Queensland at Heart: Sport, Community and Mental Wellbeing

By Xavier Hernandez

How good does it feel to be a Queenslander! Like many of you, I’ll be cheering on the mighty Queensland Maroons in the State of Origin decider. I also want to congratulate the Australian soccer team on their outstanding World Cup campaign. There’s nothing quite like watching the game with family and friends, and I wish both teams the very best. It has been wonderful to see how far they have progressed, and we are all proud to support them.

While we enjoy life here in our beautiful state, my thoughts are also with those overseas who have recently experienced hardship, including communities affected by the devastating heatwave across Europe and the tragic earthquake in Venezuela. On behalf of the Australian Indian Times family, we send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to everyone impacted.

In my previous column, I shared part two of my interview with Cr Nathan St Ledger, Councillor for Division 4 at the City of Logan. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it and send your encouraging feedback. It is clear that these conversations are making a positive difference, and I hope they continue to encourage people to seek support when they need it. Enjoy the third part of the interview below.

Part Three:

Xavier: In your opinion do family structures influence young people’s wellbeing?
Cr St Ledger: They have their effects because young people need their mum, young people need their dad, or they need those positive male and female influences in their lives to help show them and lead by example what it means to be a good person. Speaking from my perspective as a guy, my role is to show my daughter how she should be treated and what her expectations, as a minimum, should be. I should be modelling solutions and modelling how you treat people with love and respect. That is where that comes from. Sometimes, when things happen in different families, young people do not get that connection or cannot find that positive role model, and sometimes they find it in the wrong place. That is why we are putting things in place for young people to be able to have those positive influences in their life.

Xavier: Are you able to share some words of wisdom about how to face challenges these days?

Cr St Ledger: I think it is hard. I had kids really young with my wife, and it was tough. Nothing that is worth fighting for is easy. Sometimes you have to take a breath, step back, look at what you can control, and control what you can control. Put one foot in front of the other. Do not look for a quantum leap or something massive, like winning the Lotto, to fix everything. It is a matter of deciding what is important to you, and hopefully it is not too many materialistic things. Concentrate on the things that are important to you, and the other stuff will follow. It is easy to sit and say that, but surround yourself with good people. Hurdles come along, and when they do, look for support and get that support to help you through it.

End of Interview

I look forward to sharing more from my conversations with Cr Nathan St Ledger in future editions as we continue raising awareness around mental health and highlighting the people making a positive difference in our communities.

One event I am particularly looking forward to is the Iconic India Day Fair 2026, proudly presented by GOPIO Queensland. To be held on Saturday, 15 August, at Roma Street Parkland, the event promises a fantastic celebration of India’s Independence Day through culture, food, music, dance, entertainment and community spirit. I was delighted to attend the official poster launch, and this year I will be volunteering at the GOPIO Queensland stall throughout the day. If you are attending, please come over and say hello.

Another wonderful community celebration was the Parkinson Multicultural and Dragon Boat Festival at Ken Fletcher Park, Tennyson. Thousands of people attended to celebrate diversity, friendship and teamwork.

Congratulations to the Multicultural Vietnamese Community United team, made up of many members from Forest Lake, Inala and surrounding suburbs, who secured an outstanding second-place finish in the community division after a thrilling day of racing. The team won its opening three races before narrowly missing first place in the grand final by only milliseconds.

Hosted by the Hakka Association of Queensland and powered by the Brisbane Typhoon Crew, the festival showcased the very best of Queensland’s multicultural community. A special thank you goes to Brisbane Typhoon Crew for generously training and mentoring the Vietnamese Community United team in the lead-up to the event. Their commitment and expertise played a significant role in the team’s success. Congratulations also to Khue Oanh Do, President of the Vietnamese Community in Australia – Queensland Chapter, who coordinated the team while also taking on the demanding role of drummer throughout the competition. Events like these remind us that success comes through teamwork, trust and supporting one another.

