Beloved Henley Beach cafe owners in desperate fight to stay in Australia

For years they’ve run a thriving business in Adelaide. Now, as they wait for a government decision, this family fears they’ll lose everything they have worked for.

Henley Breeze Cafe owners Svitlana Kushlak 43 and Nosh Preka 53 with daughters Eleonora Preka 17 and Alice Preka 13. Picture: Brett Hartwig

A Ukrainian-Italian family who spent years building a successful life and business in Adelaide fears they may lose everything they worked for when their visa expires later this year.

Svitlana Kushlak and her family sold their house in Italy and moved to Adelaide in 2018 to learn English but it wasn’t long before the coastal suburb of Henley Beach became home.

They studied here, built a house and launched a successful cafe at the height of the pandemic that thrived despite the challenges of Covid restrictions and crisis facing the hospitality industry.

Last year, their Henley Breeze Café won the People’s Choice Award for best cafe in Charles Sturt Council’s Business Recognition Awards.

Now, the family and the business have been left in limbo.

Their current 485 visa is set to expire in November but despite their best efforts the family has now been rejected twice in their application for a 491 skilled work regional visa.

Ms Kushlak said if they don’t secure another visa, she and her husband Nosh Preka and their two daughters Eleonora and Alice may be forced to leave their business, and the country they now call home, by the end of the year.

“We feel at home. For me to be in Adelaide, in this cafe, my whole life is here,” she said.

“This is devastating for us.”

The Ukrainian family, migrated to Australia seven years ago and have built a successful business and life in Adelaide. Picture: Brett Hartwig

The family needs a state government agency nomination for the 491 skilled work regional visa but so far, they have been rejected twice.

The Advertiser has contacted the Department for State Development for comment.

The uncertainty is also affecting the cafe’s 10 employees who will be left without a job if the family is forced to leave the country.

Ms Kushlak also worries for her two children who largely grew up in Adelaide.

Her family has Italian passports but she said her youngest daughter Alice barely speaks Italian now and doesn’t read the language.

Her oldest Eleonora wants to study medicine at university next year but she’s unsure whether she will be able to pursue her ambitions in Australia.

Their plight has touched the local community, who have rallied behind the family and launched a petition calling on the government to grant them legal status to remain in South Australia.

“Their cafe, Henley Breeze, has become an integral part of our community,” the petition states.

“The family takes great pride in supporting local businesses, employing local staff – especially young people – and fostering a welcoming space for all of us who come in their doors.

“We ask the Government to support this family’s application given the great contribution they have already made, and will continue to make, to our community in South Australia.”

The family have now applied for a 494 sponsorship visa and hope the government hears their plea.

“I’m not a doctor, I’m not an engineer, I’m not an architect but I’m also giving something, I’m also working hard,” Ms Kushlak said.

“What we’re doing is not important for the government but I think it’s also part of community.

“We’re doing lots for people.”

Originally published as Beloved Henley Beach cafe owners in desperate fight to stay in Australia