Leeton Shire Council's Ken Dachi to address Welcoming Australia Symposium, accept award

Leeton Shire Council's multicultural program co-ordinator Ken Dachi has been invited to speak at the Welcoming Australia Symposium in Melbourne, where he will also be receiving an award.

The symposium brings together international, national and local practitioners, policy-makers, researchers, business innovators and civic leaders to share and discuss the challenges, benefits and opportunities of migration, settlement, cultural diversity and inclusion.

Mr Dachi, who has been living in Leeton with his family since 2019, will be speaking on several key areas during his presentation.

"We want to point out what we do here in Leeton to make it an attractive place for new settlers," he said.

"There's three key areas I want to focus on as they are what inform our work here and what we do. One is continuous research.

"We have an ongoing partnership with the University of South Australia ... I'll also point out the importance of collaborative engagement, especially with key stakeholders who are involved with settlement work.

"I'll talk about how we are doing that here in Leeton, especially when it comes to businesses and attracting workers. That is essential.

"The last theme I want to talk about is the power of advocacy. The more stories that are shared, the better everyone will be to better support their efforts."

All of these areas are currently being worked on in Leeton as the town continues to not only be a welcoming space for new settlers of all backgrounds, but also a functional place for them to live, work and most of all be happy.

As part of the symposium, Mr Dachi is also receiving the inaugural Welcoming Cities award alongside a fellow recipient based in Western Australia.

"That was a huge surprise to me, very unexpected," Mr Dachi said.

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"The ceremony for that takes place on May 9 at the Melbourne Town Hall. It is really humbling for peers to recognise some of the work that we do here in Leeton. It just blew me away.

"You know you work away quietly behind the scenes, you have no idea someone is watching. I find it particularly amazing, I've just been in this town for only four years.

"For me though, this award is really down to the hard work of so many others, particularly our members of the Leeton Multicultural Support Group, people like Paul (Maytom), Susie (Rowe), Robyn (Hutchinson) and Kerrie (Ross).

"They have been putting in the hours to ensure we have a thriving, cohesive community."

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