Celebrating our multicultural North Delivery Team

March 20th marked the start of Harmony Week. Held annually, Harmony Week celebrates Australia's cultural diversity and allows us to reflect on the importance of inclusiveness and harmony in society.

As Sydney Water's North Delivery Team, we value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive, open and respectful work culture.

With members of our team from almost forty countries, multicultural diversity is part of our team identity, so this Harmony Week, we asked team members what the week meant to them.

NDT Estimator Ellie Zare is a member of the Persian community. For Ellie, Harmony Week is a time to connect, share with others, and recognise how diversity brings us together.

"Sharing and learning about our backgrounds makes me feel more connected to the team," she said.

"Harmony Week is a reminder of how our differences, unique perspectives and experiences positively impact our team and work," she said.

We're all different ages, with different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, but we're connected and united as one team working towards a common goal."

Over sixty people attended the Harmony Day potluck at our Chatswood office.

Attendees brought in cultural dishes to share.

For Workforce, Diversity & Inclusion Advisor Janice Tier, Harmony Week reminds her of all the beautiful things that cultural diversity brings. The sentiment was shared both literally and figuratively, with Janice putting on an international potluck morning tea to mark the occasion.

"We had almost sixty people from across the business attend and bring a dish from their culture to share with their peers," she said.

"It was a celebration of how our differences unite us; just like the Guacamole, Lamingtons, and Persian cookies are all different, they're all good!" she said.

Harmony Week took place during Nowruz, also known as Persian New Year. For the Lead Planner and member of the Persian community Asalan Jam, it was meaningful to share the meaning of Nowruz with his non-Persian colleagues.

"I'm grateful to be part of such an inclusive and supportive workplace that considers and respects the backgrounds of everyone," he said.

"The last few months have been challenging for our community so having the team's support to share the joy and happiness of the Persian New Year means a lot to us," Arsalan said.