DTP alumna Srey Kang is an Australian Cambodian community leader based in Sydney. Srey is the President of Khmer Community of New South Wales Incorporated. Srey is also a registered nurse with NSW Health working in palliative care.
Khmer Community of NSW was established in 1977 as the number of refugees from Cambodia seeking safety in Australia grew rapidly in response to the genocide in Cambodia between 1976-78. It was established to support the various settlement needs of Khmer community while preserving Khmer identity and culture, and supporting human rights for all.
Modern Khmer identity is shaped by the Khmer Rouge’s genocide – and the resulting intergenerational trauma. It is estimated that up to 3 million Cambodians were killed from killings, incarceration, mass evacuations, starvation and brutality between 1976-1978.
Srey came to Australia in 1994 and emerged as a community leader.
Srey’s community leadership for her community in Australia led her to be in involved in the network of refugee and diaspora community leaders established by the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS). STARTTS responded to the call of these leaders for training on human rights and advocacy.
Srey participated in a two-day special residential human rights and advocacy training jointly organized by DTP and She said that training was an eyeopener.
“DTP training was an eyeopener for me. It encouraged me to think in a more structured way about human rights advocacy. For many years I have been engaged in human rights advocacy work and raising awareness about human rights situation in Cambodia from abroad. DTP training gave me an opportunity to reflect what worked well, what did not and how to move forward.”
Srey said DTP’s training also helped her to understand better that while good intentions for effective human rights advocacy is important, it is equally important to have a structured and well thought out advocacy strategy that includes media campaign and legal knowledge of the context.
“The training was residential. I met inspiring community leaders from different communities who participated in that training. We are able to interact with each other, learn about each other. We felt we belong to one community.”
When asked what motivated Srey to continue work with her community, she said Australia’s democratic system provides many opportunities to people here, but language barriers prevent people from accessing them, She and her community organization works to address that gap.
“In Australia everybody has equal opportunity. We have freedom of speech and freedom of involvement. So I have this opportunity without fear to help out others. I believe everyone should have the right to receive the correct information to receive the service that needed, and I have the potential that I can provide to those that really need it, especially those that don’t speak the language well.”
Srey’s comment about speaking and working without fear reflects both the intergenerational trauma Khmer community carries and the current situation persisting in Cambodia where many human rights defenders face the risk of harsh repression for speaking up.
Srey played a significant role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, communicating with the Khmer community in Fairfield City and South-West Sydney. In 2024 she was named as Fairfield City Citizen of The Year which is Fairfield City’s top Australia Day honour.
Srey champions a multicultural Australia and is a key organizer Sydney Multicultural Women’s Festival held in 2025 and 2026. She envisions a democratic and human rights centred Cambodia but understands change takes a long time. For continuing DTP-STARTTS diaspora human rights training program, Srey suggests to develop a training in Khmer language to reach more community members.
