Australian High Commission

Malaysia

High Commission address: 6 Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur - Telephone: 2146 5555 - Fax: 2141 5773

The Australian Government Awards the OAM to Joe Hasham

2 December 2009: Today, Her Excellency Penny Williams, High Commissioner of Australia, confers a Medal of the Order of Australia, on behalf of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, to multi-award winning actor, writer, director and recording artist, Mr Joe Hasham OAM, for his service to the performing arts, at her Residence.

A graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Mr Hasham has been involved in the performing arts for 44 years and has won awards in every area of dramatic endeavour, including as an actor, director, writer and recording artist.

A household name in Australia in the 1970s for his role as the iconic character Don Finlayson in Number 96 (one of the most popular series in Australian television history), Mr Hasham is now a leading theatre director in Malaysia and the Artistic Director of Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre.

Since his arrival in Malaysia in 1984 to set up the country’s first privately owned production house, Mr Hasham has made a significant and lasting contribution to the cultural landscape in Malaysia.

He is responsible for the establishment of The Actors Studio and the KL Performing Arts Centre, and his mentoring of countless prominent Malaysian actors and directors is a legacy in itself.

Just as importantly, Mr Hasham has become a symbol of the forging of deep cultural ties between Australia and Malaysia.

Australia honours him for this contribution, confident in the knowledge that he will continue to use his outstanding talents and energy to drive cultural collaboration between our two countries well into the future.