Carly Copolov

Her own research into the well-being of young people of refugee backgrounds has shown firsthand the urgent need for accessible education opportunities for these communities.

Carly’s thesis has focused on Melbourne’s Hazara community, a more than 6,500-strong ethnic group from central Afghanistan.

“For young Hazara men, especially, one of their biggest challenges is disrupted schooling and education, which makes it hard for them to reintegrate into Australian society.

“They often arrive alone, but have to support families and can’t re-enter the education system.”

The McKinnon Secondary College alumna did not realise this would become her career passion, but volunteering for Ucan2 at the Centre for Multicultural Youth during her BA (Psych) Honours year significantly opened her eyes to the plight of displaced youth.

Since then, Carly has had research trips to Indonesia; attended an Oxford University Summer School on refugee and human rights law; travelled to India and Taiwan as a Scanlon-Swinburne Intercultural Fellow to observe how these countries implement policy and educational programs to nurture social cohesion in multicultural communities; and co-founded Beyond the Fabric—an Australian non-profit selling beautiful handcrafts to support the refugee and asylum seeker women in Indonesia who make them.

Carly knows people are often daunted by the scale of need for refugees, but believes in collective people power.

“If we all pool our little bit of extra money together, we can achieve a lot. It’s bigger and more powerful when we do it together.”