Bulent Hass Dellal

Bülent Hass Dellal
Born	Melbourne, Australia
Occupation(s)	Businessperson, community leader
Years active	–2020
Known for	Director and chairman of Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)

Bülent Hass Dellal AO served as both director and chairman of Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) until 2 June 2020.

Life and career

Dellal was born in Melbourne, Australia, to parents of Turkish Cypriot heritage and is the eldest among three siblings. His great-grandfather held the position of the final Ottoman mufti in Cyprus. Raised in Glenroy, he attended local primary school and assisted his father Hasan with running their family general store. Hasan played a significant role in supporting Turkish Cypriot immigrants by establishing the Cyprus Turkish Association and Cyprus Turkish Islamic Society, as well as supervising the building of the Sunshine Mosque. While Turkish traditions were emphasized at home, Dellal and his brothers and sisters mainly communicated in English. To deepen their connection with their cultural roots, the family relocated to Ankara, Turkey, in 1962 before returning to Australia in 1965 to continue his secondary schooling.

For his education, Dellal attended Merrilands Secondary College and later studied at the Melba Conservatory in Richmond. After completing his studies, he worked as a teacher at a Catholic girls' school. In 1989, he took on the role of founding executive for the Australian Multicultural Foundation (AMF). His dedication to multiculturalism, the arts, and community service earned him the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1997 and the Centenary of Federation Medal in 2003.

Awards

• 1997: Medal of the Order of Australia
• 2003: Centenary of Federation Medal

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