BEING CEO Giancarlo de Vera named Australia Day Ambassador; dedicates role to human rights and truth-telling
BEING’s CEO, Giancarlo de Vera (they/them), has been named as one of the new Australia Day Ambassadors for 2026.
“In accepting this honour, I do so not to celebrate the status quo uncritically, but to champion the voices who have historically been pushed to the margins of Australian life”, Giancarlo says.
Giancarlo is proudly a queer, non-binary, disabled person from a racially and culturally marginalised background. As a member of communities that have been historically marginalised, Giancarlo is acutely aware that for many First Nations Australians, 26 January is a day of mourning and represents a history of racism, dispossession, oppression, and trauma, not celebration.
Ambassadors are Australians who come from all walks of life who demonstrate excellence in their chosen fields. They are role models and leaders who make positive and significant contributions to their communities and the nation.
The ambassadorship is in recognition of Giancarlo’s track record as a respected human rights and disability advocate in Australia and internationally. In being selected as an Ambassador, Giancarlo aims to highlight that Australia’s strength lies in its diversity. Giancarlo believes our future potential depends entirely on how we learn to harness that strength.
BEING recognises that colonialism, historical marginalisation, and silencing of many communities, including First Nations Australians, have a direct line to the systemic trauma and mental health challenges faced by consumers today.
“For mental health consumers, long histories of institutionalisation, stigma and discrimination, and human rights breaches in the systems that are meant to provide care, have led to distrust and exclusion from Australian society”.
“As a nation, we need to be honest about this history. The struggle of being historically silenced for many communities has real-life impacts on how systems and structures of today have not been designed effectively to meet the needs of those that have been silenced”, they said.
Giancarlo aims to use the ambassadorship as a platform to highlight this history, champion the right of the many communities who have been historically marginalised to be heard and highlight the need for the nation to learn how to have the difficult but necessary conversation about how we can move forward together.
“Harnessing the untapped potential of Australia’s diversity is key to navigating our nation’s role in an increasingly complex and fragmented world. I am committed to an Australia for all Australians, but we can’t create this nation by ignoring our flaws. True patriotism is about working relentlessly to fix them, and key to this aim is listening to the Australians that Australia has failed”, Giancarlo says.
“We must honestly identify what our flaws are and understand why our past systems failed to reflect modern Australian values. Only then can we determine how to build a nation that truly includes everyone”.
“26 January is an important day not just to look back, but to look at each other with empathy, and commit to each other to fixing the systems that leave too many Australians behind. I am, you are, we all are, Australian; so with courage let us all combine, to advance Australia fair”.
BEING celebrates the diversity of the Australia Day Ambassadors. You can find the complete list of Australia Day Ambassadors here.