The players, Christian Bitsikas and Christian Tsangas, will join a 24-player squad in their first training camp of the year.
Christian Bitsikas. Photo: Victorian Paralympic Football Program/ Ann Odong.
The training camp will be held on Friday, March 1, at Valentine Sports Park in Sydney, and run across three intensive days. This will prepare the team for the IFCPF World Cup, Spain in November.
Thirteen members of the squad possess two or fewer caps for the CommBank Pararoos, with ten players yet to make their debut, heralding the dawn of a new era for the CommBank Pararoos program. The average age of the squad is just 20-years-old, reflecting the composition of the rejuvenated side.
Christian Tsangas. Photo: Kelly Defina/Getty Images for Football Australia.
The larger than usual squad features eleven returning players from the 2023 IFCPF Asia-Oceania Men’s Championships (Para Asian Cup) in Melbourne where the CommBank Pararoos advanced to the final, creating an increased importance on claiming a place the team.
Angus MacGregor (Football Victoria) will be back in action for the first time since 2019, adding depth and experience to the roster.
Additionally, newcomers Trey Hunter (Northern NSW Football), Sail Kozaroc (Football Queensland), and Sabian Panozzo (Football Victoria) will embark on their maiden CommBank Pararoos’ training camp with the aim of earning their first National Team call-up.
CommBank Pararoos’ Head Coach Kai Lammert expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming camp, emphasising the opportunity for younger players to step into leadership roles and contribute to the team’s collective growth.
Kai Lammert is Head Coach. Photo: Xing.
“This camp marks the beginning of an exciting journey towards the IFCPF World Cup in Spain. We’re eager to see our players come together, forge bonds, and build on the success of recent years,” Lammert said.
“The squad comprises a diverse mix of talents and we believe in nurturing the potential of every individual. By empowering our younger players to take on leadership responsibilities, we’re building a culture of mentorship and growth within the team. It’s about instilling confidence and resilience in our players, ensuring that each one feels valued and capable of contributing to our future success.
“This camp isn’t just about preparing for a tournament, it’s about embarking on an adventure together. I have no doubt that as we come together and push our limits, we’ll not only improve as a squad but build an environment capable of producing great things.”
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia (GOAA) will now be governed on the basis of a Holy Eparchial Synod, following a decision made by the Holy and Scared Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on Tuesday, February 27.
Archbishop Makarios of Australia will be President of the Holy Eparchial Synod, and its members will be his active Auxiliary Bishops in their capacity as “Regional Bishops.”
There are currently eight Bishops in Australia. They are Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis, Bishop Emilianos of Meloa, Bishop Elpidios of Kyaneon, Bishop Silouan of Sinope, Bishop Kyriakos of Sozopolis, Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia, Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta, and Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis.
There are no details yet as to how the Holy Eparchial Synod will work in Australia.
The model used by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is concerned with the “life, mission, growth and unity of the Archdiocese.” Its Holy Eparchial Synod deliberates on matters of a canonical nature such as approving ordination of candidates to the priesthood, clergy discipline, and administrative matters related to the parishes and monasteries of the Archdiocese, among many other things.
The GOAA’s updated governance structure comes after the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate approved the rules of its proposed new Constitution.
The two Synodical Committees of the Ecumenical Patriarchate will now study the draft Constitution in accordance with the decision of the Holy and Sacred Synod, and will present their final report to the Phanar around Easter.
Perth’s Lord Mayor and well-known TV personality, Basil Zempilas is on track to become the candidate for the Western Australian Liberals in the Churchlands seat for the 2025 state election.
According to ABC News, noone is reported to be going up against Zempilas, making his victory seem very likely. However, he still needs to go through the formalities of the Liberal preselection process.
Basil aims to get the Liberals seat back. Photo: Basil Zempilas, Facebook.
The Churchlands seat, previously held by the Liberals for eight years, slipped away to Labor in 2021.
Now, with Zempilas in the running, the Liberals hope to get it back.
Zempilas brings a unique blend of experience to the table. It is believed that if he secures the seat, it could lead to a significant step for the WA Liberals as they aim to make a comeback in state politics.
Content creator Kat Zam wants to make sure we don’t forget the stories of the first Greek immigrants – you may know them as yiayia and pappou, or perhaps even mum and dad.
