Official Events Refugee Week 2023
Monday 12 June 2023 – Watandr, My Countryman
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Dendy Cinema, Newtown NSW
Jolyon Hoff and Muzafar Ali present a new film that explores what it means to belong, and how we’re all a little bit more connected than we think. When former Afghan Refugee and photographer, Muzafar Ali, discovers that Afghans have been an integral part of Australia for over 160 years, he begins to photograph their descendants in a search to define his own new Afghan-Australian identity. Then the Taliban take over Afghanistan and his old country comes calling.
Watch the film trailer, purchase tickets and view times and cinema locations across Australia https://www.watandar.com.au/
Sunday 18 June 2023 – The Spirit of Welcome Community Festival
Time: 12 – 4pm Venue: Community Refugee Welcome Centre – Callan Park, Building, 504 Wharf Rd, Lilyfield
Settlement Services International is hosting the Spirit of Welcome event in partnership with Inner West Council. Spirit of Welcome is a cross-cultural and family friendly event which will showcase the cultural and artistic contributions refugees make to their new home and is a celebration and acknowledgment of our rich cultural and linguistic diversity.
The event will be a unique platform for diverse communities to come together through skill-sharing and cultural exchange. Specifically, the festival will encourage active participation and engagement of Inner West locals and newly arrived communities through the variety of workshops, performances, and activities.
Free entry and registration is required. Register here
Monday 19 – Friday 23 June 2023 – The Cook Up with Adam Liaw
Watch episodes of ‘The Cook Up with Adam Liaw’, 7pm on SBS Food and NITV and 3pm on SBS featuring two of our National Refugee Ambassadors.
Tuesday 20 – Saturday 24 June 2023 – Homelands Arts Tour
Multiple locations: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle and Coffs Harbour (exact times to be confirmed)
Organised by Settlement Services International, The Homelands Arts Tour program aims to raise awareness and understanding of refugee experiences through arts, music and storytelling to increase social cohesion at regional and metropolitan settlement locations in NSW and Queensland during Refugee Week. The program includes a multimedia exhibition, comprising short films, photography, painting and digital art, and a performing arts showcase comprising live music, a short film, narration, and experimental performance.
Free entry and registration is required. Click here for more information.
Tuesday 20 June 2023 – World Refugee Day Fair
Time: 11.30am Venue: Parliament House Lawns, Parliament Drive, Canberra
Organised by Settlement Services International. Celebrate World Refugee Day by joining us on the lawns in front of Parliament House in Canberra to showcase the rich skills and contributions of refugees and raise awareness about the systemic barriers that hold back many skilled refugees from achieving their full career potential in Australia.Come for an immersive experience as you grab lunch from refugee-led businesses and learn more as you visit stalls of refugee-led organisations, refugee service providers, and employers who will share how refugees have enriched their businesses. The Fair event will culminate in a press conference to launch a signature report, ‘Billion Dollar Benefit: A roadmap for unleashing the economic potential of refugees and migrants’, based on the top-five solutions to implement by 2025 to break down employment barriers.
Free entry and registration is required. Click here to register.
Wednesday 21 June 2023 – Refugee Week Talk: Simon Shahin
Time: 10am – 12noon Venue: Ron Williams Community Centre, 5 –11 Kepos Street, Redfern
Join the City of Sydney to celebrate Refugee Week with guest speaker Simon Shahin, followed by a musical performance and refreshments. Simon, a Refugee Council of Australia ambassador, is a former refugee from Syria. He fled the war in Syria with his family in 2013 and spent 2 years in Lebanon before being granted a refugee visa to resettle in Australia.
Simon will share his experience of overcoming adversity and finding freedom. Learn how he is now advocating and empowering others to have a better understanding of being a refugee. The talk will be followed by a Zimbabwe musical performance by Simba Mushete and his band and refreshments.
Free entry, registration is essential. Click here to register.
Wednesday 21 June 2023 – Refugee Week in the City: An African Night
Time: 6pm – 9pm Venue: Reginald Murphy Centre, Potts Point
Join the City of Sydney to celebrate Refugee Week with guest speaker Abang Anade Othow, traditional African food, interactive drumming, a live band and dancing. Abang, a Refugee Council of Australia ambassador, educator, mentor and entrepreneur, will share her lived experience in finding freedom. She is a true survivor. Born in Sudan, Abang fled to Ethiopia and then Kenya with her father when she was just 5 years old, due to civil unrest. She was separated from her mother, siblings and later her father. Following her true passion for teaching, Abang began her studies and completed a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Teaching.
Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to meet Abang and hear her story. Learn about her experience of displacement and family separation, and her determination and ability to succeed and utilise her experiences to help others. Then enjoy live music from the talented Mr Simba Mushete and his 7-piece band, Echoes of African Music. Youth dance group, Alke, will perform traditional African dances accompanied by African drumming led by Sydney artist and performer, Lucky Lartey. Join in the fun on your own drum and collaborate on a painting with Refugee Art Project. You’ll also get the chance to sample food from different cultures including African food made by Parliament on King and Afro Food Feast.
Free entry, registration is essential. Click here to register.
Wednesday 12 July 2023 – NSW Humanitarian Awards Ceremony
The Humanitarian Awards are your chance to nominate someone who deserves to be recognised for their excellent work supporting refugees, in whatever field they happen to be working in.
Every year STARTTS holds the Humanitarian Awards to acknowledge and thank those people who have made an exceptional positive contribution towards refugee issues in NSW. Individuals and organisations in various fields who are doing outstanding work to support refugees are eligible for the Awards.
Over more than a decade, the Humanitarian Awards have honoured community leaders, youth workers, lawyers, journalists, teachers and many more – each of them making an incredible contribution to improving the lives of refugees. In 2023, Awards will be presented in the following categories:
- Refugee Community worker
- Refugee supporter
- Youth
- Education
- Government and Legal
- Media
- Sport
- Rural and Regional
- Business
- Best project
Nominations must be received by no later than COB Friday 16 June 2023.
The 15th NSW Humanitarian Awards will be proudly presented in partnership with Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) at Government House, Sydney, in an official Awards ceremony in July hosted by STARTTS Patron, Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of New South Wales.