Congratulations are also in order for the Lions Club of Inala, which recently held its 2026–2027 Changeover Dinner. It was an honour to see Nayda Hernandez inducted as President alongside an experienced and passionate executive team committed to serving the community. With members bringing decades of volunteer, professional and leadership experience, the club is well positioned for another successful year of community service.

There has also been plenty of discussion surrounding Queensland’s new personal mobility device laws, which commence on 1 July. Many parents and residents have welcomed the changes, saying they will help improve safety for everyone using our roads and pathways.

For more information: https://www.streetsmarts.initiatives.qld.gov.au/e-bikes-e-scooters/
Across the community, I have also been speaking with residents about the Queensland Government’s 2026–27 Budget. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly around initiatives such as permanent 50-cent public transport fares, the Back to School Boost, Play On! sports vouchers, investment in schools and hospitals, and increased funding for housing and community infrastructure. For more information: https://budget.qld.gov.au

Finally, I want to end on a more serious note. Recently, a disturbing incident occurred in my local community of Forest Lake involving a 12-year-old boy who was thrown into the lake in the Lake Parklands by older youths. Watching the footage was heartbreaking. Bullying has no place in our schools, workplaces or communities. It affects people of all ages and backgrounds, and we all have a responsibility to stand against it. I have grown watching people in high levels of government, business and community bully. It doesn’t discriminate.

If you or someone you know is experiencing bullying or struggling with their mental health, please speak to someone you trust or contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. You are also welcome to reach out to me or the Australian Indian Times family, and we will do our best to point you in the right direction.

Night of Pure Magic: Shreya Ghoshal Captivates Sydney with “The Unstoppable Tour”

By Entertainment Desk

SYDNEY — The iconic and timeless voice of contemporary Indian music, Shreya Ghoshal, left an indelible mark on the Emerald City last weekend, delivering a spellbinding, sold-out performance at the ICC Sydney (TikTok Entertainment Centre) on Saturday, 27 June 2026.
As part of the highly anticipated Australia and New Zealand leg of “The Unstoppable Tour,” the night proved exactly why Ghoshal remains an unmatched force in the global music industry, drawing thousands of enthusiastic fans from across the Indian diaspora and beyond.

An Unforgettable, Immersive Entrance

Breaking the traditional barrier between artist and audience, Shreya Ghoshal surprised the Sydney crowd by making her grand entrance directly through the audience before stepping onto the main stage. The venue erupted into a frenzy of cheers and applause as fans caught a close-up glimpse of the melody queen.
Spanning a spectacular career of over two decades, her setlist was a masterclass in musical versatility. From soulful, classical-infused masterpieces to high-octane Bollywood chartbusters, Ghoshal effortlessly cruised through multiple Indian languages.
Fans were treated to breathtaking live renditions of iconic tracks like:
• Deewani Mastani and Pinga (from Bajirao Mastani)
• Ghar More Pardesiya
• Raabta
• Silsila Ye Chahat Ka

Celebrating Local Talent and “Female Power”

A defining highlight of the Sydney concert was Ghoshal’s commitment to collaborating with local artists. During a high-energy performance of the hit song Nagada Sang Dhol, a talented local Sydney dancer joined her on stage, sending the energy in the arena through the roof.

Reflecting on the magical evening and her broader four-city tour—which also saw a female dhol player join her in Melbourne—Shreya Ghoshal shared her immense gratitude:
“Every city was filled with incredible energy, love, warmth, laughter, and celebration… One of the best parts was the surprises in every city. In Sydney, we had a fabulous dancer perform during Nagada Sang Dhol… There was a lot of female power joining us. Those moments made the performances even more magical. I truly feel that my tribe is growing with every show.”

A Growing Cultural Phenomenon

With over 23,000 fans attending the tour across Auckland, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne, the massive turnout highlights the sustained, booming demand for large-scale live performances by premium Indian artists in Australia.

