workplace diversity

Matthew is a mix of Australian and Italian. His father arrived in Australia at a young age on a boat from Italy but his mother’s family had been in Australia for many years coming from England to mine for gold near Armidale in New South Wales.

Sukaina was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. Her mother is Indian and her father is Pakistani which meant Sukaina witnessed a beautiful fusion of cultures and customs growing up.  In 2014, Sukaina left her family home in Pakistan for Sydney, where she married an Australian citizen with Pakistani roots.

Joe’s family history is British as far back as any of his relatives can remember, and he was born and raised in the United Kingdom, only leaving to come and live in Australia a year ago.

Phoebe was born in Australia and grew up in Sydney. Both her maternal and paternal grandparents emigrated to Australia in the 1800s. Her father’s family is originally from Scotland, and she believes there may be some Jewish ties on her mother’s side with a ‘Rosenfeld’ who was believed to have come to Australia in the 1850s. 

Krisztina is Hungarian and grew up in Communist Hungary where her parents were restaurateurs.  Her father was a well-known local who ran a famous restaurant and night club in Budapest. 

Sally’s family has been in Australia since the early 1900s and she is a mix of Irish, English and just a little bit of German. But her cultural background has never played a significant part in the food she eats, or what she ate growing up.

Mitchell is aware that somewhere in his family there is English and Irish blood lines, but he does not feel any strong connection to these cultures. There might be the odd Shepard’s Pie or jam drop biscuit served at Christmas time, but he does not largely connect his culture to food, especially since becoming vegan.

Maxine’s family has been in Australia since the 1850s, she has done her research into the family history and found a lot of English and Wales blood in there! She was pleased to discover that she also has a Swiss connection which was a culture that she did not know much about.

Junnan was born in the north of China, near North Korea, and raised in middle China where his family spoke Mandarin.  The family later moved to Guangzhou, the largest coastal city in the south of China, where he lived for seven years and where people speak Cantonese. His maternal great grandmother, who was born near North Korea, is still alive.