(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
Joseph Assaf was tired of hearing only bad news.
As a migrant from Lebanon he felt the media in Australia only focused on migrant communites when something was going wrong.
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He decided to try and help change that in 1988 by setting up an awards program for excellence in the ethnic business sector.
Starting life on the factory floor, Joseph Assaf taught himself English and then set up Ethnic Communications, one of Australia's first and most successful multilingual, and multicultural communication agencies.
Now in their 25th year the Ethnic Business Awards held a special event on Tuesday night, recognising the efforts of migrant business people over the past quarter of a century.
Managing Director of SBS, Michael Ebeid, says the contribution made by Australia's ethnic business community is something that should be recognised and celebrated.
"I think it's really important to celebrate the successes that so many migrants have had in their journey to Australia and the ethnic business awards and SBS have got a real common goal and that goal is to really completely showcase and celebrate the impacts that diversity has on society and in the ethnic business awards it's about the impacts of diversity in the business community and what that does to successful organisations and we really embrace that."
The Ethnic Business Awards ceremony will be broadcast on SBS Television on Saturday 6 July at 4pm-6pm on SBS ONE.
