It’s easy to think of the rise of ISIS as a sudden explosive phenomenon when you look at the mainstream media coverage. The group only really received coverage when it began to take important towns and oil fields. But a…

Former refugee Fawad Ahmed will be hoping to make his Test cricket debut for Australia in the coming months after being named in the 17-man squad for the upcoming Ashes and West Indies tours. Pakistan-born Ahmed sought asylum in Australia…

The government of re-elected New South Wales premier Mike Baird is being urged to deliver on its commitment to the state’s migrant and refugee communities. Hear the full podcast: http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/401994/Re-elected-Baird-government-urged-to-deliver-on-multicultural-policy

For Ann Nicol volunteering with AMES gives her a glimpse into diverse cultures and a chance to help people. The retired primary school teacher has been a volunteer tutor to two young women migrants from Lebanon for the past nine…

Australia’s largest migrant community group says migrants who arrive in Australia at an older age often struggle to access basic services because of linguistic and cultural barriers. Read more: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/03/17/older-migrants-struggle-access-basic-services

The latest ‘craze’ among the hundreds of thousands of people who make up the global Karen diaspora is a young man who lives on the Melbourne’s western outskirts and spends much of his time volunteering in a local garden. But…

Australia will need more than 250,000 new migrants a year to raise living standards and add $1.6 trillion to the economy, according to a new study. The report commissioned by the Migration Council of Australia says a steady climb in…

The United Nations has again criticised Australia’s human rights record in relation to its treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. A report by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Méndez, has raised a number of concerns.  Read more: http://theconversation.com/lashing-out-at-the-un-is-not-the-act-of-a-good-international-citizen-38587

Community leaders are calling for more voter education for new and emerging communities in New South Wales in the run-up to the state election. The Ethnic Communities Council (ECC) of NSW said not enough was being done about voter literacy…

In the 1970s Neil Sedaka penned and recorded the country-pop crossover song Amarillo. In an unmistakably mid-western, yearning-for home-refrain, he asks: “Is this the way to Amarillo”… Riffing on the themes of displacement, homesickness and loss Sedaka continues: “When the…

Javed Ahmadi is Afghanistan’s answer to “The Big Show” and Australian fast-bowling great Geoff Lawson thinks he’s one of the 10 players to watch at the cricket World Cup. Ahmadi was born in a refugee camp in Peshawar, with the Pakistan…

Some of Australia’s most successful businesses are putting their money where their morals are by embracing a campaign to promote and harness cultural diversity in the workplace. The high-profile group including – Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev, Optus Chairman Paul…