Cherish freedom from fear: refugee lawyer

Refugee lawyer and former child soldier Deng Adut says Australians should cherish the freedom from fear that comes with living in the country.

Mr Adut arrived in Australia in 1998 from South Sudan, along with his brother, and went on to study law and work in western Sydney.

He is now a community leader in the Blacktown area.

In his Australia Day address for NSW on Thursday, Mr Adut recounted his remarkable life story, made famous in viral Western Sydney University TV advertisements.

Born as one of eight children in a small village, Mr Adut was taken from his parents at the age of six and conscripted into the Sudan People's Liberation Army in 1987.

Mr Adut told the audience at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, which included Premier Mike Baird, he was too young to understand what he'd lost.

"I lost the freedom to read and write. I lost the freedom to sing children's songs. I lost the right to be innocent. I lost the right to be a child," he said.

"Instead I was taught to sing war songs. I was taught to love the death of others."

Mr Adut said he did not know how it felt to belong until he received Australian citizenship many years later.

He said Australia opened its doors to him and gave him the opportunity to educate himself and become a lawyer.

"How lucky I became. How lucky is a person who receives an education in a free land and goes on to use it in daily life," he said.

After arriving in Australia, Mr Adut learned English and completed a TAFE degree in accounting before studying at Western Sydney University and Wollongong University.

He called on every migrant to cherish their new land, but to never forget their origins.

Settled Australians must also be wary of allowing "local opportunists" to exploit emotions of fear and doubt.

"What makes this nation one to be proud of is the willingness of most in our communities to be accepting, tolerant, inclusive and welcoming," he said.

Mr Baird praised Mr Adut's contribution to Australian life, saying his was the story of a man who overcame every barrier before him.