On paper, Dr Helen Szoke admits, there isn't a rhyme or reason for her varied career.
Dr Szoke, 63, has held roles at the Commonwealth Bank, the Human Rights Commission, in the health sector, as well as at Oxfam, where she’s been chief executive of its Australia division since 2013.
The common thread to all of her work though, she says, is a sense of duty towards helping others.
“A very strong sense that people should be given the best possible chance to achieve what they want in life,” Dr Szoke, who is based in Melbourne, told SBS News.
Dr Helen Szoke, Chief Executive of Oxfam Australia. Source: Eddie Carbonell / Oxfam Australia
That attitude has seen her appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to social justice in the 2018 Australia Day Honours, announced on Friday.
The daughter of Hungarian and English immigrants, Dr Szoke said she has focused on the issue of equality since a young age.
“I had many experiences in the 60s of being the skinny kid with the frizzy hair and the unusual lunch,” Dr Szoke said.
“My [main motivation] has really been what can I do to make it better and possible for all people … to realise their potential?”
Dr Szoke in Vanuatu. Source: Oxfam Australia
Dr Szoke has travelled the globe; working with disadvantaged communities in refugee camps and most recently in Bangladesh with Rohingya families.
“We spoke to women who had experienced incredible violence,” she said. “The thing they were concerned about was offering us water.”
Dr Szoke at a refugee camp near Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh in November 2017. Source: Oxfam Australia / AAP
The incredible resilience of the people she meets through her work drives her to push for new initiatives and campaigns.
“It’s very energising to do this work because you feel like you can make a difference.”
Dr Szoke said a supportive work community, as well as her partner and the eight children between them, keeps her grounded.
“I think it’s about being true to what you want to achieve in your life but also putting the filter on it that it shouldn’t just be about self-interest. It should be making a contribution one way or another.”
Dr Szoke, far left, in South Sudan. Source: Oxfam Australia
Dr Szoke said having her work recognised was "humbling" but acknowledged the challenge in her award being announced on Australia Day.
“Without detracting from the honour of today's award, it does coincide with our current Australia Day,” she said.
“For Australia’s First Peoples, 26 January marks the beginning of colonial settlement in Australia – the beginning of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ being forcibly dispossessed of their land.
“It was also the beginning of a period of breaches of fundamental rights and stark inequality which many Indigenous people continue to face today.
“It is time for the Federal Government to choose another date for our national day which includes all Australians.”
Anyone can nominate an Australian or permanent resident for an award within the Order of Australia. For more information visit
