PREVIOUS CELEBRATIONS OF REFUGEE WEEK
Refugee Week 2009
Refugee Week 2009 was held from Sunday 14 June to Saturday 20 June, focusing on the theme "Freedom from Fear". Major launches were held in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane and more than 160 local events took place, including community celebrations, arts events, seminars, information expos, sporting events, film screenings and competitions.
Major sponsors for Refugee Week 2009 were the Victorian Multicultural Commission and AMES Victoria. RCOA is also indebted to the NSW sponsors of Refugee Week offering financial and in-kind support, including NSW Community Relations Commission, ACL, AMES NSW, Leichhardt Council and City of Sydney. In South Australia, Refugee Week is coordinated by the Migrant Resource Centre of SA.
At the NSW launch of Refugee Week 2009, the speakers were John Gibson, president of RCOA, and Yasmeen Fatimah, a member of the Rohingya community in Sydney. Their speeches can be found on our Speeches page.
For more information about Refugee Week 2009, click here.
Refugee Week 2008
In 2008, Refugee Week was held from June 15 to 21, focusing on the theme "A
Place to Call Home". Major launches were held in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide
and Brisbane and more than 140 local events took place, including community celebrations,
arts events, seminars, information expos, sporting events, film screenings and
competitions. Guest speaker at the Sydney launch was Les Murray, SBS-TV football
broadcaster and former refugee from Hungary. Les, who came
to Australia as an 11-year-old boy, spoke of his personal experiences and of the
contribution of refugees to national life. To read his speech, click here.
The theme, "A Place to Call Home",
aimed to encourage people to think about the global themes of protection and human
rights by focusing on the fundamental right to a secure place to call home. It
provoked thought about our common obligations to people who have no secure home,
and also acknowledged the 700,000 refugees and humanitarian migrants over the
past 60 years who have made Australia their home.
Major sponsors for Refugee Week 2008 were Victorian
Multicultural Commission and AMES
Victoria. The Refugee Council is also indebted to the NSW sponsors of Refugee
Week offering financial and in-kind support, including NSW
Community Relations Commission, ACL,
AMES NSW, Leichhardt
Council and Mallesons
Stephen Jacques. We would also like to thank and acknowledge the City of Sydney
which has made Customs
House available for the NSW Launch of Refugee Week this year.
For more information about Refugee Week 2008, click here.
Refugee Week 2007
The theme of Refugee Week 2007 was “The Voices of Young Refugees".
More than 130 events were held around Australia. The theme focused attention on
the contribution, ideas and concerns of refugee children, teenagers and young
adults. To see the 2007 Calendar of Events, click here.
Refugee Week 2006
In 2006, Refugee Week in NSW was launched by the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Councillor
Clover Moore MP. To read her address, click here.
In Victoria, keynote speaker at the launch of 2006 Refugee Week was Julian Burnside
QC. To read his address, click here.
The 2006 theme for Refugee Week was "Journeys”.
For more information about Refugee Week 2007, click here.
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