Zam has launched her new series Greek Diaspora Stories across Instagram and TikTok, hoping to preserve the wealth of stories housed in the hearts of the generation that is slowly closing their circle of life.
“I feel that the Greek community went through so much to come [to Australia]. We’re just so privileged to live the lives that we live here and it’s because of them. If they had a family in Greece, my life would have been so different,” Zam told The Greek Herald.
Kat Zam with her sister at their yiayia snd papous farm in the 1990s. Photo: Kat Zam.
“I feel so privileged that they made the journey here, and they built this life for themselves. It’s just really inspiring. I really admire their resilience because I go to the supermarket and I get overstimulated.”
Kat’s papou on a truck in Greece. Photo: Kat Zam.
Greek Diaspora Stories is like your grandparents’ photo album; the bright blue one with the gold border, that has that crinkling plastic sound each time you turn the page.
Filled with an abundance of memories, nostalgia and reflection, Zam’s series honours the sacrifice and nuance of the early Greek immigrants. Her tagline for the project, ‘Δούλευαν για σένα και για μένα’ [They worked for you and for me], captures the essence of the content creator’s connection to the project, but also reminds us of their forward thinking decades ago.
One of Kat’s papou’s from Sydney, herself and her sister in the 1990s. Photo: Kat Zam.
“The tagline is one of the lyrics from the song Diaspora by Glykeria. Every time I listen to that song I literally cry. I think of my yiayia and pappou who have their farm in the country and they literally started that from red dirt, scratch; 100 acres, they planted all these vines, they grew all this fruit. And that’s their contribution and I guess they did it for their families, for us. And that’s across the board with everyone’s yiayia and pappou; some worked in the factories, they did all these things and they did it for us, for their families,” Zam said.
The first video of the series features Zam’s own yiayia who lives in regional Victoria. She details her thousand-kilometre trek from Sydney to regional Victoria with Zam’s pappou, and her joy of gaining employment at a factory which granted her the ability to buy her own, new clothes.
Kat’s yiayia dancing with a friend in the 1980s. Photo: Kat Zam.
As she and her husband created a new life in Australia, Zam’s yiayia built a childhood for her children, one she hoped would be easier than her own. But that wasn’t without her own hardship.
“One of her stories that stood out for me was when she was a little girl. Yiayia had to be left alone, because her mum was working. My great grandmother was a single mum. Yiayia told me that she remembers waking up so hungry, and she had to get herself ready for school because no one else was there to help her. There was no food in the house. So she went out to the garden and picked a little tomato. And that’s all she ate. It just makes me emotional thinking about it,” Zam recalls.
Kat’s yiayia holding up a photo of her and her sister in Sydney. Photo: Kat Zam.
“Then arriving in Australia and moving to regional Victoria with my pappou, she had to sleep in a shed with farm animals. She was pregnant, living in a shed with goats.”
The small country town had its own little Greek community, fostered by the immigrants that brought along with them their culture, traditions and values.
Kat’s papou with a friend in Sydney. Photo: Kat Zam.
Unfortunately for Zam, many of the families had moved on from the town by the time she was born, and it had lost some of its Greek influence. Zam’s most grounded connection to her Greek heritage was her family.
“We didn’t have kids learning Greek dances, the church wasn’t even open every Sunday. It was open only on special occasions because there was no priest in the town, he had to travel an hour or two to get there,” she said.
Kats papou with his homegrown tomatoes. Photo: Kat Zam.
Zam eventually made the move to Melbourne where she launched her content creating career and began her own odyssey in uncovering what being Greek Australian meant to her.
“I initially started creating content in 2021, which was all comedic. I would make videos about my friends when I was a teenager with this cheap little camcorder,” Zam explained.
Kat’s nouna and second cousin. Photo: Kat Sam.
“It’s been an interesting journey. In the beginning I really tried to fit in and be more Anglo, because I was sort of disconnected from the Greek community and was trying to figure out my identity. But that wasn’t exactly my own experience… I think a lot of how I’ve evolved has to do with identity, because for a long time, I never felt Aussie enough, I never felt Greek enough, but I’m a Greek Australian. Then also adding in being queer. It just felt like I had all these separate identities, and they couldn’t be intertwined.”
