The Australian Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and Industry has launched a youth wing, to be called the Young Entrepreneurs.
It is a world first for the parent organisation, and the Chamber hopes it will help change perceptions.
Busting negative stereotypes is a major objective behind the creation of the Australian Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Young Entrepreneurs group.
Young Entrepreneurs chairman Michael Evans says it is a chance to change the way young Australian Lebanese are perceived.
"Obviously, there's some negative stereotypes, with the publicity that we get sometimes through the media and through the stories that people read. However, we really want to generate business links and to show the Australian community that we're not all about those negative stereotypes and, also, to generate business links within our own community to improve their employability and skills."
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The Young Entrepreneurs aim to generate business contacts and support for young Australian Lebanese, regardless of religion or politics.
Mr Evans says the group is based on a platform of inclusiveness.
"We see within our own community in Australia that we are a little bit divided, in terms of religion. So, for example, I'm Maronite, and I mainly mix with other Maronite Lebanese, so I don't know too many outside my own community. So this is really, really something we should be proud of, that we're trying to link our community here amongst all the religious and political groups, making this an apolitical and non-religious organisation."
The Australian Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and Industry Young Entrepreneurs' Celine Khoury says the establishment of the group is a huge achievement.
She says it is the first-ever youth branch of any Lebanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry anywhere in the world.
"Our presence is going to be very important, because we're definitely going to be leading by example. For me, being a young lady, my dream and my hope is that, through what we do, other girls, other females, might be inspired and might say, 'You know what, I'm going to go out and I want to achieve these things, and I can be successful, and I can be entrepreneurial, and I can do all these things, and no one can tell me I can't because of my gender."
Ms Khoury says the youth branch is destined to become a leading group for Australian-Lebanese women.
And she says it already has received wide-ranging support.
"We've had members of parliament, particularly Inga Peulich, who was a speaker at our launch. She has been a driving force for us from the start. Myself and another girl on the committee called Olga, we approached her with the idea, and she said it is so important -- her alongside with Frank McGuire, who's also an MP. They said to us, 'It is so important that the Middle Eastern community have that voice for women, and you are leading by example, and we will do everything we possibly can to support you, because we know that, in your community, when you lead by example, others will follow.'"
Australian Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Faddy Zouky says the Young Entrepreneurs group is a source of great pride.
"You know, here are students from university in their final years coming together, looking at making a difference in our community and in Australia through success in business and through inspiring others to seek opportunities, again to excel and become exemplary citizens of Australia. That in and of itself is very inspirational."
