alongside other 'kanakas' on the sugar cane fields.
- Marguerite Baptiste-Rooke - Seychelles
Her own personal experience highlighted to her the difficulties with settlement, along with the opportunities that migration to the territory offered new arrivals.
- Elizabeth Cham - Poland
Elizabeth's contribution to philanthropy and the nonprofit sector cannot be underestimated... She has worked to raise the public profile of philanthropy and its contribution to Australian lives.
- Elba Cruz - Chile
Her father, a self-employed sharecropper and community leader, imbued her and her six siblings with a strong sense of social justice.
- Piphal Engly - Cambodia
It is difficult to imagine a life more transformed by migration than Piphal's.
- Mary Kalantzis - Greece
Although born in Greece to Greek parents, Mary Kalantzis demands to be recognised, 'not as "Greek-Australian" but as Australian... I like to say "I am Australian in my difference".'
- Ajak Kwai - Sudan
'I'm not a politician', she says, 'but music can take your message places'.
- Sheila Lawless - England
Sheila Lawless is living testimony of the important role women of her generation played in building new communities in postwar Australia.
- Tan Le and Mai Ho - Vietnam
Mai's characteristic strength and determination must have been equally necessary for her daughters. The same twelve-year-old Tan who was answering the telephone would become President of the Australian Vietnamese Services Resource Centre (as it is now known) by the age of eighteen.
- Nonja Peters - Holland
Committed to the preservation of migrant heritage in Australia, Nonja established the Migration Research Network, an online database which assists with the location of resource materials relating to migration, ethnicity and resettlement.
- Mahboba Rawi - Afghanistan
She devoted herself to teaching Afghan Women how to live the 'Australian Way' and to bring them out of some of the more traditional approaches to living, a unique experience for many of them.
- Lena Santospirito - second generation Italian
Known at home and abroad as la mamma degli italiani (the mother of the Italians), Lena Santospirito negotiated... the complexities of being a wife, mother and community worker with remarkable success.
- Deborah Ruiz Wall - Philippines
Proud of both her Filipino heritage and her Australian citizenship, Deborah embodies the spirit of Australian multiculturalism as it was imagined thirty years ago when she arrived in Sydney. 'Biculturalism is my identity,' she says.