Our Story

Australia’s multicultural programming is far behind compared to the United Kingdom, USA and India. Over the last few years we’ve connected with phenomenal South Asian women in these countries who have created safe spaces for migrant and diverse women. It has been amazing to witness from afar – founders of Brown Girl Magazine, South Asian Heritage Month, Asian Woman Festival, Brown Girl Therapy and the Juggernaut – just to name a few.

Connecting with some of these community leaders made us realise how far behind Australia really is. You see, here much of our multicultural programming is delivered by those with no experience of the barriers our community face. 

What we’ve learned is that Australia’s multiculturalism is like a bad branding piece where there is a significant disconnect between what our senior leaders think is happening and what those in our communities actually experience. We rarely speak up because as ‘good immigrants’ who should be ‘fortunate’ Australia ever let us in, we aren’t empowered to use our voice to claim the respect we see our non-BIPOC counterparts receive. 

Combine that with our parents’ generation who put their head down and worked so hard. With their degrees in engineering and teaching, our parents like so many other educated Indian migrants came to Australia and ended up in jobs unrelated to their field because their qualifications weren’t recognised. They did that to make a living for us children so we can now claim what they deserved too – to live here and thrive, not just survive.

Our Co-founders, Daizy and Sehar came together to empower young South Asian women in Australia to become impact-driven leaders, creatives and entrepreneurs. A community of women who support one another while, we, as an organisation leverage high-impact partnerships to create an environment where South Asian women can thrive. What we’ve learned is that there are a lot of problems in our community and we must take an intersectional approach, to focus on leadership alone without recognising the domestic violence pandemic in our community will never give us results. To focus on entrepreneurship alone without realising international students are being exploited by ‘entrepreneurs’ will not achieve results. We must take a nuanced approach and recognise the varying barriers that come in the way of our collective progress. 

We want South Asian women in Australia to know that they’re not alone in their struggles. We’re here for you. For support. To listen. To advocate and raise our collective voice. To provide opportunities to boost your career. To provide a platform for youto share their stories. To help you connect with other like minded women. This is what ASAC is all about.