An Aussie carpenter, foster parent to 27 children and rugby player turned mental health and wellbeing advocate, Bruno Efoti, has been announced as this year's Australia Day Ambassador for the City of Parramatta.
As a former Citizen of the Year nominee, Mr Efoti will speak at the Parramatta's Citizen of the Year ceremony on 25 January and Citizenship Ceremony on 26 January and be part of the 2025 Australia Day celebrations.
Recognising the frightening number of men battling with mental health conditions during the drought, Mr Efoti, together with his wife Joanna, set aside their small carpentry business in Dubbo to train as counsellors and set-up not-for-profit organisation Tradies In Sight in 2018.
"Aussie men generally find it difficult to open up, let alone initiate a conversation about any challenges they may be facing, but it wasn't until I started feeding them that then the conversations would just naturally flow," Mr Efoti said.
"Every year we have over 6,000 visitors visit our drop in shed to start a conversation and seek out help.
"The great part of this is that the flow-on-effect not only benefits the individuals but also their families."
Today, Tradies in Sight continues to help regionally based men who are struggling to get back on their feet, while Mr Efoti also delivers an emotional wellbeing program to young apprentices to give them skills to manage their mental health and help others to do the same.
City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Martin Zaiter said it's an honour to have Mr Efoti as the City's ambassador for Australia Day as his story will resonate with the people of Parramatta.
"Mr Efoti is a true Aussie - hard working, community minded and there for those that need a helping hand," Cr Zaiter said.
"Through his selfless dedication as a foster parent and through his work with Tradies In Sight, he has helped save the lives of many, especially men in regional communities during their toughest times.
"His and Joanna's act of kindness to put aside their small business to train as counsellors and tackle one of this generations biggest health crises is admirable and something many of us can aspire to."
Australia Day ambassadors are assigned by the Australia Day Council of NSW to all Councils hosting Australia Day events.
ABOUT PARRAMATTA'S 2025 AUSTRALIA DAY AMBASSADOR, BRUNO EFOTI
Bruno Efoti was born in the Kingdom of Tonga on the island of Foa on the Ha'apai group, the third child of eight and the son of a farmer. He migrated to Australia to study Theology with Cornerstone Community in 1994 and met and married Joanna Waugh in 1997.
The couple chose to stay in Australia and settled in Dubbo where they established a small carpentry business and Mr Efoti worked as a carpenter. Mr and Mrs Efoti also began a family by adopting their son Reuben form Tonga and later fostered 27 other children. Mr Efoti also immersed himself in his local community becoming a committed rugby player and member of the Dubbo Rhinos Rugby Club.
During the drought season of the late 2010's more and more businessmen and tradies were struggling and sadly the suicide rate amongst tradesmen skyrocketed to alarming levels. As pressure increased, Mr Efoti became someone men felt comfortable sharing their burdens and found his time was spent more and more listening and less on building. This prompted Mr and Mrs Efoti to rethink both their careers and become trained counsellors, which led to the start not-for-profit mental health and wellbeing support service for tradespeople, Tradies In Sight, in 2018.
Since then, Tradies In Sight opened a drop-in centre shed in August 2021 at Dubbo while Mr Efoti also delivers an emotional wellbeing program to young apprentices that attend TAFE to educate them with skills to better manage their own mental health and be equipped to support others to do the same.
