Joseph Wakim is an independent writer on human rights issues. He was founder of the Australian Arabic Council (1992) and former Victorian Multicultural Affairs Commissioner (1991-1993).
While completing his Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Melbourne, he became one of the pioneer volunteer street workers in the Open Family Foundation in 1984. He then established a similar streetwork project for homeless youth in Adelaide in 1986 where where he attracted media headlines for exposing child prostitution in the ‘church city’.
He was a social worker for the Arabic-speaking community at the time of the first ‘Gulf War’ in 1991. After conducting hundreds of media interviews and writing letters to the editor, Joseph was invited to write opinion columns. He has since been a prolific writer and some of his published work is highlighted on this site.
Joseph founded Australia’s first community-initiated Arabic Festival (Mahrajan) in Melbourne in 1992.
As founder of the Australian Arabic Council, he produced the TV documentary ‘Zero to Zenith: Arabic Contributions Down Under’, which was screened on SBS TV and held in libraries as an educational resource.
Joseph wrote and staged bilingual theatre productions that were linked to UN International Year themes.
His anti-racism campiagns initiatives earned the Commonwealth Heads of Government Violence Prevention Award in 1996.
His TV appearances include ABC News 24, The Drum, SBS Insight and SBS TV documentary ‘Once upon a time in Punchbowl’.
Many of his published articles are listed on http://bit.ly/1LvFdMh
As a widowed father of three children, his writing is enriched by his personal experiences.
He is a composer and self-taught guitarist. He composed for the band ‘The Heartbeats’.
Joseph authored his memoir ‘Sorry we have no space’, published by Connor Court, followed by ‘What my daughters taught me’, published by Allen & Unwin in 2015, both to critical acclaim.
Joseph’s writing has diversified to grant applications, business tenders, award nominations and ghost writing.