Coming to what had felt like a crossroad, Zam saw something greater ahead, and instead of picking one, she forged her own path.
Kats nouno (RIP) giving her nescafe. Photo: Kat Zam.
“Very recently, I’ve met more people in the Greek community, like Christian from Capers, who have helped me realise that being Greek isn’t one archetype. That’s the huge thing that’s changed for me and it made me more interested in doing Greek content, and really focus on my heritage and being authentic rather than listening to what the brands want,” she said.
“As a content creator, we make money through brand deals. While that’s great, and it serves a purpose, I feel like it isn’t as meaningful to me. I want to share stories that impact people, I want to capture meaningful stuff, and I feel so much richer for having been able to do that. It just makes me feel like I’ve been successful in some small impactful way in this community.”
If you’d like to see your grandparents or parents featured in Kat Zam’s Greek Diaspora Stories you can reach out to her via direct message on Instagram at @heykatzam.
The review was completed by the Department of Customer Service (DCS) and Multicultural NSW, and involved consultation with multicultural media outlets and government agencies.
Members of Independent Multicultural Media Australia (IMMA), including The Greek Herald, La Fiama, Monthly Muktamancha, Turkish News-Press, Indian Link, Persian Herald, Macedonian Weekly, Chinese Herald, (Vietnamese) Sunrise Newspaper, (Arabic) El Telegraph, and Neos Kosmos, had met with representatives from the DCS over the past 18 months, with no significant progress made.
The Greek Herald spoke to media representatives that participated in the review and found it focused primarily on workflow and the message to DCS of their concerns had become diluted and the narrative lost.
The Greek Herald, along with other multicultural media outlets, engaged in consultations with the DCS.
Following these consultations, the 2023 Multicultural Media and Policy Review Report has made 10 recommendations which the NSW Government will adopt when working with multicultural media outlets.
In summary, these recommendations include:
NSW Government departments to tailor their outreach efforts to multicultural communities and languages by adopting a case-by-case approach.
Raising the required expenditure targeting multicultural and First Nations communities in government information campaigns from 7.5 percent to 9 percent.
Implementing more robust data collection and reporting practices to enhance understanding of media consumption behaviour within NSW multicultural and First Nations communities.
NSW Government should retain current arrangements for placement of government advertising (via the contracted media agency and intermediary agency) based on the comparison with alternative models (detailed in the report).
NSW Government to develop an action plan for increasing consideration of traditional multicultural media to stem steep decline.
Increasing the total number of languages targeted across advertising campaigns.
Annual reporting on multicultural and Aboriginal advertising spend.
NSW Government to require its contracted media planners and placement agents to increase their knowledge and consideration of local digital multicultural channels.
Increase NSW Government’s knowledge and consideration of independent multicultural media.
Department of Customer Service to report on the proposed approach to reach multicultural audiences in the Cabinet Submissions for campaigns over $1 million.
The NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said these findings mark “an important step forward” in the government’s drive “for a more inclusive approach to government communications.”
“The increased focus on distributing information through independent multicultural and First Nations media will help ensure government agencies are sharing important messages with the diverse communities of NSW,” Minister Dib said.
“The detailed findings of this review provide a roadmap for the NSW Government to build further understanding, transparency and effectiveness of its multicultural advertising practices.”
The NSW Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper also responded to the report recommendations and said the state government’s “advertising campaigns should be targeted to reach all communities with important messages.”
“While we acknowledge the government’s effort to address the issue of advertising spend reporting and make improvements, we believe that the current recommendations put forward in the review report do not adequately address the challenges faced by independent multicultural media outlets that have been raised in both round-table discussions over an 18-month period and during the review process,” IMMA member and Publisher at The Greek Herald, Dimitra Skalkos, stressed.
IMMA Secretary Fotis Kapetopoulos added that “DCS has provided a map of the whole multicultural media ecology and did so with significant detail,” but was disappointed IMMA’s role as an organisation was not acknowledged in the report.
“While the report mentions individual members of IMMA, it does not make clear that IMMA initiated the discussions with DCS and Multicultural NSW, representing some 30+ media organisations,” Mr Kapetopoulos said.
IMMA members added that although they appreciate the increase in advertising spend from 7.5 per cent to 9 per cent, the current 7.5 per cent allocation already fails to reach independent multicultural media outlets.