For the community gathered in Sydney, the evening was more than just a concert; it was a vibrant celebration of shared heritage, nostalgia, and world-class artistry. As Shreya Ghoshal moves forward with the global leg of her tour, Sydney fans are left with the lingering echoes of a truly unstoppable night.
By Sashi Lal-Sydney

A Journey to Remember: GIRMIT at MIFF 2026

As MIFF 2026 comes to a close, I look back with immense gratitude, pride, and unforgettable memories.

The journey of GIRMIT: The Fields of Sadness to the International Competition Section of the 19th Mumbai International Film Festival was much more than a film screening. It was an emotional journey of sharing the story of the Girmitiyas on one of the world’s most respected documentary film platforms.Watching our film on the big screen, alongside my crew, and engaging with filmmakers, critics, students, and audiences from around the world was a truly humbling experience. The conversations, appreciation, and emotional responses to the film reminded us why these stories must continue to be told.

My sincere thanks to MIFF 2026, NFDC India, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the festival team, fellow filmmakers, delegates, critics, and audiences who made this experience so special.

Most importantly, I wish to thank our producers Rajendra Prasad, Aruna Prasad, Shavleen and Michael Heath. My dedicated crew Arunabha Mukherjee, Umakant Jagtap, Kisaloy Roy, Shamin Kulkarni, and Prakash Palav. our supporters and promoters worldwide; and the global Fiji-Indian community. This film is a reflection of your trust, support, and shared commitment to keeping the story of the Girmitiyas alive for future generations.
These photographs capture moments that we will cherish for a lifetime.

Thank you, MIFF 2026.

Sunny Bank Ramayan Mandali Supports New Hindu Temple Project with Generous Donation

Members of the Sunny Bank Ramayan Mandali in Brisbane gathered last night to extend their support for the proposed $5 million Hindu temple project at Bracken Ridge, Queensland. During a special presentation, the Mandali proudly donated $10,000 to the Hindu Society of Queensland. The cheque was formally handed over by representatives of the Mandali in the presence of community members and executives of the Hindu Society.

The occasion was marked with warmth, devotion, and a shared vision for strengthening Hindu culture and spiritual life in Queensland.

The donation reflects the Mandali’s ongoing commitment to supporting religious, cultural, and community initiatives that benefit the wider Hindu diaspora in Australia. Members expressed their hope that the new temple will become a significant spiritual and cultural landmark for future generations.

Photographs were taken to commemorate the occasion, capturing the spirit of unity and generosity between the Sunny Bank Ramayan Mandali and the Hindu Society of Queensland.

Historic Shift: India Overtakes England as Australia’s Largest Migrant Demographic

In a monumental milestone that marks a permanent shift in the nation’s multicultural fabric, India has officially overtaken England to become the largest source country for residents born overseas living in Australia.

The historic announcement comes courtesy of the latest demographic update released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The data confirms that the Indian-born population in Australia has surged to nearly 971,000 residents, edging past the UK-born demographic for the first time since European settlement. For a country whose modern migration history was structurally anchored toward Europe for centuries, the numbers represent an extraordinary, era-defining transition.

A Young, Vibrant, and Dynamic Demographic

Beyond the raw numbers, the ABS data reveals a stark and fascinating contrast between Australia’s traditional migrant cohorts and the rapidly expanding Indian diaspora.
While older, traditional European migrant groups are largely reaching retirement age, the Indian-Australian community stands out as an overwhelmingly young, aspirational, and economically active powerhouse. The median age of Indian-born residents in Australia sits at just 36 years, compared to a much older median age among UK-born residents.

This youthful profile means the diaspora is heavily concentrated within the prime working-age bracket, directly feeding vital skills into the Australian economy. From engineering and information technology to healthcare, education, and hospitality, Indian professionals are filling critical labour gaps and fuelling the nation’s post-pandemic productivity.

Education and Suburbs Fuelling the Boom

The growth trajectory has been largely sustained by two main pathways: the thriving international student sector and Australia’s permanent skilled migration program. Tens of thousands of Indian students who arrived over the last decade have successfully transitioned into permanent residency, establishing deep roots across metropolitan Australia.

