This award recognises the achievements of an interpreter or translator for the role they play in ensuring that the community of NSW has access to essential information and services.

The winner of the 2022 All Graduates Interpreting and Translating Language Services Medal is Ashraf Abdelbaky.

Ashraf has been an interpreter in the Newcastle community for the past six years. He has participated in many programs at an academic level and for the broader community. Ashraf has championed mental health awareness training for the Arab community. He is currently working with NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors and Hunter New England Health as a bicultural worker helping to deliver important COVID-19 messaging to the Arab community about vaccines and testing. He has also worked on a translation book club initiative in the Wallsend library for the Arab community.

This award recognises the achievements of an individual or sporting code that has promoted cultural understanding and sporting endeavours within or between communities of different cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds.

The winner of the 2022 Village Plaza Sports Medal is Western Sydney Football Club Limited – GWS Giants Football Club.

GWS Giants’ philanthropic programs engage and empower young people from culturally diverse, low socio-economic and disadvantaged communities across Western Sydney, Southern NSW, and the ACT. Through the GIANT Hand program, the GIANTS have been supporting vulnerable families impacted by the COVID pandemic and lockdown. The GIANTS delivered nutritious meals made in its cafe to multicultural communities throughout the club’s region. Across 13 weeks the GIANTS cooked and delivered more than 15,000 meals to 4,500 families across 12 LGAs in Sydney.

This award recognises the outstanding achievements of a Local Government organisation that has worked to develop and support a diverse local community.

The winner of the 2022 Welcoming Cities Business Excellence – Local Government Medal is NSW Police Force Multicultural Liaison Officer Program.

The NSW Police Force (NSWPF) Multicultural Community Liaison Officers (MCLOs) are based in 21 different area commands covering an extensive list of local government areas. During COVID, the MCLOs and the MCLO Program delivered vital support to communities, police, and services within their areas and across local government boundaries. From July 2021 to October 2021, the NSWPF MCLO program delivered about 200 community messages in nearly 60 languages to more than 1000 registered audiences.

This award recognises the outstanding achievements of a not for profit that has promoted diversity and inclusion in their programming.

The winner of the 2022 Business Excellence – Not for Profit Medal is 3Bridges Community.

3Bridges provides services and support from early years to ageing well in Southeast and Southwest Sydney. It engages with more than 28,000 people each year through out-of-school-hours care, disability services, education and training, home maintenance and modifications, and aged care services. 3Bridges Youth Zone Centre, which is LGBTQI+ friendly, is a connection point for young people representing more than 60 cultures. It’s a place where there is no judgement and young people are free to express themselves.

This award recognises the outstanding achievements of a business in creating employment or other opportunities that value and promote diversity and inclusion.

The winner of the 2022 Adaps Pty Ltd Business Excellence – Corporate Medal is Navitas Skilled Futures.

Navitas Skilled Futures transforms lives through employment opportunities and community connections. Since 1990 it has delivered high-quality training to more than 300,000 people from more than 125 countries in language, literacy, numeracy, and digital skills (LLND). In 2021 it engaged with almost 6000 students, who collectively speak more than 140 languages. Navitas Skilled Futures proudly stepped up during the COVID-19 lockdown in Southwest Sydney to keep students connected, informed, safe and on track during this challenging time.

This award recognises an individual’s contribution and achievement in facilitating and promoting social cohesion, understanding and acceptance between members of different cultural or faith communities in NSW.

The winner of the 2022 National Rugby League Stepan Kerkyasharian AO Community Medal is Shubha Kumar.

Since arriving in Australia in 1973, Shubha has assisting Indian migrants integrating into Australian society, with a focus on teaching women about their domestic rights. She established the Indian Club in 2004 and has served as president since its inception, providing a social networking outlet for members of Australia’s Indian community. Through her work at the India Club, Shubha has helped newly arrived Australians to learn about rights and responsibilities, domestic violence and to develop relationships with local community groups.

This award recognises the contribution of an individual who has significantly benefited the economic, social and cultural wellbeing and unity of a regional community. For the purpose of this award ‘regional’, is defined as being outside the greater metropolitan area of Sydney.

The winner of the 2022 CommBank Regional Unity Medal is Joy Harrison.

Joy Harrison is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Refugee Health Service of Hunter New England Local Health District in Armidale. She has dedicated her career to the settlement of refugees in regional NSW, in the Peel and Tablelands regions including Armidale and Tamworth. Over the past four years, Joy has been the central community link for Ezidi refugees in Armidale, supporting all arrivals as the lead nurse, advocate, trainer, collaborator, and expert.

This prestigious medal recognises an individual who has made a lasting and meaningful contribution to advancing human rights in NSW.

The winner of the 2022 Settlement Services International NSW Human Rights Medal is Ravi Prasad.

In 2013 Ravi shifted the focus of his life and work to pursue his interest in social justice and civil society and founded Parliament on King. Parliament on King addresses the barriers to social, cultural, and economic participation faced by asylum seekers and refugees. During the pandemic, Ravi and his team established a ‘soup kitchen’ (The Soup of Human Kindness) to address the food insecurity faced by vulnerable communities. The program pays asylum seekers and refugees to make food and that food is then donated to those in need.

This award recognises the achievements of an individual who has promoted cultural understanding, and artistic endeavours within or between communities of different cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds.

The winner of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup Carla Zampatti Arts and Culture Medal is Lliane Clarke.

Lliane is the Artistic Director of Voices of Women, a not-for-profit organisation inspired by storytelling and storytellers, performance, and music. It focuses on stories from First Nations, CALD communities, women living with disability and LGBTQI+ communities. In 2021 Voices of Women received 320 stories from women across Australia as part of its writing competition and engaged broadly with women in regional and multicultural communities. Lliane has achieved all of this while working full-time, raising two children, and caring for her husband who lives with disability.

This award recognises a person under the age of 25 who has helped create, welcome and support inter-cultural connections and understanding between people from diverse backgrounds.

The winner of the 2022 NSW Rugby League Youth Medal is Khadijah Habbouche.

Khadijah is a young Australian Muslim woman, of Lebanese Palestinian background. She is a member of various Youth Advisory Committees, including the Canterbury Bankstown Youth Crew and the Muslim Women Australia Youth Advisory Committee (MYAC). She uses her voice to express young people’s thoughts and feelings, particularly for youth, young women, and vulnerable communities.

This award recognises an individual’s commitment to community service within a migrant community. The contribution will have had a significant and lasting impact on the social or cultural wellbeing of the community that spans more than 30 years.

The winner of the 2022 SBS Lifetime Community Service Medal is Rosa Loria.

Rosa started her involvement with the multicultural community more than 41 years ago. Together with the Sydney Multicultural Community Services’ team, Rosa has helped culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, including seniors and the elderly, newly arrived migrants, refugees, people living with disability, and other community members. Her years of dedication and work ethic created thousands of caring and successful individuals who have spread their wings and contribute to the community.

This award recognises the achievements of an individual who went above and beyond the call of duty to support vulnerable cohorts impacted by COVID.

The winner of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup COVID Champion Medal is Srey Kang.

Srey has played a significant role in ensuring that the Khmer community in Fairfield and across Southwestern Sydney receive up-to-date information about COVID-19. She has used social media effectively to convey health messages in Khmer and in a way that the community would understand by word of mouth. This resulted in higher levels of understanding about the public health orders by the Khmer community.