Welcome Dinner Project - Tasmania

15/02/2026

Yesterday, our final WDP Tas welcome lunch was held and, as usual, it was a lovely meal shared between established and new Australians, forming connections and new friendships.

Although this marks the conclusion of the formal auspices of the Welcome Dinner Project, the model and resources of the WDP are now part of the creative commons.

If you would like to run a Welcome Dinner Project style event, you can access and download everything you need and more here:

proveda.com.au/the-welcome-dinner-project-downloadables/

04/02/2026

It’s been a long time between dinners and you may have heard the Welcome Dinner Project has wrapped up in its formal state as an organisation. All resources are now freely available to other community based orgs to host their own WDP style dinner.

So to say thanks to our Tassie community we’re having one final dinner in Launceston on Saturday 14th February 12-2pm. Comment below if you’d like to receive details. 🥘🌮🍲🍚❤️🙏

29/06/2023

For those who loved the Staging Post, or who missed out, the new film from former Afghan Refugee Muzafar Ali Watandar: My Countryman is screening in Hobart and Launceston with a Q&A session on Sunday 2 July (Hobart) and Monday 3 July (Launceston). A film about identity, culture and a sense of belonging. Please come and join us! https://startheatre.com.au/wp-cinema/movie/WATANDARMY/WATANDAR+MY+COUNTRYMAN/?fbclid=IwAR2TxHC57cMq-z4tkgtWaPVBvusuGPRrUsHSDOeCN9yqsb_plyCMajnPEu8
https://www.statecinema.com.au/movies/details/State/8273

25/11/2020

If you're missing the stories that you hear when participating in our Welcome Dinners like we are, then tune in to Hobartfm 📻 from this Saturday for a series of Stories from Tasmanians with Migrant Backgrounds. Sounds like great listening! And we hope to be back with our Welcome Dinners in the New Year🤞

09/10/2020

Check out this amazing podcast from @177.nations.of.tasmania - it will feature conversations with every one of the 177 nationalities in Tasmania reported in the last census. We hope to bring you more opportunities for conversations over great food and company when our Welcome Dinners return soon ☺️🤞👏🙏

When Kalana came to Tasmania in October 2019, he was 110kg and feeling a bit lost after four not-entirely-happy years studying and working in Melbourne. But in his short time in Hobart he has experienced some dramatic improvements in his physical and mental well-being, mainly through small things th...

11/08/2020

The Welcome Dinner Project is still committed to creating a more welcoming and connected Australia. And we're committed to keeping you safe too. With the COVID-19 situation continuing to unfold throughout the nation, we are not yet able to put in place a timeline for when we will reactivate the home and community Welcome Dinners. We are however trialling virtual Welcome Dinners (online through zoom). If you'd like to connect with others through a virtual dinner, please send us a message and we'll organise a dinner if there's enough interest. Stay safe and stay connected ❤️

02/07/2020

Australia welcomed thousands Syrian and Iraqi refugees in a one-off intake beginning in 2015, but finding affordable housing and the desire to join larger migrant communities on the mainland meant not all of those settled in Tasmania stayed.

13/05/2020

Please vote for our project in the Great Regional City Challenge! We're really keen to grow the Welcome Dinner Project in Launceston and embrace everything that our community, both newly arrived and local, can offer. Food, stories, culture and connection. https://bit.ly/39C9IjU

Let's celebrate our diverse community by connecting newly arrived and established Australians together through shared meals in local homes.🙌

Launceston Welcome Dinner gives established residents and newly arrived Australians the opportunities to interact and connect. Which gives people of the region to embrace, celebrate and connect with the cultural diversity in our area. 🤗

This project then increases belonging and within the community by connecting newly arrived Australians with established residents through Welcome Dinners in local homes. The community then gets a chance to share their culture, food, passions and stories and forging life-long friendships and connections.

If you'd like to vote for this project, click here and vote for Launceston Welcome Dinner. ➡️ https://bit.ly/39C9IjU

02/04/2020

This is a great post from The Welcome Dinner Project in South Australia. Please share your recipes with us in Tasmania and we'll post them for you :) Stay safe everyone. We can get through this.

One great thing about all the extra time spent inside is that we can finally try out some new recipes! So, we thought we might check in with our wonderful volunteers and share with you their favourite recipes. Enter Mo, our resident hummus guru! But first, let’s get to know the man behind the hummus...

Why did you become involved with the Welcome Dinner Project?
To meet more people and help others to create connections. Being volunteer with WDP has been a very rewarding experience.
I joined my first dinner as guest and loved how the volunteers made me feel.

What is your favourite thing about our shared meals?
There is always a positive story to hear and plenty of food 😉

Thanks Mo! Here is his recipe:

1 chickpeas can (420 g), 1/2 drained
1/2 lime, juices
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp tahini sauce
Salt, pepper and garlic seasoning to taste

Blitz all ingredients in a food processor or with a stick blender until smooth and creamy.
Serve in a small bowl and garnish with olive oil.

Happy dipping! 💛 WDP

24/03/2020

A message from our National team. Please stay safe everyone

Dear Welcome Dinner Project Community. Some of you may have been wondering what we’ve been up to because our social media has been quiet for a while. We are still here, more active in some States than others, but we have been putting our focus on enhancing our operations, as the continual need to source significant funding for the project was unsustainable. However, at this time of worldwide crisis, we are renewing our efforts to build our capacity as we know that Welcome Dinners will be needed more than ever once we come out the other side of this.

Our thoughts go out to those who are directly impacted by this crisis. As we navigate this moment together may we hold fast to the belief that underpins the Welcome Dinner Project: that we are indeed all interconnected and that we have more in common than we have differences.

We have some ideas brewing to help turn this time of physical distancing into a time of deep human connection, so watch this space, welcome will find a way!

02/03/2020

A beautiful evening in Riverside, reconnecting old friendships and making new ones. Thanks to everyone who joined our first Home Welcome Dinner for 2020. We look forward to many more throughout the year!