Geographically, this historic surge is transforming local landscapes. Victoria and New South Wales remain the primary destinations, with western suburbs in Melbourne (such as Tarneit, Wyndham Vale, and Truganina) and Sydney (such as Harris Park and Blacktown) evolving into major cultural, commercial, and political hubs for the community. The rise of these vibrant “Little Indias” reflects a diaspora that is not just growing in size but deeply embedding itself into the local civic identity.

Re-shaping Australia’s Future

Community leaders and sociologists view this shift as a natural evolution of Australia’s geopolitical alignment with the Indo-Pacific. Speaking on the milestone, migration experts emphasize that the Indian diaspora represents a “living bridge” that is completely redefining bilateral relations, trade, and mutual cultural respect between New Delhi and Canberra.

With the population rapidly approaching the one-million mark, the Indian community’s influence on Australian politics, business, cuisine, and sports is undeniable. As India takes the top spot in Australia’s migrant hierarchy, it marks the definitive beginning of a new chapter, one where the subcontinental diaspora is firmly steering the future of modern, multicultural Australia.

BAPS Charities Brisbane Walkathon brings community together

BAPS Charities organised its “In the Joy of Others” Walk and Run at New Farm Park, Brisbane, on Sunday 31 May 2026. Around 210 participants joined the event, including families, children, youth, volunteers and community members.The walkathon started near the New Farm Park Ferry Terminal and followed the scenic pathway along the Brisbane River. Participants enjoyed a peaceful morning walk while supporting the spirit of community service, unity and care for others.

The program included registration, welcome address, guest addresses, announcements, a group photo, the walkathon and light refreshments. Sandy Landers, Brisbane City Councillor, attended as a guest speaker and appreciated the efforts of BAPS Charities and the volunteers for bringing the community together for a meaningful cause.

The event was inspired by the life and message of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who taught, “In the joy of others lies our own.” This message continues to guide BAPS Charities in serving the wider community through compassion, humility and selfless service.

BAPS Charities thanked all participants, volunteers and community members who helped make the walkathon a successful and uplifting event.

In the coming months, BAPS Charities will continue its community service activities, including a blanket drive and hot food drive to support people facing hardship.
The walkathon was a wonderful example of people coming together with one heart and one purpose, to serve others and spread kindness in the community.

The Living Bridge Under Scrutiny—Why the Indian Diaspora is Vital to Australia’s Future

As Australia marches steadily toward its next federal election, the national conversation has found its familiar, well-worn lightning rod: immigration. Turn on any talkback radio station, scroll through social media, or read the latest political op-eds, and you will find Net Overseas Migration (NOM) figures dissected with aggressive scrutiny. In this hardening public discourse, a troubling shift has occurred. The Australian-Indian community, recently confirmed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as the nation’s largest overseas-born migrant demographic, the increasingly finds itself unfairly positioned at the centre of complex anxieties surrounding housing shortages, infrastructure bottlenecks, and soaring cost-of-living pressures.

As publishers of the Australian Indian Times, we believe it is time to inject rigorous fact, economic reality, and profound cultural perspective into a debate that risks becoming dangerously reductive. To scapegoat the Indian diaspora for systemic, decades-long domestic policy failures in housing supply and infrastructure is not only intellectually dishonest; it ignores the foundational reality that modern Australia simply cannot function without the skills, taxes, and civic dedication of its Indian-Australian residents.

The Fiscal Engine: Paying Taxes and Building Wealth

A persistent, flawed myth in populist migration debates is that incoming residents place an immediate, uncompensated drain on public resources. The empirical data tells the exact opposite story. The Indian diaspora in Australia is structurally unique: it is overwhelmingly young, highly educated, and economically productive, boasting a median age of just 36.

When a skilled professional or an international student arrives from India, they do not arrive to a blank ledger of public dependency. They enter the workforce immediately during their peak productive years. The Indian-Australian community represents one of the highest tax-paying demographics in the country. From the immediate payroll taxes deducted from their salaries to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid on everyday consumption, and the billions of dollars contributed through corporate tax, stamp duty, and visa application fees, this community heavily subsidizes the public infrastructure and social safety nets that all Australians rely upon.

