SYDNEY: WORKING with migrants and refugees has shaped the life of Armenian-Australian Stepan Kerkyasharian, who has been made an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community.

Mr Kerkyasharian, of Castle Cove, migrated to Australia in 1968 and is grateful for the opportunities this country has afforded him.

“My parents were refugees and they survived the genocide of the Armenians in 1915,” he said. “They wanted their children to be productive members of the society.

Although his background was in electronics, Mr Kerkyasharian said he “drifted” into humanitarian roles.

He is chairman of the Community Relations Commission of NSW and president of the Anti-Discrimination Board.

“We did a lot of work after the Cronulla riots,” he said.

In 2002, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday honours list for his service to the ethnic community and multicultural broadcasting.