Kaliyanda Charishma 

Charishma Kaliyanda     

Charishma Kaliyanda is an elected councillor for Liverpool City Council and a registered Occupational Therapist. She is also currently the Community Engagement Officer for headspace (the national youth mental health initiative) in Campbelltown, working to build awareness of and reduce stigma around mental health and well-being so that young people can access the help they need. 

Family

Father:

Kaliyanda Madappa (Jaya)

Mother:

Kaliyanda ( Chottera ) Bhanumathy

Sibling:

Kaliyanda Thimmaiah

Education:

Schooling

• Marsden Rd Public School
• Macquarie Fields High School

College:

Graduation

• BSc in Psychology
• BA in Spanish and Latin American Studies (2011) from University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Post Graduataion 

• Master in Occupational Therapy from University of Sydney (2014)

Charishma has worked with young people across many industries to build skills and capacities in the last 10 years and strongly believes in the important role that young people must play as part of diverse and robust decision-making structures.

Charishma was raised in Liverpool after migrating to the area with her family as a young girl from the city of Bangalore, where she was born.

Charishma is a champion for diversity in sport, as a Multicultural Ambassador for Hockey NSW (and a keen footballer!). She strongly believes in the power of sport and the arts to be a connector between different parts of our community.

She is proud to be one of only 11 women elected to Council in Liverpool’s 144-year history, and one of the youngest. Charishma was re-elected to Council for her second term in 2021.

She was named one of Australia’s rising political stars by Marie Claire, and twice nominated as a candidate for NSW Parliament before she turned 30. Recently, she was a 2021 finalist for Young Community Achiever of the Year at the Indian Australian Business & Community Awards. She was also named one of the winners of the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians in 2021 by the Asian-Australian Leadership Summit and a finalist in the Western Sydney Community Woman of the Year Award.

She has put mental health and youth infrastructure on the agenda for Australia’s fast growing outer urban areas as a Strategic Advisory Committee member of the National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA).