Residents honoured in Melbourne award ceremony

INNOVATION ACROSS CULTURES... St Paul's African House partnerships and program manager, Kate Radevski, with Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) chair, Viv Nguyen. Photo: Supplied.

TWO multicultural workers in Shepparton have been recognised at the 20th Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence, held at Government House last month.

Highly commended for the ‘Sports Award’, Sam Atukorala is a community leader and a respected mentor to people from diverse backgrounds. He is an AFL diversity program ambassador and was a community ambassador for Cricket Australia, who has organised footy trips, events and several key projects in Shepparton to support young people from new and emerging communities to engage in sport.

Sam’s significant contribution to these projects helped break down barriers and build sustainable relationships while creating a smooth transition for young people from new and emerging communities to settle into life in Australia.

Kate Radevski accepted the ‘Community Innovation Award’ on behalf of St Paul’s African House, who has been highly commended for their African Focus community project. The African Focus team developed the ‘Our voices are important in Greater Shepparton’ project, the first of its kind to perform an in-depth survey of 255 adults of African background in Greater Shepparton.

The survey has created broader understanding and acceptance of different African nationalities and cultures, has informed policy making and services helpful to the African community, and gave paid employment to newcomers to the workforce.

The Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence honour outstanding individuals and organisations that foster cross-cultural understanding, support migrants and refugees, and celebrate and preserve the diversity of cultures that make Victoria such a great place to live.