DELIVERED IN THE FEDERATION CHAMBER

I rise today to recognise recipients of the Order of Australia in Greenway. Guruswamy Jayaraman, commonly known as Jay Raman, and Elston Hynd were recognised with Queen's Birthday honours on Monday for their services to our local community.

Elston Hynd, a resident of Kings Langley, has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his decades of service to youth and scouting and also for the fact that his scouting services have taken him global. Mr Hynd is typical of so many deserving recipients. He is reported to have described this honour as a 'humbling surprise'.

Jay Raman, of Glenwood, has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his services to our local subcontinent community. Jay Raman has been involved in community work since he migrated to Australia in 1991. He is truly a migrant success story. He has been active in the Hindu community for over three decades, working to support the elderly with culturally specific heath care, as well as advancing the wellbeing of the Hindu community generally across Australia. Jay Raman founded the Sri Om foundation in 2008, a not-for-profit group focused on delivering culturally relevant aged care and health support. In his work with the foundation, in which he has been active over many years, he has been very successful at highlighting the growing needs of ageing seniors within our community who come from the subcontinent.

There is indeed a real need for culturally specific aged care in multicultural communities across Australia, particularly in my electorate of Greenway. Unfortunately, this need has not been filled.

Jay Raman has been instrumental in not only highlighting this issue but also working towards meeting that need through the Sri Om foundation. He has dedicated an enormous amount of his own time, raising money to facilitate activities and day programs for seniors and, in the longer term, residential aged care.

Jay Raman also holds various positions within the subcontinent community in Sydney, serving on the executive committee of the Hindu Council of Australia. As I noted, there is an increasing growth in the subcontinent population of Western Sydney, and within that community Jay Raman is very widely respected for his dedication to these pursuits. Indeed, his work has not only been in our local area but right across Western Sydney, including in his role as chair of Auburn Diversity Services since 2008.

In addition to his community work, Jay Raman, like Elston Hynd, still manages to work a full-time job—yet another wonderful example of the commitment to our community that embodies, as I said, the migrant story in Australia. It is truly fitting that someone who has devoted so much time to supporting his community has been honoured with such an accolade. He has been a tireless advocate, and I am very pleased to see his passion recognised.

I warmly congratulate Elston Hynd and Jay Raman on their Queen's Birthday honours. I also give a notable mention to John Kinsela, a resident of Blacktown who has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to youth and wrestling in Western Sydney. Congratulations to them all.