Queensland Multicultural Awards 2024

Outstanding Contribution by a New Queenslander

This award recognises the outstanding contribution of a Queenslander who has actively contributed to improving their local community or Queensland society. This can be through activities such as social enterprise or business that provides opportunities for others, volunteering or actively contributing to a local community group. This category is for individuals who have arrived from overseas to live Queensland in the last 10 years.

The Australian National Chinese Women’s Federation ANCWF were present in strong support of their President and leader Lei (Wenbi) Hua at the Brisbane Convention Centre where she was awarded the 2024 Queensland Outstanding Contribution by a New Queenslander. The Honorable Charis Mullen MP, Minister for Child Safety, Minister for Seniors and Disability Services and Minister for Multicultural Affairs was present in Brisbane to hand over the award.

Arriving in Queensland, Australia in 2016, she recognised a need to create a federation dedicated to assisting new Chinese migrant women who were suffering a lack of wellbeing due to language and culture.

Lei prefers to be addressed as “Wenbi”, her adopted English name she is known by her many friends who love and respect her for her guidance and support.

As the founder and president of her first organisation, the Australian Chinese Women's Federation (ACWF), Wenbi realised that there were bigger problems nationwide and looked around for volunteers more capable of the task and established the Australian National Chinese Women's Federation (ANCWF) in November 2019.

Covid 19 brought Australia and the rest of the world to a standstill where many communities became isolated and found themselves estranged to one another with precautionary measures in place and many traditional gatherings had to be cancelled.

Thousands of travelers found themselves stranded on our shores, many without arranged accommodation or finance, most were on tourist visas and panic was setting in.

Farmers throughout Queensland and the rest of Australia were also panicking as new crops that would normally be dependent on backpackers from overseas to be picked, had come to a halt.

The Australian Government introduced the COVID-19 concession period which started on 1 February 2020, allowing non-Australians who were stranded as a result of the pandemic to apply for extension or temporally change the status of their visas until they were able to return to their native countries.

With Wenbi at the helm, ANCWF contacted many Queensland farms and stranded Chinese families to see if this could be a solution to solve many concerns. Work on the land and accommodation was found for many stranded families.

It was also an opportunity to assist effected Chinese families to fill out new migration forms and apply for a temporary visa to allow them to work until the no-travel restrictions were lifted.

Wenbi applied and was granted a community gathering permit to conduct the 2021 Chinese Lunar New Year Festival at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast where the traditional celebration that had been conducted in Southport for many years was cancelled.

The Chinese New Year which was held in February 2021 brought many ethnic communities together for the first time since covid had put a halt on all community gatherings and had to be held under very strict health and safety conditions. The Broadbeach Lunar Chinese New Year Festival has been a successful annual event ever since.

The city of the Gold Coast has retained the character of the festival and continue to celebrate on the first Saturday of the Lunar period and ANCWF hold their celebration to bring the festival to an end on the last Saturday which are two weeks apart.

Wenbi was instrumental in raising funds during the Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales floods of 2022 when a cheque was issued and presented on behalf of ANCWF to the Broadbeach Inner Wheel who in turn assisted schools in Lismore who had lost everything.

Her dream had always been to have a home where ANCWF could conduct proper office administration to help, not only Chinese migrant women, but women who are experiencing violence through family and domestic issues which many suffer through language difficulties, different culture and as a result of interracial marriage.

There is a great need for more facilities to accommodate women who have suffered violence and become homeless, not necessarily physical, but mental, where the husband’s family will order them from their home if the husband dies or becomes incapable of being in control.

Most ethnic communities are prepared to handle situations on behalf of their subjects as many migrants are unaware or uncomfortable to approach local authorities, usually because of language and culture.

Wenbi, receives daily phone calls from all over Australia, made by victims who have learned about her and ANCWF from social media or word of mouth from friends. This starts an immediate chain reaction depending on circumstances and location. It may involve contacting police, or a volunteer close bye, or both, or Wenbi making the journey herself regardless of time, gathering fellow ANCWF volunteers along the way to assist.

These victims may require shelter or hospital treatment, where a volunteer will stay with them until appropriate arrangements can be made. This sometimes requires contacting family, involving police or just sitting for hours in an emergency room in some hospital.

Wenbi was blessed by the assistance from some special friends who had suffered themselves in business as a result of Covid 19, they offered ANCWF the opportunity to transform a part of their business facility into living quarters for such women, until more permanent accommodation could be found.

Once a woman is in the system, there are many opportunities for them to improve their situation and focus on a better life for themselves. They are encouraged to participate in one or many activities set up by ANCWF to make them feel more comfortable and be amongst other women as a group to further their language skills, communication technology, needlework or improve their mental wellbeing by doing physical activities such as yoga or traditional dance. ANCWF use many facilities throughout the Gold Coast including parks and centres, where all their activities are free.

Wenbi’s dream came to fruition recently, when council agreed to lease ANCWF an office at Runaway Bay where women experiencing any hardship related to any of the above circumstances, can visit and discuss a solution.

She has always blended into her community as though she does not exist but has surrounded herself with an army of professionals and volunteers who are capable and prepared to undertake any task asked of them.

ANCWF is affiliated to many National women’s organisations, one in particular is the National Council of Women of Australia (NCWA) who advise and monitor what the Federal government are doing on issues about everything regarding the welfare of women in Australia. They have been the only Chinese women’s organisation ever to have been invited to vote at an NCWA Annual General Meeting in Canberra.

The Honorable Charis Mullen MP, Minister for Child Safety, Minister for Seniors and Disability Services and Minister for Multicultural Affairs was present in Brisbane to hand over the awards.

First individual award to:
Ms. Lei “Wenbi” Hua (founder of the non-for-profit Australian National Chinese Women’s Federation Inc.) - winner of the Outstanding Contribution by a New Queenslander award for helping women and families in crisis, especially due to domestic and family violence or loneliness.

Photos — Australian National Chinese Women's Federation (ancwf.org.au)