This was a key concern IMMA raised with the NSW Government during extensive discussions. The Association referenced the Victorian government’s position as a model where advertising spend was increased to 15 per cent, excluding translation services and expenditure with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).
The NSW government’s increase to 9 per cent still includes SBS, which is already a government-funded organisation, as well as overseas media platforms and social media giants, thereby not effectively supporting independent multicultural media in Australia.
Other issues of concern raised by IMMA include how the report does not mandate spend with independent multicultural media, and it identifies a significant decrease in print or “traditional” media spend, despite market research reflecting it is a more trusted source of information in multicultural communities.
“The report identifies platforms in the multicultural media ecology, yet it takes the OMD agency’s binary view of ‘traditional media’ and ‘digital media’,” Mr Kapetopoulos said.
Other issues of concern raised by IMMA include how the report identifies a significant decrease in print or “traditional” media spend.
The recommendations also only state that government contracted media planners and placement agents increase their knowledge and consideration of local digital multicultural channels.
This does not align with the pre-election commitment to reduce the reliance on multinational social media platforms in favour of home-grown digital media channels.
Currently, the contracted media planners are predominantly spending their digital budget with overseas platforms and social media giants, despite the presence of multiple active digital platforms and social media channels operated by independent multicultural media outlets that have a wide reach and directly engage with their communities.
“Independent multicultural media employ journalists who have deep connections to the communities they serve. Unlike foreign digital platforms, they are seen as these communities’ valid media voices in heritage languages and English,” Mr Kapetopoulos said.
IMMA said the sustainability of multicultural media in NSW was also a key concern not addressed by the report.
The government made a pre-election commitment to develop “ways to support digital transformation and journalistic excellence in the multicultural media sector.” IMMA members were told this commitment would be fulfilled through grants and government funding, none of which have been raised in the report.
Members of IMMA will continue to work with NSW government during this ongoing review process to ensure they remain viable into the future.
The Adelaide Comets Football Club have successfully appealed against Adelaide City Council’s initial rejection to erect a fence around its parklands pitch.
According to The Advertiser, the club initially proposed to build a 1.1m high around their home grounds, however it was rejected by Council due to potential risk of it setting a ‘precedent’ for the parklands and create the illusion that the public would be excluded.
Adelaide City Councillor Mary Couros had then tabled a motion to overturn the decision. The motion passed on Tuesday, February 27, and was backed with an 8-3 vote.
According to Dimokratiki.gr, while awaiting for details on the ceremony and how it will work, the two Australian men look forward to their civil ceremony which will take place against the picturesque backdrop of Rhodes.
The two men from Australia want to marry in Rhodes. Photo: Britannica.
The registry office in Rhodes has since revealed a number of details that come with the marriage ceremony in Greece.
Details vary from the right to insurance of the spouses, to the surname of their future children. The registry office aims to ensure equal rights, reflecting Greece’s commitment to inclusivity.
This Australian couple who will marry in Rhodes have not confirmed a date as yet, but their union will mark a significant step forward in global LGBTQ+ rights.
On Wednesday, February 28, the theatre and film industry mourned the loss of the renowned actor Ilias Logothetis, who passed away at the age of 85.
Logothetis was married to actress Maria Zacharis, and had a son Alexandros Logothetis, who aims to continue his father’s legacy in the acting realm.
His passing was announced by Alexandros, who shared a message on social media, writing “Goodbye blue eyes.”
Ilias Logothetis has passed away. Photo: Protothema.gr.
Logothetis was known for having quite the successful career, where he initially started with opera before finding his calling in acting.
In his early days, he studied at the Panteion University, and was a graduate of the Political Science Department and he was known for being heavily involved in the renowned Karolos Koun Art Theatre, where he graduated in 1967.
He then went on to make his silver screen debut in 1970 with the film “Babylonia.”
Throughout his career, Logothetis collaborated with big names in the industry including Yannis Fertis-Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Kakia Analitis-Kosta Rigopoulos, Nikos Xanthopoulos, Thanasis Vengos, Angelos Antonopoulos-Miranta Kounelakis, Spyros Evaggelatos Amphitheatre, and many others.