Unlike older, aging demographics that naturally require greater fiscal drawdowns for pensions and healthcare, the youthful Indian diaspora is a net positive fiscal engine. They are actively funding the very roads, schools, and hospitals that critics accuse them of overcrowding.

The Backbone of the Frontline: Medical Skills and Lifesaving Care

Nowhere is Australia’s structural reliance on the Indian diaspora more visible—and more critical—than in our strained healthcare system. Walk into any major metropolitan hospital, rural clinic, or regional health hub across New South Wales, Victoria, or Queensland, and you will find Indian-Australian doctors, specialists, nurses, and allied health professionals anchoring the frontline.

According to healthcare workforce data, thousands of Indian-trained medical graduates and skilled professionals migrate to Australia annually under strict skilled visa pathways. They do not displace local workers; they fill chronic, desperate shortages that local universities cannot meet fast enough. In regional and remote Australia, where the shortage of General Practitioners (GPs) often reaches crisis levels, it is frequently Indian doctors who relocate their lives to ensure rural families have access to primary care. To question the value of this migration path is to question the stability of our healthcare network.

Sustaining the Social Fabric: Aged Care and Child Care

Beyond the high-tech corridors of hospitals and IT hubs, the Indian diaspora performs the vital, emotionally demanding work that keeps Australian society humane and functioning. Our nation is facing a dual demographic challenge: an rapidly aging population requiring intensive support, and working young families requiring affordable, high-quality early childhood education.

In the Aged Care sector, a sector fundamentally shaken by workforce shortages over the last several years, Indian-Australian workers have stepped into the breach. With deep-rooted cultural values that revere elders, Indian professionals and students bring not just labor, but genuine empathy, dignity, and care to vulnerable older Australians in residential facilities and home-care settings.
Similarly, in Child Care and early childhood education, the diaspora forms a significant pillar of the workforce. By providing dependable, professional care for Australia’s youngest generation, Indian childcare workers directly enable hundreds of thousands of Australian parents to return to the workforce, thereby unlocking billions of dollars in broader economic productivity.

Shifting the Bilateral Needle: Trade and Strategic Partnerships

On the geopolitical stage, the Indian diaspora serves as the indispensable “living bridge” that has transformed Australia-India relations from a history of polite neglect to an era of unprecedented strategic intimacy. The economic architecture of modern Australia is deeply tied to India, crystallized by the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) and ongoing negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

Indian-Australian entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and trade delegates possess the dual cultural literacy and market insights required to navigate the complexities of the Indian economy. Whether it is securing supply chains for critical minerals, expanding educational partnerships like the historic UNSW Bengaluru campus, or facilitating agricultural exports, the diaspora is the catalyst. As Australia seeks to diversify its sovereign trading partnerships away from historical over-dependencies, the Indian community provides the ultimate competitive advantage.

A Call for Mature Leadership and Social Cohesion

Housing shortages and cost-of-living pressures are deeply painful realities affecting millions of Australians today. They are the consequence of a complex mix of global inflation, historic planning failures, high interest rates, and lagging construction pipelines. They are not caused by the arrival of a skilled Indian nurse, an IT engineer, or an ambitious international student.

When political rhetoric simplifies these systemic issues into a blunt attack on migration numbers, it erodes social cohesion and breeds casual xenophobia. It makes young Indian-Australians, who love this country and call it home, feel vulnerable in the suburbs they have worked so hard to build.

Australia’s greatness has always been its ability to build a highly successful, prosperous multicultural democracy out of orderly, targeted migration. The Indian diaspora does not take from the Australian table; they have baked a larger pie for everyone. As we head into a politically charged election season, let us demand a mature, fact-based discourse from our leaders. Let us celebrate, protect, and stand firmly with a community that gives so much to the peace, health, and prosperity of our shared nation.