A dedicated community volunteer, an inspiring First Nations youth leader, a passionate local environmental advocate and a vital flood recovery hub – have been recognised in this year’s Blacktown City Australia Day Awards.
Council recognised 4 outstanding recipients at a special ceremony held on Australia Day, attended by the NSW Governor, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC.
Blacktown City Mayor Tony Bleasdale OAM congratulated the recipients of the City’s most prestigious awards and commended them for their outstanding contributions to their local community.
“This Australia Day, we recognise the unwavering efforts of some of our City’s amazing individuals and organisations,” Mr Bleasdale said.
“Their contributions stretch far and wide and can be seen in education, health, fundraising, charitable and voluntary services, business, sport, the arts, and the environment
“These awards pay tribute to all their hard work, that has boosted the wellbeing and furthered the advancement of the greater Blacktown community.
“I also thank the incredible nominees for their tireless efforts in our community, and whose work will ensure Blacktown City continues to flourish into the future.”
The 2023 Blacktown City Australia Day Awards were awarded to:
Citizen of the Year – Yusra Zafar
Yusra Zafar has volunteered with an array of organisations and groups – from cooking and cleaning in mosques during Ramadan prayer time, to teaching religion in public schools.
She is passionate about helping the less fortunate through community fundraising events including: Dollars for Dignity for local flood victims, raising money for Pakistani flood victims and victims of tsunamis and earthquakes around the world.
She recently joined the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW (MDAA) as both a volunteer and advocate to support people of all abilities achieve their goals.
Yusra is also passionate about helping victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. She has partnered with NSW Police to deliver awareness campaigns in her native language to educate new migrant members of the community on the effects of bullying and other abuse.
Young Citizen of the Year – Emma Hoskins
Emma is an inspiring young citizen of Blacktown City who has contributed to her community in a variety of ways, through school, sport, charity and culture.
As a proud Wiradjuri, Gamillaraay girl living and learning on Darug land, Emma ensures that she shares her culture with her community by leading school ceremonies and assemblies, conducting Acknowledgement of Country, teaching dance, establishing a bush tucker garden and producing quality and award-winning Aboriginal artwork.
Emma is a part of the Blacktown Youth Advisory Committee where she enjoys collaborating with the youth of Blacktown City and regularly participates at formal Council events.
Emma is an all-round star student, athlete, community representative and cultural ambassador who is making her mark in the world.
Environmental Citizen of the Year – Melvin Gray
Through his involvement with the Rotary Club of Blacktown City, Melvin introduced the ‘Adopt a Road Campaign’ program to Blacktown City Council 20 years ago.
This program brings the community together to voluntarily ‘adopt’ a road and take pride in the community by tidying it up and keeping it clean.
Nothing says ‘community pride’ more than a clean streetscape and the benefits this provides to the environment have been plentiful thanks to Melvin’s leadership with this initiative.
Community Event of the Year – North West Business Chamber Flood Pop Up Shop
The North West Business Chamber was instrumental in securing support from public disaster agencies and Council in order to service the flood-affected people in Riverstone.
After experiencing 4 floods in 2 years, the vulnerable people living on the flood plain in Riverstone found themselves disengaged from services and public agencies.
The chamber managed to improve access to essential support for flood-affected households by successfully securing and hosting a recovery assistance point for the community.
The chamber also developed a donation and volunteer campaign, which generated $51,000 for people worst-affected by the disaster.
They hosted a flood pop up shop that became a community hub for volunteering, donations and community connection and their approach was recognised as best practice.
Picture: Blacktown City Australia Day Award Winners with Nic Newling, Australia Day Ambassador; Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales; Blacktown City Mayor Tony Bleasdale OAM.
