Guest post by Georgie McGrillen, Refugee Council of Australia,

Theme – celebrating the year of welcome

Crises can provide fertile ground for innovation! So the organisers of the Australian Refugee Week, Refugee Council of Australia have been plotting away and getting creative and will be joining their Refugee Week UK counterparts in announcing the first ever virtual Refugee Week!

Whether or not Australia is still in lockdown come June, the Refugee Week Australia team will be presenting an awesome line-up so across the country and across the globe people can join the celebrations from their own home.

We are going online and virtual to educate, celebrate and encourage all Australians to participate.

Refugee Week actually began in Australia in 1986 around World Refugee Day and is now a growing annual event on the global calendar.

The Australian 2020 theme for Refugee Week is ‘Celebrating the Year of Welcome’ amplifying work already undertaken for the year of welcome with a shift to a contingency of how people could celebrate within their own homes and communities as a result of Covid-19.

Refugee Council of Australia have joined forces with the public broadcaster SBS Food Online for Refugee Week 2020 as part of our ‘share a meal, share a story’ initiative.  Viewers will be able to watch and cook along with people from refugee backgrounds as they share delicious dishes from their home cuisines and share what that dish means to them.  And that’s not all- members of Australia’s refugee communities are offering up their talents to help bring an exciting week of entertainment.  Think creative arts, thought-provoking discussions, movies and more.  Also for the first time we are planning our first online Indigenous Welcome to Country.

People across the country can get involved in Refugee Week 2020 by hosting their own online event, watching a film with friends and family, enjoying story-telling, poetry slams, sharing content on social media, listening to a podcast and more. Refugee Week Australia organisers are delighted to be working with Refugee Week UK this share to host some activities across the globe.

See the website www.refugeeweek.org.au for more details.

Image: Michele Aboud