Deepak-Raj Gupta

Deepak-Raj Gupta is an Indian born Australian politician. He has been a Labor member for Yerrabi in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 23 July 2019.

Biography

Gupta was born in the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, India, and raised in Chandigarh. He completed his Bachelor of Arts at Punjab University in Chandigarh. In 1989 he emigrated to Australia to complete an information technology diploma at the Holmesglen Institute in Melbourne. Gupta moved to Canberra in 2001. In Canberra, Gupta worked for a private insurance company and briefly became a project manager at the Department of Defence. In 2015, Gupta was involved in an ACT Government delegation to India to promote trade and business between India and Australia. Gupta currently lives in Gungahlin ACT with his wife and two children.

Community Engagement

Gupta was the president of the Australia India Business Council (AIBC) ACT Chapter for 10 years and is now a member of the AIBC National Executive Board of Directors. He has helped organise several popular multicultural programs in the annual National Multicultural Festival as well as starting events such as the 'India in the City' program and the World Curry Festival. Deepak celebrates community engagement and particularly expressing his Hindi faith.

In 2012, Gupta was awarded the ACT Community Advocate award. In 2015, he was awarded the Community Service Excellence Award in Sydney, NSW. The award was in recognition of Gupta's work in promoting multicultural harmony, acceptance, mutual respect and understanding among the ACT's diverse communities.

Political career

Under the Australia Labor Party in 2016, Gupta was the first person of Indian origin to run in an ACT election. Mr. Gupta was sworn in on July 2019, he became the first Indian-born person to hold the position of MLA in the Australian Capital Territory.