I recently made a brief yet purposeful visit to the Parliament of Victoria, where I met with the Leader of the Victorian Opposition who was holding a press meeting with multicultural media organisations. While such meetings often involve navigating political agendas, they also serve as important reminders: our communities, too, must come with clear, strategic agendas of our own. We cannot afford to be passive participants—we must shape the conversations and steer them towards our long-term needs centred on developing our own capacity to thrive in this challenging and market-driven society.
Victorian Leader of the Opposition Brad Battin & Africa Media Australia CEO Clyde Sharady
For too long, community leaders and advocates have centred their efforts on highlighting challenges, raising awareness, and seeking support or funding from government bodies. While these efforts remain valuable, they represent only part of a larger picture. What is often missing is an intentional, forward-looking focus on building the kind of entrepreneurial and social capacity that can foster genuine, long-term independence.
Capacity, capacity, capacity—this must be our collective rallying cry. Whether in business, education, or civic leadership, we need to invest in structures and systems that empower our communities to thrive without perpetual reliance on government intervention.
It is disheartening that when Afro-Australian communities are mentioned in political discourse, the conversation so often defaults to familiar tropes: our “rich culture,” the refugee experience, issues related to “African youth,” or the types of support needed to address issues. While these narratives are not without truth, they are painfully incomplete. And, to some extent, we Africans leaders bear responsibility for reinforcing these limited perspectives.
We must move beyond being perceived as either cultural ornaments to be celebrated or problems to be solved. It is time we assert ourselves as dynamic contributors to Australia’s socio-economic fabric—as entrepreneurs, innovators, thinkers, and builders of the future.
Changing the narrative begins with how we present ourselves and the agendas we bring into rooms of power. Let us move forward not just with stories of struggle or cultural celebration, but with bold visions of capacity, agency, and contribution
