Australian South Asian Centre

Directions Website Contact the organization

Australian South Asian Centre Empowering South Asian women to lead, connect and building a powerful community.

13/10/2026

Meet Prerna (Prerna | my visual diary ), the woman behind Shaadis And More, Australia by Prerna Karnani and an ASAC member for the past two years 🤎

This October, she’s bringing the first Indian edit to Melbourne Fashion Week, collaborating with some familiar faces along the way, including fellow ASAC member Amarjeet from Kulture by K .

We caught up with her to hear about what she’s been working on, the friendships she’s made through ASAC (including her ride or dies) and what being part of this community has meant to her.

We love seeing what the women in our community are getting up to, especially when they’re finding ways to work together and support each other.
 
[South Asian women in Melbourne, Melbourne Fashion Week, Indian fashion, South Asian fashion, Melbourne fashion events, South Asian designers, South Asian creatives, women in business Melbourne, South Asian entrepreneurs, Australian South Asian Centre, ASAC community]

Depending on who you ask, a dupatta can mean a lot of different things.For some, it’s tied to modesty and tradition. For...
09/10/2026

Depending on who you ask, a dupatta can mean a lot of different things.

For some, it’s tied to modesty and tradition. For others, it’s something they pushed back against growing up, or have come back to and embraced on their own terms.

The whole “dupatta vs Scandinavian scarf” conversation brought up some interesting points about how we view clothing and culture.

Something that is now being styled and celebrated as chic or minimalist is also something many South Asian women grew up feeling self-conscious about wearing in Western spaces.

The same piece that could make you feel different or out of place is now being seen through a completely different lens.

It’s not necessarily about who can or can’t wear a scarf. It’s about acknowledging that clothes carry context, and sometimes a lot more history than we realise.

[dupatta vs Scandinavian scarf, South Asian fashion, Desi fashion, South Asian identity, cultural appreciation, South Asian diaspora, South Asian women in Australia, cultural identity, South Asian community Melbourne, Australian South Asian Centre]

Ahead of the festive season, we were honoured to be invited to the Premier’s Annual Festival of Lights Dinner 🪔Such a lo...
06/10/2026

Ahead of the festive season, we were honoured to be invited to the Premier’s Annual Festival of Lights Dinner 🪔

Such a lovely evening celebrating the different cultures and traditions across our community, and seeing so many familiar faces from across Victoria.

Always special to see our community come together.

[Premier’s Annual Diwali Dinner, Diwali celebration Victoria, South Asian community Victoria, culture and community, Victorian South Asian community]

19/09/2026

Brown Women Poetry comes to Melbourne Fringe this October, bringing South Asian women poets and storytellers to the stage across five performances.

Created by the Australian South Asian Centre , the platform celebrates poetry, language and storytelling, creating space for South Asian women to share their work with Melbourne audiences.

Join us for our Melbourne Fringe debut.

2, 3 & 4 October | Speakeasy Theatre
15 & 16 October | The London Arms

Tickets are available now via the link in bio!

Australian South Asian Centre
Brown Women Poetry
Ria Patel • Actress • Dancer

[ Melbourne Fringe 2026, Brown Women Poetry, South Asian events Melbourne, South
Asian women Melbourne, spoken word Melbourne, poetry events Melbourne, Melbourne
poetry, Indian events Melbourne, Hindi poetry Melbourne, Urdu poetry Melbourne, Punjabi Poetry Melbourne ]

14/09/2026

And they were hilarious. They had the room in tears of laughter and resonance.

But it didn’t happen overnight, we worked together for 8 weeks of in person Brown Women Comedy workshops at Bunjil Place 📍 Narre Warren - learning the art of standup comedy, script writing, reviews, studying joke structure until they were ready.

We’re so proud of our alumni. They’re going places.

Big love to Bunjil Place 📍 Narre Warren for backing this program and giving new comedians a place to start. We’d love to see more councils and venues do the same & invest in artist development.

If you’ve ever wanted to try comedy yourself, join the waitlist for future Brown Women Comedy workshops via the link in bio.

Shoutout to:
Annie Louey our facilitator & 📸 Made to Post | Event & Business Content Creation in Melbourne

(Brown Women Comedy, women of colour in comedy, Melbourne comedy, comedy workshops Melbourne, South Asian women Melbourne, Bunjil Place)

01/09/2026

Every second month, our book club (run by the incredible Jessie Raj , Minoli W , and Ākanksha Rajpal ) meets in a different member’s homes to read books by South Asian women. This month, we read ‘The Loss of Inheritance’ by Kiran Desai. Hopefully we’ll see you at the next one? 
 
[ South Asian book club Melbourne, South Asian books, South Asian women writers, Melbourne book club, South Asian authors, books by women, South Asian community Melbourne ]

24/08/2026

One of the comedians pulled out so the MC asked one of us to perform😅

10 of us had just planned to go out for dinner and watch the comedy show, little did we know we’d be given the mic!

The show was at a gorgeous wellness studio hosted by Annie Louey who is teaching this year’s Brown Women Comedy workshops

A truly diverse lineup, chai + food & there was tarot readings at the end of the night. We need more women running the night!

Come watch all of our 15 of us perform at Brown Women Comedy up and comers at Bunjil Place 📍 Narre Warren on 12 Sep.

Link in bio.

Melbourne | Standup Comedy | Learning Standup

23/08/2026

Last night 10 of us went out to dinner and a comedy show … at a wellness studio - the room was curated by this year’s comedy teacher Annie Louey who did such a stellar job and it was unlike any comedy show we’ve been to.

A truly diverse lineup, she even cooked food for everyone & there was tarot readings at the end of the night. One of our students even got the last minute opportunity to perform.

Come watch all of our 15 students perform at Brown Women Comedy up and comers at Bunjil Place 📍 Narre Warren on 12 Sep.

Link in bio.

Melbourne | Standup Comedy | Learning Standup

The Offbeat Sari is worth checking out - it’s on every day (except Monday) till 30 August at Bunjil Place 📍 Narre Warren...
16/06/2026

The Offbeat Sari is worth checking out - it’s on every day (except Monday) till 30 August at Bunjil Place 📍 Narre Warren and it’s free.

We’ll be hosting a special public panel on 18 July during South Asian Heritage Month exploring 3 womens evolving relationship with South Asian fashion, sustainability and identity.

We’ll also explore pre-partition textile history and shared South Asian clothing culture that borders later fractured. Register at the link in our bio.

📸 Article by Angelica Silva for ABC.

Our member Sita Sargeant took her mum to go see The Supposed to Be at as part of .melbourne “This was the first time i...
29/05/2026

Our member Sita Sargeant took her mum to go see The Supposed to Be at as part of .melbourne

“This was the first time in my life (and in my mother’s, as she confirmed) that I had seen the story of a Tamil woman in Australia told on a stage.

When we don’t put these stories on our stages, we don’t just close a door on the future; we decide these aren’t Australian stories, and the people in them aren’t quite Australian either.”

In this review, she reflects on the experience.

Address

210 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, VIC
3000

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 9am - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 9am - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 9pm
Sunday 9am - 9pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Australian South Asian Centre posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Australian South Asian Centre:

Shortcuts

Sponsored

Share

Category