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2008 Open Fora

Surviving Genocide - Personal Stories from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Mr Marcel Weyland OAM, acclaimed translator of Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz's epic poem Pan Tadeusz and Ghetto poems Echoes - Poems of the Holocaust and Ms Halina Robinson, survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, author of The Cork on the Waves (her life story 1930 - 1957) told their personal stories and commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Tibet and it's people

Senator Andrew Bartlett Deputy Leader of the Australian Democrats spoke on the current situation in Tibet and Tenpa Dugdak, a Tibetan refugee living in the Sydney community told his story. There was also a screening of I Tibet a short film about Tibetans living in Australia.

Treaty of Waitangi

The Forum provided an opportunity for the Western Sydney community to learn about the history of the treaty and to hear from Dr Benjamin Pittman, a direct descendant of a Maori Elder who signed the Treaty.

Families in the West

Rachael Wallbank, Kerry Robinson, Cristyn Davies and Emily Gray told personal stories and engaged the audience in a panel discussion on the issues faced by the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (GLBTI) people and their families.

Escaping the Poverty Trap

Professor Tony Vinson, Australia's leading authority on communal inequity and Dr John Valzon, sociologist and CEO of the St Vincent de Paul National Council discussed the distribution and nature of poverty in Australia today.