A full house in Fairfield as GAS and NUGAS cap off 2025 and map out the future of Greek Au
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
The Greek Australian Society (GAS) and the National Union of Greek Australian Students (NUGAS) marked the end of the year with a joint celebration at Nikos Fairfield on Thursday night, drawing at least a hundred people from across Melbourne’s Greek community — including students, community leaders, academics and local politicians.
GAS President George Mpliokas was in a cheerful mood, happy to share that they have now surpassed 700 members across the country, with an average age of 29.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos at the event, Mpliokas said they are grateful for everyone’s support.
“This is the next generation of our community, living and breathing. When we first started GAS, people told us that the Greek community was destined to fail, that it was in decline,” he said.
“But it’s our children and our grandchildren, these generations that are very proud of their culture, that are very committed to representing and reflecting on who we are.”
He said the event also marked a moment to look ahead following their first five years as an organisation.
“Now is the opportunity for us to look into the next five years. What does the Greek community in 2030 look like? That’s going to involve the people in that room today,” he said.
“The young leaders at NUGAS right now will be our leaders of tomorrow. And that’s why we’re so committed to supporting them.”
NUGAS Secretary Panos Stamatopoulos told Neos Kosmos that gatherings like these play a vital role in keeping young Greek Australians connected.
“It’s fantastic to be at events like this because it’s these sorts of events that bring the community together,” he said.
“And in this age of loneliness epidemics, it’s good to have things for the youth to meet all the more experienced people and to meet each other.
“On top of that, I think things like this are important in defining our own cultural identity as Greeks — what we want that to look like and keeping it alive.”
He teased that big things are coming with NUGAS, working on some nationwide events in collaboration with the other states.
Victorian Labor MP for Northcote Kat Theophanous, who addressed attendees, said she hoped these collaborations would continue.
“I really hope that this is the beginning of a wonderful partnership and journey with the Greek Australian Society and that we create more opportunities like this, to be together and to celebrate what it is to be Greek Australian in these modern times,” she said.
Theophanous also highlighted her efforts to protect Greek language education in the public system.
“One of the things that I’ve been working on as the member for Northcote is trying to retain our language in a formal way in our education system. I’m going to be honest with you, it’s a real fighting challenge,” she said.
“My kids they’re third generation now and that’ll be the same for a lot of your kids too. Third, fourth, we’ll get into the fifth eventually, but having that connection with our language is such an important part of our culture… It grows out of the work that we’ve done to retain the last tertiary Greek language program in Victoria, which is at La Trobe.”
She urged community members to continue advocating for language programs.
“It relies on all of you as well to take up the cause and to make sure that those opportunities are there for your kids… so that they can have your language and feel that closeness to our culture.”
Greek Community of Melbourne President Bill Papastergiadis also spoke, referencing international research on the factors contributing to a meaningful and successful life.
“There was a most important study done globally on children that ended up being successful in their lives… The fact that they found that was most important for young people in a successful life were the kids that had the most friends. So what does that mean about GAS?” he said.
“This is exactly what we’re doing here today. We’re building connections, we’re building friendships, and we’re making sure that we stay connected to all of the things that matter to us.”
Papastergiadis congratulated GAS for fostering community ties – for “helping us make more friends”.
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The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .