Australia Awards
Farewell Celebration
Friday 4 July, 2025
Thank you for joining us online to celebrate the achievements of our Australia Awards scholars. Our livestream will commence on Friday 4 July, at 2.15pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).
This event is all about honouring the remarkable achievements of our awardees and we are so happy to have you join us from wherever you are in the world. The Australia Awards Farewell Celebration recognises the end of our scholars’ time in Australia and the start of a new journey back home and beyond.
We will hear from university representatives and a graduating scholar speaking on behalf of the cohort, before a certificate ceremony to recognise the journey and accomplishments of each awardee.
Thank you for being part of this joyful occasion, and congratulations to all of our incredible awardees!
Live captions are available in English - click here to view. The captions will appear as a pop-up in a new browser.
Refresh page and press play to start event. Please press 'unmute' on the event stream, and ensure volume is up high (bottom right blue bars). Should your stream appear blurry, you may increase and adjust the quality by navigating to the cogwheel on the bottom right of the video window, and select 720p or higher.
If you experience any technical difficulties, please chat to us via the box on the bottom right of this page. Otherwise, you may choose to watch the event via the alternative link here.
Program
2.30pm AEST
MC Welcome
Karl Brown, Senior Alumni Operations Manager
Alumni Relations - Advancement, The University of Melbourne
Welcome to Country
Stacie Piper
Wurundjeri, Djadawurrung and Ngurai illum-Wurrung woman, First Nation Curator, Victorian Indigenous Research Centre , State Library Victoria
Speaker Address
Professor Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice Chancellor
Global, Culture and Engagement, The University of Melbourne
Speaker Address
Rosemary Welsh,Assistant Director, Global Education and Scholarship Section (GLE), Global Programs and Partnerships Branch (GPB), Development Policy Division (DPD), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Speaker Address
Karl Brown, Senior Alumni Operations Manager
Alumni Relations - Advancement, The University of Melbourne
Speaker Address
Hanan Sahmoud
Australia Awardee, , Completing Scholar - Master of Law and Development
3.00pm AEST
3.35pm AEST
Awardee Ceremony
Livestream concludes
Speakers
Stacie Piper
First Nation Curator, Victorian Indigenous Research Centre - State Library Victoria
Stacie Piper is a proud Wurundjeri, Djadawurrung and Ngurai illum-Wurrung woman, a Djirri Djirri Dancer, and the former Chairperson of the Victorian NAIDOC Committee. Stacie is a First Nation Curator for the State Library of Victoria, accountable for engaging with the Victorian First Peoples community for exhibitions and events to tell their stories. Stacie has a Master of Social Change Leadership with the Atlantic Fellows for Social Change, a great love for community, a desire to support and witness the progress of First Peoples, and a drive in protecting and healing Country.
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Professor Michael Wesley
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Global, Culture and Engagement, The University of Melbourne
Professor Wesley is an expert in international affairs with extensive experience in international strategy and relations, and has worked in higher education, government and the private sector. He has published on Australian foreign policy, Asia’s international relations and strategic affairs, and the politics of state-building interventions.
Previously, Professor Wesley was Professor of International Affairs and Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University and the Director of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at ANU. He has also held positions as the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, and Assistant Director-General for Transnational Issues at the Office of National Assessments. He has a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews.
Rosemary Welsh
Assistant Director, Global Education and Scholarship Section (GLE)
Global Programs and Partnerships Branch (GPB), Development Policy Division (DPD)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
Ms Welsh is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is currently Assistant Director in the Global Education and Scholarships section leading on communications, events and alumni engagement for Australia Awards.
Overseas she has served in the Solomon Islands and in Canberra she has worked in a range of development areas including the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), procurement and contract management for Australia’s development program and served on the Crisis Cadre during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Welsh holds a Bachelors of Arts in International Studies from the University of Canberra.
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Karl Brown
Senior Alumni Operations Manager, Alumni Relations - Advancement
The University of Melbourne
Karl Brown is part of the University’s Alumni Relations team, which seeks to facilitate a lifelong beneficial relationship between the University and its former students by delivering a programme of events, communications and services for more than 500,000 University of Melbourne alumni around the world.
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Hanan Sahmoud
Legal Researcher, Lawyer, Australia Awardee
Graduating Student, Master of Law and Development - The University of Melbourne
Hanan Sahmoud is a legal researcher and lawyer from Palestine. She holds a Master’s in International Relations from Singapore and has recently completed a Master of Law and Development at the Melbourne Law School. Hanan’s academic and professional interests revolve around Middle Eastern affairs, decolonial studies, human rights, and the Palestine question. Her work reflects a deep commitment to justice, critical inquiry, and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities.