Wakim, Joseph

Joseph Wakim is a widowed father of three daughters. From psychologist to social worker, he founded the Streetwork Project in Adelaide, the Australian Arabic Council, produced TV documentary Zero to Zenith: Arab Contributions Down Under, wrote four satirical comedies that were staged in Melbourne, founded Australia's first Arabic Festival (Mahrajan), was appointed Victoria's youngest Multicultural Affairs Commissioner, and composed music for his band The Heartbeats. He was granted the Violence Prevention Award by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1996 and the Order of Australia Medal for public campaigns to redress the roots of racism in 2001. His debut book Sorry We Have No Space was 2014 finalist for Australian Christian Book of the Year. He has had over 600 opinion pieces published in all major Australian newspapers and was finalist at the United Nations Australia Association - Media Award 2014 for creating a 'voice for the voiceless'.;