[Michael, 26, Chinese-Singaporean Australian ]
Early in my life, I felt ashamed of my cultural identity. In primary school, it was one where I just didn't understand why I was being treated differently.

[On-screen title]
Learning to navigate your cultural identity

[Monica, 28, South Sudanese Australian]
What I love about my culture the most is the sense of community. If it was just my family and everybody is just isolated, it would have been really hard to settle and feel comfortable in my skin. But having that sense of community within my culture is something that has really helped.

[Krushnadevsinh, 21, Indian Australian]
Now that I'm 21, my cultural identity means a lot to me. It's something that I'm still discovering. Because when I was younger, when I moved here, I sort of lost that.

It was something that I already wanted to hide away because you know, it was not something that I was proud of. I got bullied for it.

[Michael]
I think my cultural identity for me is one of the constants in my life. You know, I can't wake up one day and decide not to be Asian. It's something that I think shaped all my experiences.

[Krushnadevsinh]
But now that I'm learning more about life, learning more about myself, learning that it's okay to accept yourself, it means so much to me.

[Michael]
My cultural identity definitely comes into conflict with other aspects of my identity.

[Krushnadevsinh]
It's almost like which one do I pick at what time. Growing up, I didn't have...I guess in the traditional media, there isn't anyone that looks like me. So I started finding out role models who speak about these things, who are in movies, who are in music, and I started looking up to them.

[Monica]
I started realising, you know what? It doesn't really matter, like some of these insecurities are just within me, and so I think with time, I just build my confidence and I was able to just get out of that shell.

[Michael]
If I could broadcast it, to young people who are struggling with their cultural identity get to realise you're not alone.

The internet is a wonderful place and you can find community groups, cultural groups, who celebrate the same things you do and they share recipes that you do.

[Monica]
And I think when we reach out and ask for help, you will overcome and also know that you are not alone. A lot of us have gone through this.

[Michael]
For me, my cultural identity is something that I hold personally really dear to myself, but also forms a really core aspect of who I am and what I am and how I interact with this world.

[Monica]
Being able to say that I'm an Australian woman and I'm also an African woman, I think there's a lot in that, and that's one thing I like. I love living in Australia, it's a very diverse multicultural society and we have the opportunity to embrace who we are.

[Krushnadevsinh]
There's a big Indian community out there. And now I just get out there, get engaged with them, talk with my family and not be ashamed of posting on Instagram, for example, a photo of me in my cultural clothing, or a photo of music that I'm listening to is Indian music, I'm not afraid of that.