BASAVA SAMITI OF ASIA PACIFIC UNVEILS ITS NEW DIGITAL PRESENCE
Basava Samiti Asia Pacific (BSAPAC), a volunteer-driven registered Charity with operations in Australia and beyond has upgraded its operations to strengthen digital engagement across its chapters. The digitised platform streamlines volunteer recruitment, event registration, memberships and multilingual content support. The timing builds on the significant success of the 2nd Asia Pacific Basava Convention held in Perth in May 2025, while setting the stage for the 3rd Convention in Sydney in May 2027.
Community members can join as volunteers, participate in educational programs, donate to support initiatives, and upskill through the Learn2Grow program. BSAPAC also offers precious, hard-to-find merchandise and publications celebrating Guru Basava’s legacy and its journey.
This digital transformation demonstrates BSAPAC’s commitment to blending ancient wisdom with contemporary technology for meaningful community change.
BRISBANE:
BSAPAC Founder Girija Karekal attended the Krishna Janmastami Celebrations in Brisbane along with other eminent leaders on the September 5th, 2026, at Croatian Club Brisbane in Rocklea. Federal Member for Oxley Milton Dick, Queensland MP Jess Pugh (Mount Ommaney), and Queensland MP Margie Nightingale (Inala), Dr Preethi Suraj, President of FICQ, and Sarah Hutton, Brisbane City Councillor along with the organisers of the ISKON festival are seen here in the photo. The eight-hour celebration featured traditional devotional music, drama performances, spiritual discourses, children’s activities, and Prasadam distribution.
SYDNEY:
BSAPAC Marketing team attends “Designing Services Around Real Lives, Not System Boundaries” by Sognos Solutions at Microsoft office
On the morning of 17 September, three members of Basava Samiti of Asia Pacific’s marketing team, Reihaneh Rahmati, Maria Luqman, and Shwetha Ananth, made their way to Microsoft’s office in North Sydney for a session that gave us a lot to reflect on. The event, titled “Designing Services Around Real Lives, Not System Boundaries”, was co-hosted by Sognos Solutions and Microsoft as part of a broader conversation series aimed at leaders across the not-for-profit health, social and community care space.
From the outset, this wasn’t framed as another discussion about doing more with less. Instead, it asked something bolder. What if the biggest breakthrough waiting for this sector over the next decade has nothing to do with stretching stretched budgets even further and everything to do with helping people live more independently, contribute more meaningfully, and reach a kind of potential our current systems were never built to support?
The session was led by Bill Gye OAM, and within the first few minutes it became clear why he’s considered one of the most trusted and respected voices in community led mental health across Australia. Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Psychology and a Masters in Cognitive Science from UNSW, but it’s his decades of hands on leadership that really shaped the conversation.
He has worked in the care and community sector since 1978, and his career includes serving as CEO of Community Mental Health Australia from 2019 to 2024, CEO of Ostara Australia, one of the country’s largest specialist mental health employment service providers, General Manager of Recovery Services at OneDoor Mental Health, formerly known as the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW, and CEO of Options Community Enterprises.
He currently serves as Director of Education and Training at WEA Sydney and writes a Substack series called Surviving and Thriving in the Age of Intelligent Machines, alongside several co-authored peer reviewed papers. Few people in this space have spent as long thinking seriously about how artificial intelligence intersects with human services, and it showed.
Bill spoke candidly about how emerging technology, particularly Al, has the potential to amplify the knowledge, encouragement and personalised support that genuinely help people build skills, strengthen their wellbeing and move toward greater independence. He was careful not to paint an overly rosy picture though.
He acknowledged the very real risks and barriers that come with introducing new technology into care settings, and spent real time unpacking them rather than glossing over them for the sake of optimism. What made the session so compelling was how he wove together decades of expertise in care, recovery, behaviour change and community participation with a clear eyed view of where these technologies are heading, and what that trajectory could mean for delivering more effective, more timely support to the people who need it most.
The point that stuck with all three of us walking out of that room was the idea that Al’s real value in this sector has very little to do with replacing the human element of care, and everything to do with lifting the administrative weight that so often gets in the way of it.
When carers and support workers spend less time buried in paperwork and system navigation, they get more time back for the relationships and conversations that actually move the needle for the people they support. That idea resonated deeply with us as a community organisation. It echoes something Guru Basava has taught for centuries, that dignity in work matters, and that people, not systems, should always come first.
We left the session carrying a genuinely important question with us. How do we, as a growing community organisation, harness the potential of Al while keeping our innovation human centred, inclusive and environmentally responsible. How do we make sure that as our own digital strategy evolves, equality and shared responsibility stay just as relevant to how we lead our community as they have always been, rather than becoming values we simply refer back to on paper.
A heartfelt thank you to Bill Gye OAM for such a thoughtful, honest and genuinely inspiring session, and to Sognos Solutions and Microsoft for hosting such a well organised and thought provoking morning. We’re grateful for the perspective we’ve come away with, and we’re looking forward to carrying these insights into our own digital strategy and community work in the months ahead.
For more insights and updates, follow Basava Samiti of Asia Pacific.
PERTH
BSAPAC Perth conducted another successful Mahamane event on the 12th Sept 2026. Over 150 people attend the Mahamane event each month to celebrate and inculcate the Guru Basava philosophy.
Perth’s Basava Samiti of Asia Pacific (BSAPAC) Chapter hosted another inspiring Mahamane gathering on September 12, 2026, welcoming over 150 community members. Held monthly on the second Saturday, this event has become a cornerstone of Perth’s Indian community life.
The Mahamane brings together families and community members to discuss the teachings of Guru Basava, a 12th-century philosopher and social reformer from Karnataka who championed equality, rejected caste discrimination, and promoted community service.
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During these gatherings, members engage in meaningful discussions on Vachanas-poetic verses from the Sharana tradition-exploring their relevance in today’s world. A distinctive feature is dasoha, where families rotate hosting and distribute blessed food, reinforcing the principles of community sharing and service.
The Perth Chapter also runs a monthly Kannada Shaale for children, preserving cultural heritage for younger generations.
Founded in 2020, BSAPAC operates across eight cities including Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand. The organisation’s mission is to Engage, Educate, Empower, and Enlighten through volunteer-led charitable activities and cultural programs.
