During the holy month of Ramadan, Affinity Intercultural foundation hosted an online series called “Ramadan Conversations: We are all in this together” facilitated by Jon Cleary, former ABC broadcaster. The program touches on the current impact of COVID-19 and past experiences of Ramadan. To watch the series click here.

On 15 March 2020 the Australian National Maritime Museum hosted a small, private event to mark the first anniversary of the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 51 people at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre. Exectuive Director Mr Ahmet Polat attended this event on behalf of Affinity. Click here to view the […]

A discussion entitled “Why now is the right time to talk about climate change?”, led by A/Prof Clive Pearson with the main speaker, Hon Matt Kean MP, NSW Minister for Energy and Environment was organised on Wednesday 11 March 2020 by Affinity Intercultural Foundation at their Sydney city offices. The formal program started after lunch […]

Affinity hosted a lunchtime forum at their Sydney city offices, as part of its lecture series, on Thursday 27 February with a conversation titled “Asia caught between America and China: Maintaining peace and prosperity.” The keynote speaker at the event was Doug Bandow, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, Washington DC specialising in foreign policy […]

Professor Bob Carr presented an Australian view of the world including its relationship with US and China on Tuesday 4 February 2020 at the Sydney offices of Affinity during a couch conversation with the former diplomat, Richard Broinowski AO. The former Premier of NSW and also a former Foreign Minister of Australia, Bob Carr is […]

While Sydney was surrounded by bushfires and smoke, “Faithful Responses to Climate Emergency: Acting In Hope” was the topic addressed by CSU A/Prof Mehmet Ozalp and Ms Thea Ormerod from ARRCC on Thursday 14 November at Affinity Offices in the city. Affinity hosted yet another lecture series on Climate Emergency with Associate Prof Mehmet Ozalp, […]

MEDIA RELEASE Affinity Intercultural Foundation Strongly Condemns the Terrorist Attack on Mosques in Christchurch The violent attack on our Muslim brothers and sisters as they gathered for Friday prayer in Christchurch New Zealand is a tragedy that has resonated across the world. Our community at the Affinity Intercultural Foundation extends its deepest and most heartfelt […]

On Tuesday, 5 March Affinity continued its Lunchtime Law Panel series with two law deans, Professor George Williams of the University of New South Wales and Professor Colin Picker of the University of Wollongong. Professor Sev Ozdowski, Director of Equity & Diversity at Western Sydney University, Chairman of the Australian Multicultural Council and Affinity advisory […]

On Wednesday, 27 February, Affinity Intercultural Foundation had the pleasure of hosting Kareem El -Ansary, 2019 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations for the first A+ Youth Lecture of 2019. The event was facilitated by Network 10’s, Catalina Florez. Every year, the UN Youth representative embarks on a 7-month listening tour within Australia. They […]

On Monday, 22 October, Affinity Intercultural Foundation hosted a special lecture with the CEO of AFL NSW/ACT, Sam Graham, who discussed the important role AFL plays in creating a sense of belonging and community in Australia – one of the most multicultural, multi-faith countries in the world. In a conversation Facilitated by former ABC Radio […]

On Friday, 19 October, Affinity Intercultural Foundation’s Morning Conversation with Richard Di Natale drew a full house, who came to listen to the Australian Greens Leader discuss the challenges of politicising multicultural Australia and how to overcome them. In a conversation facilitated by Network Ten’s Political Reporter, Catalina Florez, the Senator discussed issues including the […]

On Wednesday, October 11, Affinity Intercultural Foundation organised a panel discussion titled ‘A Big Job: Community & Government Working Together To Advance Refugee Settlement’. Panellists Professor Peter Shergold,  Chancellor of Western Sydney University, & Esta Paschalidis Chilas, Government and Member Relations Manager at Settlement Services International, enlightened the audience on the efforts, challenges, and successes […]

On Wednesday, 5 September, a full house turned out to attend Affinity Intercultural Foundation’s A+ Youth Lecture with Sara Mansour, lawyer and co-founder of Bankstown Poetry Slam. In a talk titled, ‘‘Hashtags Sparking Revolutions: How Social Media is Helping Take a Stand Against Sexual Harassment’, Sara discussed how social media and the #MeToo movement is […]

On Wednesday, 28 August, Professor Will Steffen, Emeritus Professor at Australian National University delivered an engaging and timely Lunchtime Lecture titled, The Anthropocene: Rising Risks, Critical Choices. Professor Steffen, who is a Councillor on the publicly-funded Climate Council of Australia, gave a sobering presentation that showed the impact of human activity on the earth. “The […]

On Wednesday, 15 August, Affinity Intercultural Foundation continued its successful Morning Conversation series with a talk from Lisa Davies, editor of The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH). The conversation was facilitated by Natalie Ahmat, senior journalist from SBS National Indigenous Television (NITV).In a talk titled ‘A Day in the Life of a Modern Newspaper Editor’, Lisa […]

On Thursday, 16 August, Affinity Intercultural Foundation hosted a special Lunchtime Lecture with two highly distinguished Australian law figures: former Justice of the High Court, Hon Michael Kirby AC and the University of Sydney’s Emeritus Professor Ron McCallum. In a conversation titled Interpersonal Relationships and Human Rights, the pair discussed the issues that are faced […]

The 2018 Abraham Conference was held at Western Sydney University, Parramatta campus on Sunday 5 August. The theme was “Pillars of Peace: Jews, Christians and Muslims Working Together”. Rev Dr Patrick McInerney welcomed all present using the traditional religious greeting of Judaism, Christianity and Islam—“Peace be with you”—in Hebrew, Latin and Arabic. Shirley Gilbert, a lecturer in […]

On Wednesday, 25 July Affinity Intercultural Foundation hosted a special lunchtime conversation with Professor Anwar Alam, a visiting Senior Fellow from Policy Perspectives Foundation in New Delhi, India. In a conversation facilitated by Professor Devleena Ghosh from the University of Technology Sydney, Professor Alam shared his optimistic outlook on the way identity politics has evolved […]

On Thursday, 12 July Affinity continued its Lunchtime Law Panel series with two law deans, Professor Tania Sourdin of the University of Newcastle and Professor Michael Quinlan of the University of Notre Dame. The two deans shared a conversation on the Diversity in the Australian law school, which was facilitated by Professor Mary Crock from […]

On Tuesday 29 May more than 300 guests gathered at NSW Parliament House to break bread in the spirit of harmony and diversity at Affinity Intercultural Foundation’s tenth annual Friendship and Dialogue Iftar dinner. The gathering saw guests from diverse backgrounds in attendance, including members of Parliament, police, religious, community and education leaders, business people, […]