Maria Dimopoulos AM has been appointed CEO of the Settlement Council of Australia (SCoA), the peak national body representing migrant and refugee services.
You’d be living under a rock if you are Greek Australian and/or work in multiculturalism or social services and don’t know Dimopoulos.
As the SCoA’s media release said she “has an impressive career advocating for human rights and social justice”.
Her commitment to supporting multicultural women in the prevention of domestic violence earned her an Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division.
The trained lawyer and community advocate told Neos Kosmos that the appointment was “an extraordinary honour”. Equally, she understands the “profound responsibility” the role carries.
“It is the culmination of a lifelong commitment to justice and decades of work across human rights, law reform, gender equity, and migrant advocacy,” said Dimopoulos, adding, “More than that, it is personal.”
She arrived in Australia “as a migrant child,” said Dimopoulos.
“I carry the memories of my parents working gruelling hours in factories, endured racism, and navigated alien systems, so that I could have the opportunities they were denied.”
That migrant “legacy”, she said, is her “compass”.
“It grounds me and underscores my unshakable belief that every person deserves dignity, safety, and belonging.”
A leader shaped by experience
Dimopoulos’s CV is formidable. She has advised government bodies including the National Judicial Council on Cultural Diversity, the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, and the Federal Multicultural Affairs Access and Equity Inquiry panel.
Her longstanding work in human rights and “shaping multicultural policy” demonstrates, as she said, a “deep commitment to the vital role of our sector at the heart of settlement”.
Dimopoulos believes that “lasting change begins with dignity, justice, and collective action”.
As the new CEO of SCoA, she wants to “amplify the collective strength and vision of those who came before me”.
She paid homage to her predecessors as “tireless multicultural and human rights advocates”, a reflection of her political acumen.
“Those before me built this sector from the ground up. I stand on their shoulders.”
Referencing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s victory speech — ‘this is a time for Australia to lead with kindness and humility’ — she added, “that call must extend to how we welcome, protect, and walk alongside newly arrived communities.”
Remembering our migration stories
Dimopoulos said the Council’s work “has never been more vital”.
“As the peak body for Australia’s settlement services, we hold a responsibility to protect and advance the conditions for genuine belonging, where dignity, safety, and opportunity are not just ideals but realities.”
She wants to see the rights of every person recognised, and to “shape a vision of national cohesion that is grounded in justice, not conformity”.
As a Greek Australian, Dimopoulos called on “those of us now in positions of influence and privilege” to “never forget our own migration stories”.
“Our parents endured enormous hardship, worked tirelessly, and often suffered in silence under the weight of racism, dislocation, and loss.
“My migrant history is not only a source of pride for me but forms a moral compass,” she told Neos Kosmos.
Dimopoulos urged Greek Australians not to forget the history of migration and settlement, and to resist the urge to “weaponise it against newer migrants”, calling that “a betrayal of our collective dignity”.
“The idea that we can now claim belonging while denying it to others is bankrupt and dangerous.
“When those who have lived through racism dismiss or replicate racism towards others, they betray their own history, and undermine the foundations of justice,” she told Neos Kosmos.
No justice for migrants without justice for First Peoples
A strong advocate for migrant rights, Dimopoulos is also a staunch believer in reconciliation with First Nations peoples.
“There can be no genuine social cohesion without reckoning with dispossession, without justice for First Nations peoples.
“This is not peripheral to our work – it is foundational.”
“Greek Australians must reckon with the uncomfortable truth that as migrants, we have benefited from settlement on lands that were never ceded.
“There is no justice for migrants without justice for First Peoples,” Dimopoulos said.
She emphasised that support for settlement is imperative to social cohesion, particularly at a time when unity is strained by international conflicts. Settlement services, she said, are not a one-off programme.
“It is a long-term, nation-building project. It is how we shape a more just and generous Australia for all.
“It’s how we honour the human dignity of those seeking safety, or [a] new start and build trust, community, and shared belonging.”
Building the foundations of cohesion
Dimopoulos stressed the need for migrant and refugee communities to be treated with compassion. She cited “housing, healthcare, employment, education, and safety” as the “foundations for social cohesion”.
She also pointed to the complex ways in which “gender, race, class, and culture intersect”.
“I’ve spent decades working on the frontlines of gender-based violence, both nationally and across the Pacific, and I know that change only happens when we address power imbalances at every level.”
Dimopoulos said that, the Council “is a platform on which to build the kind of Australia I believe in – just, inclusive, and courageous.”
She has her work cut out for her, especially at a time when activism surrounding international conflicts has at times threatened to undermine Australia’s multicultural cohesion.
With around 650,000 new arrivals in the 2022–23 and 2023–24 financial years, issues of justice and rights are now even more closely linked to access to housing, healthcare, and education.
