Mainul Haque
Mainul Haque OAM is an economist and former senior Australian public servant with nearly 30 years’ experience shaping and analysing policy across government, academia, and the not-for-profit sector. He is a community leader, board member and non-executive director, and former ACT Multicultural Ambassador. He writes on social cohesion, migration, and public policy, grounding his analysis in practical experience. Mainul has held numerous board and advisory roles across Canberra’s community, education and multicultural sectors, and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his significant contribution to the ACT community.
Mainul's articles (19 total)
A future where Australian Muslims no longer question belonging
By 2050, a new generation of Australian Muslims will be shaping the country’s institutions, communities and public life, confident in their identity, belonging and contribution to Australia’s future.
Rising above cancer - community and care
Forty years ago, one woman in the NSW town of Queanbeyan saw a need and decided to act. Now 850 people a year receive cancer support from Rise Above.
Before we debate migration, we need to ask: who will care for Australia?
As Australia ages, the care workforce will depend on better training, stronger retention and skilled migration – not a narrow debate about population or monoculture.
The world’s conflicts should not become Australia’s
Australia cannot control wars and political upheavals overseas, but it can choose whether those conflicts are allowed to fuel division, suspicion and hatred at home.
Bangladesh needs a national movement to care for trees
Bangladesh's future depends not just on roads, bridges and buildings. It needs trees to be planted and nurtured to maturity to ensure the country's resilience.
What the Socceroos taught us about belonging
The World Cup has shown Australia that our national identity is about diversity not uniformity.
Football shows how belonging is built
The world game's global appeal lies in its power to create belonging, shared experience and everyday social cohesion across cultures, reminding diverse societies that connection is built not only through policy, but through common stories.
Living well together despite our differences
A diverse nation is held together not by embracing monoculture but by building familiarity and then trust.
Australia fixed one honours gap. Is another being overlooked?
Australia has improved women’s representation in the honours system, but culturally and linguistically diverse communities, particularly CALD women, remain under-recognised despite their central role in social cohesion and community life.
Belonging without assimilation: lessons from Prophet Muhammad’s life
Social cohesion is not built by erasing difference. As was demonstrated 1,400 years ago in the city of Medina, it is built by creating trust, justice and shared purpose across difference.
The prison system is failing at the point that matters most
Australia’s correctional system remains heavily focused on incarceration and punishment while failing to build a coordinated national framework to support people transitioning back into society after release.
Australia’s resilience is inseparable from Asia
Australia is anchored in Asia, yet elements of our defence posture continue to assume a different centre of gravity. This makes it difficult to reconcile long-term strategic planning with the region Australia relies on for its economic security and wellbeing.
The Anzac story is bigger than we remember
The Anzac tradition honours sacrifice, but the broader, global contribution to the war effort remains under-recognised in Australia’s national memory.
A mosque, a meal and the strength of Australian community
A shared Ramadan meal in Canberra shows how everyday encounters and neighbourly goodwill quietly build social cohesion in multicultural Australia.
What it means to belong as a Muslim Australian
A life shaped by migration, public service and community leadership offers a quiet rebuttal to claims that Muslim Australians do not belong – and a reminder that belonging is built through contribution, not fear.
Female-only swimming saves lives: the overlooked gap in Australia’s drowning prevention
Female-only swimming sessions are not a cultural luxury. They are a proven, evidence-based public safety measure that too many Australian women still cannot access.
Fear versus facts: why migrants strengthen Australia
Australia’s multicultural society is not a modern experiment or a social crisis. It is the product of shared effort, grounded in First Nations custodianship and strengthened by generations of migrants who have helped build the nation’s economy, culture and community life.
Why multicultural aged care is the key to meeting Australia’s ageing challenge
Australia’s ageing population is growing faster than the systems built to support it, especially for culturally and linguistically diverse communities. A co-designed, public–private aged care model offers a practical, humane and economically sound path to meet this challenge before crisis overwhelms the system.
The pearling past and the multicultural present: A story of connection and contribution
In the late 1990s, during a field study in Wyndham, a remote town in Western Australia, I met a small tourism operator whose story has stayed with me ever since.