Born in Tubingen, West Germany Clement Meru hails from the Republic of South Sudan and arrived in Australia in 2003 under the Humanitarian programme. He has 20 years’ experience in the settlement sector including delivering and managing programs in Western Sydney.
Clement managed the Multicultural Communities (formerly Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre) Division at CORE Community Services for over 4 years. He was involved in the design and establishment of the NSW Settlement Partnership, a consortium of community organisations with Settlement Services International as the lead agency delivering settlement services in agreed areas of New South Wale. Clement has over 13 years’ experience in governance ranging from small and medium sized, incorporated organisations to peak bodies. Clement also has experience in strategy and building strong partnerships: he co-founded the African Workers Network NSW, a forum of professionals of African backgrounds in the community and welfare sector in New South Wales. Clement convened the NSW Migrant Resource Centre Alliance for 2 years and served on the boards of Settlement Services International (2016-2017) and Settlement Council of Australia (2013-2014) respectively. He is a co-founder and currently the Chair of the African Alliance NSW.
Clement currently holds the position of Settlement and Community Programs Manager at SydWest Multicultural Services a role he has held for the past 7 years managing a multi-disciplinary Division across a large portfolio, including settlement services, women,families,youth,homelessness services.
Clement has extensive experience serving on local forums and government advisory committees in New South Wales: he has convened the Blacktown Local Government Area Multicultural Interagency (BMI) for the past 2 years and currently serves on the NSW Police Multicultural Advisory Council (PMAC), Blacktown City Council’s Multicultural Advisory Committee and the Joint Partnership Working Group for Refugee Settlement in New South Wales. Clement is an advocate for multicultural communities and believes strongly in empowering communities to develop independence and has supported a range of new and emerging groups over the years in building structures required to support new members their group settle in Australia.
Clement has qualifications in welfare and community sector management.