Rema Dhanasekar (front left) celebrates with other award winners this week.CQU  Senior  lecturer Remadevi (Rema) Dhanasekar is the proud winner of a Queensland Multicultural Award in the individual category of 'Community Services'  for significantly promoting multiculturalism and developing harmonious community relations in Queensland in a voluntary capacity.

The award was presented by Hon Lindy Nelson-Carr MP, Minister for Environment and Multiculturalism, at a special award ceremony in Brisbane on September 18.

Rema was nominated for this award by Thomas Upton, Director Community Services with the Rockhampton City Council.

Rema said the University and her Faculty of Sciences, Engineering & Health had always encouraged her to get involved in community initiatives.

The Indian-born engineering academic moved to Rockhampton in 1992 and has been involved in several social activities to promote multiculturalism within the Rockhampton community over the past decade.

Rema was the  President of the Central Queensland Multicultural Association (CQMA)  for 2006-2007 and has helped initiate and support a range of community activities promoting multiculturalism.

In recent years, these have included organising Harmony Day speech competitions for Rockahampton City council, coordinating Parade of Nations displays at CQU Multicultural Fairs and arranging senior citizens cultural events.

"I first got involved in the show and tell activities within day care centres, introducing multiculturalism to young kids through photographs and objects," Rema said

"I participated in their once a week cooking time and made some new snacks which were loved by little kids and their carers.  Recipes were readily provided to interested parents with the explanation and importance of each of the ingredients. I also donated gifts to the collections of the Day Care centres for educational/cultural awareness purpose."


CQU's Rema DhanasekarRema has been involved with university education students' projects about India and its culture and has introduced the flavour of language, culture and spicy food to school students.

Rema also took the initiative to establish community language schools in Rockhampton for migrants to learn their mother tongue and for interested community members to learn another language. This initiative received excellent support from the Rockhampton City Council, CQU and other community organisations. Objectives included encouragement of skilled migrants to move to rural Queensland and the promotion of integration of migrants with the local Australian community without the loss of their own language and cultural identity.   

"I've been a member of the organising committee for the Harmony Day celebration by Rockhampton City Council since 2005,"   Rema said.

The Harmony Day celebration include competitions which can bring the importance of harmony and multiculturalism to the society.

As part of CQU Rema coordinates an annual high school speech competition with the theme 'multiculturalism and harmony' in association with RCC Harmony Day celebrations. 

The objective of having a public speaking competition is to provides an opportunity for the younger generation and the community to become involved in activities that encourage understanding, respect and acceptance for everyone within the community. It is believed that such a speech would enthuse our school students to think about the social, environmental, economical and national issues.

As president of CQMA, Rema helped organise an 'international flavour night' for the community. More than 250 people attended the event and  listened to the message from Director - Community Services, enjoyed the cultural programs, food and found new friends.

CQMA took over the responsibility to support Rockhampton City Council in coordinating the Council's 'Multicultural Personality' event annually. The targeted age group for this competition is from 6 to 17 years.  The children are judged for their costume and intelligence.

The questions are general knowledge and testing their ability to answer quickly and correctly within the allotted time.

Rema is also involved with the coordination of  the senior citizens cultural program for seniors who can not attend any crowded fair areas and senior citizens in the nursing homes.   

"I feel proud to be the coordinator as I feel this is an opportunity to show our gratitude and respect to our seniors," she said.

Rema is also involved as a steering committee member with nurturing migrant project. This is a multi-stage and multi-strategies project led by project leaders from School of Nursing and Health Studies developed with a partnership with Rotary Club of Rockhampton, Rockhampton City Council  and Central Queensland Multicultural Association (CQMA)  with main objective to identify disadvantaged migrant families and individuals who have limited access to available social, educational and health services in Rockhampton and use community capacity to assist them to access required resources.

Rema was also a speaker for the Women in Multicultural Society Forum, addressing motherhood experiences in India and Australia as a working woman. This event was organised to identify issues and solutions for women from a multicultural background.   The CQU Senior Lecturer was also a participant in a Multi-Faith Workshop aimed at developing a greater understanding to build bridges and harmony among communities of different religions.

"I was invited to deliver a speech with reference to Hindu religion faiths towards the harmony of our community.  The topic of my speech was the 'love, respect and practice' followed by Hindu religion people that brings the harmony and peace in our community," Rema said.

"In summary, the support which I received from CQU and my Faculty, as well as Rockhampton City Council, has enabled me to extend my civic involvement beyond the confines of my academic area to embrace a range of initiatives drawing on my cultural background, language capabilities and ethnic community links.