Tan Le, the Young Australian of the Year for 1998, is a woman who has achieved academic success while at the same time contributing to her community. Her story is one of talent, perseverance and dedication amidst the struggle of being a refugee.
Tan's family fled Vietnam in 1981, surviving five days on a little boat before being picked up by a British oil tanker and deported to a refugee camp in Malaysia. The family stayed several months in the camp before being accepted by Australia as refugees.
Arriving in Australia with no possessions or knowledge of English, Tan's mother devoted herself to work and learning English in order to provide an education for her children. Despite initial language difficulties, Tan Le demonstrated an outstanding academic record, gaining entrance to the university when she was 16.
Growing up in Footscray, Victoria, where she still lives, she devoted her considerable energies and talent to community service. At the age of 15, she joined the Vietnamese Community of Footscray Association, which was established to provide training and find employment for young Vietnamese Australians. Within three years, Tan was made president. She proceeded to establish a number of new training and employment initiatives, as well as a program to provide counseling and refuge for Vietnamese women. Finally, she turned the Footscray Association into the Australian Vietnamese Resource Centre, regarded today as one of the most effective Vietnamese community organizations in Australia.
As a student, Tan also organized several cultural events that have helped to promote multiculturalism in Melbourne. She mobilized the community to support fund drives for charities, and recorded tapes of Vietnamese newspapers for the Victorian Association for the Blind.
Meanwhile Tan was awarded a KPMG Accounting Scholarship in 1997. She graduated with a Commerce and Law degree with honors from Monash University in 1998 and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in early 2000.
Her positions include: Member of the Australian Citizenship Council, Member of the Centre of the Mind (Australian National University), Member of 'A Fair Go For All', the National Committee for Human Rights Education in Australia, National Ambassador for Aboriginal Reconciliation, National Ambassador for National Youth Media Awards and Patron of the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Program.
Tan was also appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for Australia to China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam in the late 1990s. Subsequently she has traveled to Asia under the sponsorship of the Images of Australia Unit (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade).
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| Tan Le Photo: Saxton Speakers Bureau |
