AFTRS and ABC announce Selwyn Speight Diversity scholarship winner

This year’s $19,000 Selwyn Speight Scholarship, awarded by AFTRS and the ABC, has gone to Iranian refugee Pariya Taherzadeh.

The scholarship was made available through a bequest from the late ABC jounalist Selwyn Speight, and the funds will go towards tuition fees and other living expenses while Taherzadeh studies her Graduate Diploma in Radio at AFTRS.

It was put in place to enrich AFTRS’ student community, recognising an outstanding radio student from diverse cultural, ethnic or socio-economic backgrounds.

Taherzadeh will also intern at the ABC throughout the year and is set to take a 12 month employment contact when the year is up.

“We’re very pleased to be able to work with AFTRS to offer this terrific opportunity to Pariya. It’s a genuine pathway to an exciting career in radio,” said ABC director of regional and local, Michael Mason.

“AFTRS and the ABC are both committed to encouraging the development of diverse Australian stories and this monetary support for a talented student such as Pariya will assist both organization to achieve much-needed diversity,” added AFTRS program leader radio Lisa Sweeney.

Taherzadeh arrived in Australia in 1989 as a toddler with her parents, after they’d been ostracized in Iran due to their interfaith marriage, eventually granted refugee status.

“I am extremely excited to be the recipient of the ABC Selwyn Speight Scholarship and feel a sense of not only reward but also great privilege for the opportunity to study at AFTRS and work at the ABC,” said Pariya Taherzadeh.