Profile
Mr Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM
BBSc, LLB
Founder and CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Course of study:
BBSc 1994
LLB 1999
Kon Karapanagiotidis is the CEO and founder of ASRC, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC). Since opening their doors in 2001 the ASRC has become the largest provider of aid, advocacy and health services for asylum seekers in Australia. The ASRC deals directly with asylum seekers both living in the community and in detention, and provides support as they seek refugee status in Australia. What began as a small food bank in Footscray, now boasts 800 volunteers and delivers services to some 7000 refugees.
Proudly Greek, Kon grew up in a working class family in a small country town in Victoria. His personal experiences of racism and of witnessing the exploitation his parents faced in factory work, planted the seeds for his passion for human rights. Kon graduated from La Trobe University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Behavioural Sciences, and completed his Bachelor of Law at La Trobe in 1999.
His work as CEO of ASRC has been widely recognised. He was a Finalist for Australian of the Year (Victoria) in 2007, invited to participate in the 2020 Summit in 2008, was voted one of Australia’s twenty Unsung Heroes, as part of the 2008 of the new Portrait Gallery in Canberra, and was chosen as one of Melbourne’s 100 Most Influential People in The Age Melbourne Magazine. Most recently, Kon’s work was acknowledged with a Churchill Fellowship in 2010 and an Order of Australia Medal in 2011. Kon was also awarded the La Trobe University Young Achiever Award in 2011, in recognition of his outstanding achievements.
