Melbourne based performer and spoken word artist Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa is Victorian Multicultural Commission’s new Youth Commissioner.
Sukhjit, who is among the three new Commissioners to the Victorian Multicultural Commission announced by the government today, told SBS Hindi, she was ‘excited and thrilled to be the new Youth Commissioner.’
“As a passionate community worker, I am excited to work with the Victorian Multicultural Commission and I really admire the work they do,” she said.
23-year-old Sukhjit shot to limelight after her spoken word performance on Australia’s Got Talent.
Since then she has been working to shine a light on discrimination and create opportunities for other young people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
“As a performer and a spoken word artist, I have been using my performance to highlight the issues being faced by young people in Australia. I have tried to highlight the important issues of human rights, equality, feminism in my work,” she said.
“Art and humour presents a unique opportunity to highlight the issues we, young people face. I like to use humour, I guess it is the most Australian way, to talk about issues,” she quips.
She hopes to continue her work to highlight the issues and help young people of multicultural background.
“I feel amazing that I have been given this opportunity to learn about the experiences our youth have had and represent them. I hope to use my skills to highlight and address the issues of multicultural young people. I am keen to help them,” she says.
She believes her recent workshops with Asian, Canadian and American youth have added to her understanding of the kind of issues people face.
VMC Chairperson Helen Kapalos welcomed the new Commissioners and said each Commissioner brings a wealth of experience and insight to their role.
“The role of a Commissioner requires compassion to listen to people and understand their challenges and aspirations; it requires innovative thinking to find lasting, meaningful solutions; and it requires the courage to provide frank and fearless advice to the Victorian Government,” said Ms Kapalos.
“I welcome these strong advocates to the VMC and look forward to working alongside them to support Victorians of all cultural backgrounds,” said Ms Kapalos.
