Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories panel discussion

Join a panel of special guests at the National Library of Australia for a conversation about their own personal and professional stories around migration, and how our country can best recognise the extraordinary contribution that migrants make to contemporary Australia.

The panel will include Mariam Veiszadeh, Om Dhungel, Nyadol Nyuon OAM and Professor Brian Schmidt AC FAA FRS, and will be facilitated by Claudia Chan Shaw.

The event will be available to view live online via the Library’s Facebook and YouTube pages. You do not need to book a ticket to watch the event online.

This event is presented in association with the Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition.

About the panellists

Mariam Veiszadeh

Mariam Veiszadeh is an award-winning human rights advocate, former lawyer, diversity and inclusion practitioner, contributing author and media commentator. In late 2023, she was named overall winner of the 2023 Asian-Australian Leadership Awards.

Her TED Talk on privilege has been viewed over half a million times. Mariam was appointed the inaugural CEO of Media Diversity Australia in late 2021, an organisation that seeks to ensure that the Australian media looks and sounds like Australia. She is also the founder and Chair of the Islamophobia Register Australia and has been involved in the anti-racism space for over a decade. As a former Afghan refugee from Afghanistan, Mariam has been a spokesperson for the Afghan Australian Advocacy Network and was at the forefront of advocating for Australia to increase its humanitarian intake when Kabul fell to the Taliban. She has also worked as radio commentator for the ABC radio and columnist for Fairfax media, and held multiple board positions including formerly as Co-Chair of Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights and Our Watch. Mariam was named Fairfax Daily Life 2016 Woman of the year, the 2015 Westpac Woman of Influence and Woman of the Year and Role Model of the Year in 2015 in the Australian Muslim Achievement Awards.

Om Dhungel

A trained telecommunications engineer turned ‘Inner Engineer’, Om Dhungel is a consultant, trainer and a mentor and a practitioner of ‘Strength-Based Approach’ to refugee settlement and community engagement. He also operates as a Strategic Connector assisting governments, corporations and not-for-profits to develop meaningful cross-sectoral collaboration.

Formerly a refugee from Bhutan, Om is an author and an Honorary Adjunct Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, he serves on different Committees and Boards including the NSW Health Ministry, NSW Police, Multicultural NSW and Blacktown City Council. Om is passionate about helping individuals and organisations in exploring and unleashing their full potential.

Nyadol Nyuon OAM

Nyadol Nyuon is a lawyer, media commentator, and the Executive Director of the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre at Victoria University. She chairs the Harmony Alliance, advocating for migrant and refugee women. Her work focuses on legal reform, social justice, and human rights, particularly for refugees and asylum seekers.

Born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia and raised in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, Nyadol moved to Australia in 2005 and completed a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor. A regular contributor to ABC and The Guardian, she is also a passionate public speaker. In 2020, she addressed the National Press Club, calling for a revolutionary reimagining of multiculturalism in Australia and calling out prejudice. Nyadol was a finalist for the 2022 Victoria Australian of the Year Awards.

Professor Brian Schmidt AC FAA FRS

Professor Brian Schmidt is Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the Australian National University. For his work on the accelerating universe, Professor Schmidt as leader of the High-Z SN Search team was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Adam Riess and Saul Perlmutter. He has worked across many areas of astronomy including supernovae, gamma ray bursts, gravitational wave transients, exo-planets, and metal poor stars. Professor Schmidt completed joint undergraduate degrees in astronomy and physics at the University of Arizona (1989), an astronomy master’s degree (1992) and PhD (1993) from Harvard University. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, he joined the staff of the Australian National University in 1995. In 2000, he was awarded the Australian Government’s inaugural Malcolm McIntosh award for achievement in the Physical Sciences, in 2006 he was jointly awarded the Shaw Prize for Astronomy, and shared the 2007 Gruber Prize for Cosmology and the 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Physics with his High-Z SN Search Team colleagues. He served as the 12th Vice Chancellor and President of the Australia National University from 2016-2023.

Professor Schmidt is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, The United States Academy of Science, Royal Society of London, Foreign Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, and Foreign Member of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He serves on a number of boards and councils including Australia’s National Science and Technology Council, and Singapore’s Academic Research Council. In 2013, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. Brian also runs Maipenrai Vineyard and Winery, a 2.7 acre vineyard and small winery in the Canberra District which produces Pinot Noir.

Claudia Chan Shaw

Claudia Chan Shaw has a diverse career as a television and radio presenter, author, curator, designer, podcaster and visual artist. Claudia was a familiar face on Australian television as the co-host of ABC TV’s popular program, Collectors. She is now co-host and producer of the television program Antiques DownUnder and presents Arts Friday on Eastside Radio featuring performing and visual arts, cultural events and in-depth profile interviews. Claudia was the inaugural curator of Sydney’s Chinese New Year Festival and leads the Art Gallery Society NSW’s successful series of Art Deco to Art Now international tours. She is in demand as a keynote speaker, MC, convener, lecturer and panelist.

Buy the Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories book.

The Details

What: Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories panel discussion
When: Tuesday, 1 October 2024 from 6pm to 7pm
Where: National Library of Australia
Cost: Entry is free to this event but bookings are essential.