- KEY POINTS
- Saranpaal Calais is a technology and digital lawyer at the global law firm Allen & Overy.
- Only 1.6 per cent of barristers are Asian Australian, and only 0.8 per cent of the judiciary are of Asian descent.
- He is also the director of Sikh Youth Australia (SYA) and co-founder of the Young Sikh Professionals network (YSPN).
- Born in Hobart (Tasmania) in a Sikh family of Malaysian descent, Saranpaal Calais didn’t often see turbans around him while growing up – a Sikh’s most identifiable asset.
By By Sumeet Kaur | SBS Punjabi | Australia |
“When you’re growing up, all you want to do is fit in with your friends and everyone else. So, it’s hard to look different.
“With my unshorn hair and coming from a diverse background, I had to fight to make my visibility matter, and it took a lot of commitment to work harder to reach this rank,” he tells SBS Punjabi.
Mr Calais, who has significant experience advising on Australian privacy and data protection regulations, has led negotiations on enterprise-wide strategic digital transformation projects for two of Australia’s largest banks.
Among his other professional feats, he co-founded a technology company in 2015 that developed a data analytics platform for the aviation industry.
Giving back to the community
Mr Calais believes that engaging with the proper levels of government is very important for the growth of any community, and he has been instraumental in providing legal assistance and support in many community-related matters.
“For example, bicycle helmet laws restricted Sikhs from using bicycles in Queensland and New South Wales. We made a submission to the government to allow Sikhs to have modified rules around helmets on bikes.
“During the COVID pandemic, when Sikh doctors were not allowed to treat patients because they weren’t able to wear masks appropriately, we made legal efforts to allow Sikh doctors to wear protective gear,” he shares.
Read the full story, entitled ‘Meet legal eagle Saranpaal Calais with a keen eye for helping others’ (SBS Punjabi, 8 Feb 2023), here.
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