Britain’s King Charles III has paid tribute to his late cousin, the former King Constantine of Greece, on Wednesday, February 28 after being spotted wearing a tie covered in Greek flags.
King Charles was the second cousin to Constantine through their fathers. Constantine’s father, King Paul of Greece, and the Duke of Edinburgh were first cousins. They shared a grandfather, George I of Greece.
Due to his ongoing cancer treatment, King Charles was unable to attend Tuesday’s memorial service for Constantine at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Instead, he was spotted dressed in a dark overcoat, navy suit, and white shirt paired with the Greek tie.
Prince William also didn’t attend the memorial, due to undisclosed ‘personal reasons.’
King Charles wearing a Greek flag tie meeting with British PM Rishi Sunak last year. Photo: Hellenic Daily News.
King Charles was last seen wearing a Greek flag tie at the COP28 summit in Dublin at the end of last year.
This followed discussions and disagreements regarding the Parthenon Marbles between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
As the one-year anniversary of Greece’s most deadly rail disaster approached, tens of thousands of men, women and young people flooded the streets of Athens, Thessaloniki, and many other parts of Greece on Wednesday, February 28 to protest.
Ekathimerini reported that many of the protestors rallied as they believed the Greek government has attempted to cover up who was responsible and cover up the details of what happened at Tempi last year.
People protesting in front of riot police outside Parliament in Greece. Photo: AP News.
The tragic incident involved two trains colliding head-on at Tempi in central Greece on February 28, 2023. It left 57 people dead, which were mostly young university students heading back home from a long weekend.
The two trains collided at Tempe in Central Greece. Photo: AP news.
Amongst the protestors gathered on Wednesday outside of Parliament at Athens’ Syntagma Square were relatives of the victims.
One of the fathers, Pavlos Aslanidis, who lost his 27-year-old son in the crash, attended. Holding photographs of his son, and the crash site, he described that the only thing they could find of his son to put in his coffin were his ashes.
Protestors in Athens. Photo: Al Jazeera.
“We are here to thank all the people who came to commemorate our children, who are in Heaven,” Mr Aslanidis said.
“We are making this effort so no more children are lost; we are here to save the next ones. We are a group of parents chasing the case and they are blocking our way.”
More protestors. Photo: Ap News.
As well as the protests, churches around Greece also rang their bells 57 times on Wednesday, and students wrote the names of the dead in red on the ground out the front of the Parliament, where riot police surrounded.
Black balloons and a banner that said “Murderers” also hung in front of Parliament.
The riot police. Photo: Al Jazeera.
One other man, Christoforos Konstantinidis, who lost his mother Vasiliki Florou in the train crash, was also present and made comment.
“I’m not sure how far we still are from the truth, but I know that we will get there no matter how difficult it is,” Mr Konstantinidis said.
“We take strength from the protests across Greece.”
Many protestors also gathered in front of the headquarters of Hellenic Train, which was the company responsible for the trains. People were seen spray painting “Our lives” on the asphalt as riot police vans and a water cannon stood by the company’s entrance on Syngrou Avenue.
Brief clashes were also reported between police and protesters both in Athens and Thessaloniki.
The memorial service for the 57 lives lost at the train crash site. Photo: Alexandros Avramidis
People displayed candles, flowers, photographs, and a banner reading “A crime without punishment at Tempe, the souls demand justice” outside the Parliament.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed that those responsible would be held accountable in a televised video.
“As a government and political system, we must acknowledge the collective failure behind this tragedy,” Mr Mitsotakis said.
“As a prime minister, as a citizen and as a father, I share the country’s grief.”
Έναν χρόνο από την τραγωδία των Τεμπών, οι πληγές από τον χαμό των θυμάτων της μένουν νωπές, με τον Γολγοθά των δικών τους ανθρώπων πάντα δύσκολο και ανηφορικό. Ως Πρωθυπουργός, ως πολίτης, αλλά και ως πατέρας, συμμετέχω στο πένθος της πατρίδας. https://t.co/7RFV7p5jWUpic.twitter.com/Jw56rwLlou
The former transport and infrastructure minister Kostas A Karamanlis, who was serving during the time of the crash and resigned after it took place also released a statement.
“One year later, the memory of all of us cannot escape from the unspeakable tragedy in Tempe,” Mr Karamanlis said.
