Top 20 Blacktown local heroes: number 1
ALL this week we have counted down Blacktown’s top 20 local heroes. Now we’ve reached number one — and it’s hard to think of anyone who has achieved as much, and inspired as many people, as our winner.
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BLACKTOWN HEROES
Local heroes: 20 to 16
SOME of Blacktown city’s local heroes are well-known, some not so much.
But what they all do is put their community first across numerous areas — youth, homelessness, education, disabilities or sport.
This week the Advocate has counted down, from 20 to one, our picks for our top 20 local heroes. Some will be controversial, some obvious.
Now we’ve reached number one — and it’s hard to argue with what this person whose influence has reached far past the borders of Blacktown.
1: DENG ADUT — LAWYER AND COMMUNITY ADVOCATE
From child soldier to lawyer and human rights activist — Deng Adut is one of Blacktown’s most inspiring success stories.
Mr Adut’s story is well known, but deserves to be retold.
Taken from his family at the age of seven, he was brainwashed, drugged and forced to fight in the second Sudanese Civil War.
At age 12 he was shot and witnessed unspeakable atrocities.
After being smuggled out of South Sudan by his older brother and spending 18 months in a Kenyan refugee camp, Mr Adut arrived in Australia at 14. He was mentally scarred and knew next to no English.
Twenty years he is the definition of a self-made man, and Mr Adut has used the opportunities presented to him in Australia to give back and fight others’ battles.
His family settled in Blacktown at age 15, where Mr Adut taught himself the language by watching the Wiggles and reading the Bible.
He went on to become the first person in his family to graduate from university, earning a Bachelor of Law degree from Western Sydney University.
Mr Adut co-founded AC Law group in 2014 with fellow lawyer Joseph Correy, which has offices in Blacktown and Redfern — where the duo grew up respectively.
The firm often takes on pro bono work and represents clients across courts in western Sydney.
After featuring in a Western Sydney University video detailing his life story in 2015, Mr Adut’s profile — and the recognition of his achievements — quickly grew.
He has become a passionate advocate for immigration and multiculturalism in Australia, using himself as a prime example of what refugees can offer the country.
Mr Adut was invited to give an Australia Day address in 2016 where he remembered the horror of his early years and said Australians should cherish living in a “lucky” country.
“What makes this nation one to be proud of is the willingness of most in our communities to be accepting, tolerant, inclusive and welcoming,” he said.
That same year he won the Law Society of New South Wales President’s Medal.
In 2017 he earned the honour of being named NSW Australian of the Year.
His acclaimed autobiography ‘Songs of a War Boy’, released in 2016, became a bestseller.
Mr Adut has stated he one day wants to return to South Sudan to prosecute those responsible for the conscription of child soldiers.
BLACKTOWN HEROES
Local heroes: 20 to 16