The Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra (MCCI) turns 50 this year and, to celebrate, Ken Habak OAM has been helping out on a history book.

As MCCI's longest-standing chairman, leading the board of directors for the past 20 years, Ken made an invaluable contribution to the newly published Voice, Participation, Service – A 50-Year History of MCCI, by the charity's CEO, Chris Lacey.

“Chris and I have done a lot of work together," Ken says. "He takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. He’s been working on that book, sending me segment after segment after segment every month or two for the last three years.” 

The final product was launched on Friday, March 28 at the MCCI offices on Corrimal Street in Wollongong, with Alison Byrnes MP and Paul Scully MP attending the celebration. The book is now available to order online.

Journey to a new life

Ken – recently named Wollongong’s 2025 Senior Citizen of the Year – first came to Australia five decades ago. 

“I fled war-torn Lebanon in the 1970s with my wife, and didn’t even resign my schoolteacher’s position! Not knowing what the future holds but thinking that the war would die down after a couple of years.

“I was very happy there, but the war didn’t give anyone a chance to be happy. So I left and came to Australia.”

When Ken and his wife, Salma, landed at Sydney airport, his family who lived in Australia had not received Ken's telegram saying the couple were on their way.

“We put the luggage in a taxi and we came here. Really and truly, when we got to the top of Bulli, and I looked at the escarpment, I felt inside me that this is home.”

A lifetime of leadership

In 2001, Ken began his volunteer work as treasurer for the Illawarra Ethnic Communities Council, which later became MCCI. 

“I’ve been there for 24 years now, and 23 of those years, I spent as their chairman. I am the longest-serving chairman of the MCCI," he says.

“But I was involved from the second week that I was here in Australia.”

Ken opened the first Arabic school in the Illawarra, passionate about giving his community the best education possible.

“I was looking after students who were born here, or came over early in life from Lebanon, and they didn’t know how to read or write Arabic.”

Ken also translated the learner driver permit questionnaire in Arabic for non-English speaking people. He then worked as part of the BlueScope Steel management team, from July 1970 until 2009.

“I went through the ranks there [at BlueScope Steel] – I started as a clerk, and then as a chief clerk, and then as a supervisor on shift, and then after that, I was the information system officer for 20 years.”

In 1975, Ken became a founding member of the Australian Lebanese Cultural Association, an international organisation that works to support the welfare of the Lebanese community.

In the 1980s, Ken and leaders of the Antiochian Orthodox community in Wollongong decided to buy land and build their own church. 

“We didn’t have a church of our own in Wollongong. We used to use the Holy Cross Church on Stewart Street, and the priest would come from Sydney to do the mass for us on Sunday,” Ken says. 

“And we ended up building St Elias Church on Kenny Street. I was on the executive committee for about 15 years.”

In 1992, Ken was elected as the president of the South Coast Lebanese Association. He took a step back from this role five years later, but in 2002 returned as president, a role he still holds today. 

The beginning of MCCI

In 2001 Ken met the chair of Illawarra Ethnic Communities Council.

“We used to play backgammon together. And one day he asked me to join him at Illawarra Ethnic Communities Council. My friend resigned as chair and I was elected as chair in 2002. From there, there was obviously no looking back.

“When I started as chair, our funding from state and federal government was around $900,000. We had a handful of staff, and 20 or 30 volunteers, operating from a rented house on Stewart Street next door to the Holy Cross Church. Today we are a $15 million organisation with 165 staff and 140 volunteers servicing and supporting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Illawarra, Shoalhaven and ACT.”

Over the years, Ken has worked to broaden MCCI’s net of inclusion and support to people of all cultures.

“In 2008, I asked the committee ‘What if we change the name of Illawarra Ethnic Communities Council? What if we take the ethnic out and call it Multicultural?'...” Ken says.

“I had a bit of resistance from two or three of the founders of IEC, but in the end, I’d convince them and the name was changed. I wanted to attract other people to the organisation, no matter where they’re from.”

Ken was elected the regional chair of peak body the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA), and stayed in that role for four years. He was next involved with the National Multicultural Advisory Group for the Department of Human Services for four years, on their consulting committee. 

Then, Ken was on the NSW Ministerial round table on workplace diversity for two years, and the Police Multicultural Advisory Committee for four years. 

“We were looking at people coming from overseas to Australia being able to get their qualifications recognised, so they can get jobs here,” Ken says.

Ken is no stranger to an awards ceremony. In 2008, he was awarded Volunteer of the Year from Multicultural NSW. In 2010, Ken was honoured with the Order of Australia Medal. In 2017, he received a human rights medal from the premier of NSW. In 2018, he was asked to be an Australia Day ambassador, giving talks all around the country, which he still does today.

“Last and not the least by any means, I was honoured with the City of Wollongong Senior Citizen of the Year award, which was the icing on the cake. I feel very honoured to have received that,” Ken says.

'I love this country'

Ken has two daughters and two sons, who all graduated from university with distinction. He returned to Lebanon in 1992, with his oldest daughter, and officially resigned from his job as a teacher there.

“I knew that I would not leave Australia for good, for the rest of my life. I have been here for 55 years. I love this country, I love the freedom of this country, the fairness of this country. I love the inclusion and respect and harmony in this country. Especially the city of innovation, Wollongong. Australia is my country and my children’s country, I love it.”

Ken plans to retire at the end of the year.

“After we elect the new MCCI board, I will retire from the board, At the AGM in December, but I will always be available to advise and support MCCI and the wider community – but I want to spend time with my wife and family,” Ken says.

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