Zahra Foundation

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (16:14): Recently, I caught up with the 2016 Young South Australian of the Year and a nominee for the Young Australian of the Year, Arman Abrahimzadeh, to discuss the progress of the Zahra Foundation. Arman is an extraordinary individual who is respectful and humble about his achievements. He and his sisters, Atena and Anita, have had to endure the severe pain of the death of their mother, Zahra, who was tragically murdered in front of 300 people at the Adelaide Convention Centre in 2010.

The event certainly changed the lives of Arman and his sisters forever. Apart from losing their mother, Arman and Atena, young adults at the time, were thrust into the role of parenting their young teenage sister, Anita. They also had to deal with the subsequent murder trial of their father and a Coroner's inquest into the death of their mother.

Sadly, domestic violence for the children was a normal part of family life, with their mother constantly living in fear of their dominating father. Arman is a White Ribbon Ambassador and he is passionate about advocating for better legislation to protect women and children. He speaks to schools, sporting clubs and police cadets.

In 2015, along with his sister and with the help of the Central Domestic Violence Service, he established the Zahra Foundation of Australia to assist women in crisis and empower them with education and financial independence. The Zahra Foundation was officially launched by the Premier, Jay Weatherill, on 5 September 2015 at the Adelaide Convention Centre—the very place where Zahra lost her life as a result of domestic violence in March 2010. The launch was attended by many of us from this place.

The newly established foundation is designed to support South Australian women and children experiencing domestic and family violence. The foundation specifically aims to address financial abuse and disadvantage created as a result of domestic and family violence through delivering programs and services that promote the economic empowerment of women. There is an extensive body of research and evidence, including the ANROWS State of Knowledge paper, 'Building effective policies and services to promote women's economic security following domestic violence', which demonstrates the impact of domestic violence on women's economic security.

The Zahra Foundation of Australia relied on this and other research conducted by UniSA researchers, Dr Sarah Wendt and associates, which discusses the long-term impacts of domestic violence on housing and employment. The work of the foundation to date has been a collaboration between the three children of Zahra Abrahimzadeh and six South Australian regional community-based domestic violence services.

Five months on, the foundation has received over $120,000 in financial support and connected with local and corporate businesses to support the delivery of their financial literacy programs. Since September 2015, the Zahra Foundation has benefited from over 10 community fundraising events including schools, workplaces and government departments.

To date, the Zahra Foundation has successfully delivered a six-week financial literacy program in the western region, and it will continue to deliver and develop a range of programs with inclusion of accredited modules for training through 2016. These programs will provide women with financial literacy skills and practical tools and create pathways into education and employment. The Zahra Foundation, in connection with PKF Kennedy, will be launching a series of four one-off sessions for women with the focus on financial advice. The workshops will run over the next 12 months, and they will be officially launched with a fundraiser in March this year.

Since March 2015, Arman has spoken at over 30 events and shared his personal story with over 5,000 people. Arman continues to promote the important role men play in addressing the issue of violence against women, as well as the importance of economic empowerment and education for women. Financial abuse and disadvantage affected his family personally. Arman is an inspirational South Australian and a role model for us all.