The influx of a large number of Armenians to Australia began in early 1963. They came primarily from Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and later from Iran, Armenia, and other countries. The Armenian community settling in Australia came from communities in the Middle East where Armenian life was vibrant with national, cultural, athletic, and philanthropic activities. Consequently, they could not be satisfied with only activities organized under the auspices of the Armenian Church.<\/p>\n
In May 1963, the Armenian Cultural Association was founded in Sydney. The provisional Executive Board that emerged from the inaugural meeting studied the country’s laws, drafted the association’s program and bylaws, and presented them to the first general meeting in May 1964, which ratified them.<\/p>\n
Following Sydney’s example, an Armenian Cultural Association was also founded in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
Although the associations in Sydney and Melbourne operated independently, they maintained close ties with each other, as well as with the Hamazkayin Central Executive Board. Starting in 1971, they officially became part of Hamazkayin as separate units, in accordance with Hamazkayin’s revised bylaws.<\/p>\n
In 1989, the Armenian Students\u2019 and Iranian-Armenian Students\u2019 associations merged to form the Hamazkayin Nayiri Chapter. In the same year, the Sevan chapter was formed in the heavily Armenian-populated western part of Sydney.<\/p>\n
At the request of the four chapters, the Hamazkayin Central Executive Board authorized Hamazkayin in Australia to form a regional structure. At the first regional meeting in August 1989, Australia became a region, named the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association of Australia. The direct work of the Regional Executive Board includes:<\/p>\n
Within this framework, the Regional Executive Board for Australia, in cooperation with the Hamazkayin Central Executive Board, has decided to send the top-performing student in the Australian Higher School Certificate Armenian language exam from the Hamazkayin Arshak and Sophie Galstaun College to Armenia at the expense of the Regional Executive Board to participate in the Hamazkayin Youth Forum.<\/p>\n
The Hamazkayin Australian Region once again affirms that it is faithful to its mission and to Hamazkayin’s nation-building vision.<\/p>\n
If we take a look at the activities of Hamazkayin in Australia today, we will notice hundreds of children and teenagers attending Hamazkayin’s day school and Saturday schools. The number of participants in dance groups is growing. Our chapters operating in Australia are dynamic and active. They carry out cultural events in the community and sponsor Saturday schools.<\/p>\n
Shant Chapter<\/strong><\/p>\n The chapter has 100 members. It sponsors the Armenian Film Festival, through a \u00a0committee; the festival presents Armenian films made in Armenia and the diaspora, in Armenian and foreign languages, to the Australian public. The festival is very popular. The Shant Chapter also sponsors the Targmanchats Saturday School, which has 70 students.<\/p>\n Nayiri Chapter<\/strong><\/p>\n The chapter has 90 members. The chapter sponsors the Toumanian Saturday School, which has 110 students, the Hrashk children’s group and the Nayiri dance group and choir, which have earned high praise for their performances.<\/p>\n Sevan Chapter (Western Sydney)<\/strong><\/p>\n The chapter has 45 members. The chapter sponsors the Papazian Saturday school, which has 57 students.<\/p>\n Gomidas Chapter (Melbourne)<\/strong><\/p>\n The chapter has 70 members. It sponsors the Mesrop Mashtots Matteosian Saturday School, which has 80 students.<\/p>\n Sasun Specialized Chapter<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded in 2000 as the Hamazkayin Sydney Dance Group, since April 2015 it has been called the Sasun Specialized Chapter. Hamazkayin Australia’s two dance groups have participated in various cultural, spiritual, and charitable events and festivals organized by both the Armenian and non-Armenian communities, where they have earned high praise for their high-quality performances.<\/p>\n Nubar Khachadourian Theatre Specialized Chapter<\/strong><\/p>\n In April 2015, the Nubar Khachadourian Theatre Group was renamed the Nubar Khachadourian Specialized Chapter. The chapter continues its work with theatrical performances.<\/p>\n Literary and Artistic Committee<\/strong><\/p>\n This committee presents high-quality literary events to the Armenian art-loving community. All of the committee’s events have been appreciated by the literature-loving public.<\/p>\n Arts Council<\/strong><\/p>\n The duty of the Hamazkayin Arts Council is to organize painting and photography exhibitions.<\/p>\n Educational Council<\/strong><\/p>\n The duty of the Saturday Schools Educational Council, appointed by the Regional Executive Board, is to prepare the Armenian curriculum for the Saturday schools and to meticulously supervise their implementation.<\/p>\n Hamazkayin Arshak and Sophie Galstaun College<\/strong><\/p>\n The college or Djemaran<\/em> has 350 students. It is a bilingual full-time school for students from kindergarten to the 12th grade. The Djemaran primarily focuses on developing and improving educational and academic standards. Of course, this work is carried out thanks to the professional and experienced teachers working within the Djemaran.<\/p>\n Today, we enjoy this Armenian day school founded in Sydney, which for 40 years has educated and continues to educate generations under its Armenian-spirited roof, preparing them to be model Australian-Armenian youth. The Djemaran enjoys the support of the Armenian community, and in turn, it prepares exemplary Australian-Armenian citizens for the community, many of whom already hold high positions in community and political fields.<\/p>\n The students of the schools participate in the programs of numerous and diverse Armenian national, cultural, spiritual, and charitable events and festivals, as well as marches and poetry-reading for justice and recognition dedicated to the Armenian Genocide and Artsakh.<\/p>\n Young Armenologists\u2019 Committee<\/strong><\/p>\n Starting in 2022, the Hamazkayin Australia structure includes the Young Armenologists\u2019 Committee. The committee organizes an annual interschool quiz competition, in which all Armenian day and Saturday schools in Sydney and Melbourne participate. The goal of this program is to unite all the schools in the community under one roof, providing a healthy social atmosphere, developing the Armenian language, introducing Armenian culture, traditions, and all national values, as well as the history of the Armenian Church through self-development and educational questions and answers.<\/p>\n Hamazkayin Kids\u2019 Club<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2022, the Hamazkayin Regional Executive Board for Australia initiated a committee to organize a special school holiday program titled “History Day.” After a period of success and at the demand of parents, the committee expanded this work and was renamed the Hamazkayin Kids\u2019 Club, preparing programs with different topics for children aged 4\u201312 during each school holiday. They gather to listen to and read Armenian history books, get acquainted with our Armenian customs and traditions, and also with Armenian culture, song, and dance. They do handicrafts and play enjoyable games.<\/p>\n Online Lecture Program<\/strong><\/p>\n Initiated by the Regional Executive Board for Australia, this program was launched on May 15, 2024. The online lectures take place on a monthly basis, with guest lecturers invited to present topics of national and cultural content to the audience.<\/p>\n Today, we bow with deep respect to the memory of all the past and present volunteer Hamazkayin members who worked for Hamazkayin, thanks to whom the preservation of our identity as Armenians continues thousands of miles away from the homeland. They stand up for our mother tongue, introduce our rich culture to both the Armenian and non-Armenian public. They also encourage the young Armenian generation to remain firmly attached to their roots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The influx of a large number of Armenians to Australia began in early 1963. They came primarily from Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and later from Iran, Armenia, and other countries. The Armenian community settling in Australia came from communities in the Middle East where Armenian life was vibrant with national, cultural, athletic, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42615,"parent":613,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3360","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","description-off"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t