Australia Day Ambassador Gitie House OAM

Gitie House was born to a Gujarati mother and a non-Gujarati father. Over the years she has struggled to stay connected to her mother's native tongue-Gujarati. As the President of Multicultural society in Toowoomba, she now encourages other Australians to stay connected to their roots while forging their Australian identity.

Australia Day Ambassador Gitie House with her husband Ron House. Source: SBS Gujarati

In 2017, Gitie was awarded the Medal of Order of Australia for her services to the community. Gitie was named Multicultural Ambassador for Queensland in 2013 and received many awards including the WILPF Peacewoman, YWCA 125 Leading Women in Queensland and the United Nations Zonta Woman of the Year. Under Gitie’s leadership, the Toowoomba Languages & Cultures Festival is one of the signature multicultural events of Queensland and both TIMS and the festival have won Australia Day awards. Over 70 cultures are represented at this program which attracts over 22,000 people in a one-day annual event.

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