The UWA Public Policy Institute invites you to attend the 2021 Laki Jayasuriya Oration, delivered by Nyadol Nyuon who will be speaking on multiculturalism and the politics of fear and exclusion.

Nyadol Nyuon is human rights advocate, writer, and a former commercial lawyer. Panelists: Maria Osman, Fadzi Whande, Farida Fozdar.

The annual Laki Jayasuirya Oration was established in 2020 to honour the life and rich legacy of intellectual, policy and campaigning pioneer Emeritus Professor Laksiri (Laki) Jayasuriya (1931–2018).

As the first Asian professor at The University of Western Australia, Laki founded the UWA Department of Social Work and Social Policy, and made significant contributions to the development of social policy. A staunch supporter of positive engagement with Asia and the Indian Ocean region, Laki challenged historic assumptions about the country’s European identity, and was among the key architects of Australia’s multicultural policies of the 1970s.

The UWA Public Policy Institute is pleased to bring you this event as part of Harmony Week with the support of the Office of Multicultural Interests, and in collaboration with the Ethnic Communities Council of WA, the Multicultural Services Centre WA, the WA branch of the Australian Association of Social Workers and the UWA School of Allied Health’s Division of Social Work and Social Policy.

Nyadol Nyuon was born in a refugee camp in Itang, Ethiopia, and raised in Kakuma Refugee camp, Kenya. She moved to Australia as a refugee. Since then, Nyadol has completed a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne. She was a commercial litigator with Arnold Bloch Leibler.

Nyadol Nyuon is a vocal advocate for human rights, multiculturalism, the settlement of people with refugee experiences, and those seeking asylum. She has worked and volunteered extensively in these areas with a range of organisations. Nyadol is also a regular media commentator in these areas, having appeared on ABC’s The Drum, as a panellist on Q&A, she has contributed opinion pieces to The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and the Saturday Paper, to name just a few.

In 2019 Nyadol was named, by the Australian Financial Review, among the top 11 most Influence Women in the Country (out of 100). She won the AFR Diversity and Inclusion category. In the same year, she also received the Victorian Premier’s Award for Community Harmony. This award was the highest honour awarded to a Victorian for outstanding achievements in strengthening multiculturalism through professional and volunteer service to the community. In 2018 her efforts to combat racism were widely recognized, with achievements including the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Racism. It Stops with Me Award. The prestigious award was in recognition of her advocacy and activism on behalf of the Australian-African and Melbourne’s South Sudanese communities. Nyadol Nyuon also received the Harmony Alliance Award for significant contribution to empowering migrant and refugee women and was a co-winner of the Tim McCoy Prize for her advocacy on behalf of the South Sudanese Community.