Nyadol Nyuon told a televised debate she has ‘no intention of assimilating’, as a bitter dispute with her former employer over allegations of racism drives her decision to quit the country and renounce her citizenship.
An Australian-South Sudanese human rights lawyer has said she intends to leave Australia and give up her citizenship, telling a televised debate that she has “no intention of assimilating” and that the concept of a single “white culture” does not exist. Nyadol Nyuon, who was born in an Ethiopian refugee camp before settling in Australia at the age of 18, made the remarks during an immigration debate on the ABC’s National Forum programme on Monday. She said the decision to leave was rooted not in anger but in a workplace dispute that had left her disillusioned with institutions she once trusted.
Debate over multiculturalism and the term ‘Anglo-Celtic’
Speaking on the panel, Ms Nyuon argued that Australia had “never been a monoculture”, pointing to the country’s history both before and after European settlement. “Before the European settlement, there were Indigenous people who spoke multiple languages and considered themselves to be people of different nations,” she said, adding that post-war immigration had further diversified the population.
She went on to challenge the use of the term “Anglo-Celtic” during the debate, saying it implied the existence of a definable white culture that could be “recreated” in Australia. “There is no white culture – there is Italian culture, there is French culture, there is Argentinian culture, but there is not this notion of, sort of, a white culture that is being threatened,” she said, stressing that she was not accusing anyone on the panel of racism.
Responding to an earlier comment from an audience member, Ms Nyuon said: “I can say truthfully… I have no intention of assimilating.” She urged fellow panellists to consider whether “social cohesion” genuinely required all Australians to look and behave alike, and questioned why principles such as freedom of religion and freedom of speech were not applied consistently to all groups. “We all want equality, but I think we can all be much more direct about the kind of conversations we have,” she said.
Workplace dispute at Victoria University
Ms Nyuon’s decision to leave Australia follows a dispute connected to her former role as head of Victoria University’s Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, where she had overseen an $800,000 WorkSafe Victoria project known as the WorkWell Respect Network. The programme was designed to protect culturally diverse women in workplaces by partnering with industries where they face a heightened risk of harassment and violence.
According to Ms Nyuon, the project was hampered by internal tensions, delays and the departure of several stakeholders, and she has described it as a “perfect failure” – a characterisation others involved in the project have disputed, defending its overall outcomes. She resigned from her position and subsequently lodged a formal complaint, stating that she had felt “victimised” and had feared being used as “corporate blackface” to promote the initiative.
In a series of online posts titled The Goodbye Chronicles, Ms Nyuon set out detailed allegations against both Victoria University and WorkSafe Victoria. “Racism is the targeting of black and brown women in a project meant to protect us,” she wrote. “It is the double standards throughout… Racism is Victoria University and WorkSafe Victoria defaulting to White-led organisational judgment over the professional and lived expertise of black and brown women.”
‘It was actually out of grief’
Ms Nyuon, who has also announced plans to renounce her Australian citizenship, said the fallout from the dispute was the decisive factor behind her decision to leave the country. “I went through an experience in which institutions that categorise themselves as woke, call themselves people who really believe in diversity, conducted themselves in a way that was so harmful it broke my faith to stay here,” she said. She rejected the suggestion that her decision was driven by anger, adding: “It’s easy for people to think I have made a decision out of anger, but it was actually out of grief.”
Victoria University’s response
A spokesperson for Victoria University said the institution remained committed to fostering “a workplace culture grounded in respect, safety and inclusion” and that it continually sought ways to improve. “We do care – and we act,” the spokesperson said, confirming that the university had chosen not to comment further on the specific allegations. They added that this silence “should not be understood as admission or acceptance of the events as they have been described,” and said the university’s primary concern remained “the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved, both inside and outside the University.”
