My name is Hilkat Ozgun.

I am from Turkey. My husband Sinan and I migrated to Melbourne in 1988. I met Sinan at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. We both graduated with Bachelor of Science Degrees in Chemistry. Then, I graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from Hacettepe University in Ankara. My family was living in Germany at the time. I wanted to move to Germany to be closer to them but Sinan didn’t. One day when I was walking past the Australian Embassy in Ankara I decided I would apply for migration to Australia. I walked in, filled in the forms, and then forgot about it. Six months later, we were accepted as part of Australia’s call for skilled migrants. We were ready for something new. We saw Australia as a real adventure and a country for opportunities. It is funny, becoming a scientist and moving to Australia was my cousin’s dream.

I was eager to continue my studies and Australia beckoned.

First I joined CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) as an Experimental Scientist, and then applied for my Master’s Degree at RMIT University. I completed my Master’s Degree by Research while I was working full time at CSIRO and having my first child. During my time at CSIRO I have received numerous awards such as the Chairman’s Medal in 2000 and the CSIRO Research Award in 2008. Also, I am a part of the team that invented UltraBattery for Hybrid cars.

For the past 25 years, I have been actively involved in fostering cultural understanding between Turkish and the wider Australian Communities. I am the founder of the Australian Turkish Cultural Platform (ATCP), and have supported international students and new migrants from Turkey by organising accommodation and jobs in Australia.

Volunteering is my passion.

When I’m not volunteering, I can be found at home reading my books or trying to solve someone’s problem over the phone. The person who inspired me most was my father. He was an excellent primary school teacher and multi-talented. He spent a lot of time doing community work. I was brought up with strong educational and community service values and it was my father who inspired all my successes.

When I came to Australia in 1988, I felt that one of the problems the Turkish community faced was that they were quite isolated. The main idea of the Australian Turkish Cultural Platform was to establish a bridge between the Turkish community and other communities living in Australia so we can share and learn from each other. From festivals to youth projects, we are kept very busy all year round. The “Turkish and Korean Women Artists Exhibition”, “Turkish-Japanese Friendship Year Project in Australia”, Tulip Festivals and participating in the Light in Winter Festivals are some examples of the events we have put together.

One of our biggest events is the annual Tesselaar Tulip Festival – Turkish Weekend in Silvan that brings together 15,000 people from all different walks of life. It’s held at the Tesselaar Garden in the second week of September and has over a million tulips – a flower that originally comes from Turkey. The garden has so many different coloured tulips and it is all so beautiful. I have always thought that Australia is like a flower garden, too, with all different types in one garden. With different cultures from different communities interacting with each other, Australia is our tulip garden in full bloom.