28/07/2026
Yesterday, SydWestcares together with SSI - Settlement Services International and the Settlement Council of Australia hosted the Think Social Cohesion National Summit in Parramatta. SBS Australia was a media partner.
We provided the blueprints, designed and delivered the day.
160 leaders from across the country spent the day on five questions about the future of social cohesion in Australia.
Ed Husic MP opened by reminding us that multiculturalism was never a fluke. It was built, deliberately, because the country needed it.
Keynotes
Ed Husic MP, Member for Chifley
Louise Perry, Interim Chairperson, Victorian Multicultural Commission
Framing addresses
Elfa Moraitakis, CEO, SydWest Multicultural Services
Hugh de Kretser, President, Australian Human Rights Commission
Allegra Spender MP, Member for Wentworth
Peter Stahel, Essential Media
Violet Roumeliotis AM, CEO, Settlement Services International
Facilitators
Maria Dimopoulos AM, CEO, Settlement Council of Australia
Thom Calma, SydWest Multicultural Services
Dane Moores, Settlement Services International
Janice Petersen, SBS World News
Panellists
Jesse J. Fleay, Monash University
Joe Ball, Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities
Professor Kevin Dunn, Western Sydney University
Taylor Hawkins, Foundations for Tomorrow
Amar Singh JP, Turbans 4 Australia
Professor Nareen Young, University of Technology Sydney
Peter Gutwein, former Premier of Tasmania
James Jegasothy, Multicultural NSW
David Hua, SBS
Mariam Veiszadeh, Islamophobia Register Australia
Dor Akech Achiek, Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre
Sneha Chatterjee, Department of Home Affairs
Interjections
Anna Cody, S*x Discrimination Commissioner
Nathan Hagarty MP, Member for Leppington
One idea shaped the whole day: listening is not complete until people can see what changed, because they spoke.
So we've made a commitment: Within 28 days, everyone in that room will hear back on what changed because they contributed.
This is the beginning of the work, not the end of it.
Thank you to everyone who was part of it.