Dimitrios Kametopoulos was born in Sydney. His origins are from the Chalcidice peninsula of Macedonia region, Northern Greece, and from Mytilene town of Lesbos island. He finished his primary education in Sydney. In Athens, Greece, he did some classes at the secondary level (High School-Lyceum). Returning to Sydney, Dimitrios completed his last two years of school (Year 11 and Year 12) at Punchbowl Boys High School between 1986 – 1978. From 1998 until 1991, he studied Humanitarian Studies and Philology for his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Sydney and then he did his Diploma of Education.
From 1992 until 2003 he taught at Condell Park High School in the Bankstown area as an English as a Second Language Teacher and Modern Greek for non-Greek students. In 2003 he took a promotion and became Head Teacher Learning Support at Moorefield Girls High School in the Kogarah area teaching English as well as Modern Greek and French to beginners and Media Studies. In 2008 Dimitrios took a transfer to Marrickville High School where he became the Head Teacher of Marrickville Intensive English Centre with newly arrived students mainly from China, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea as well as newly arrived students enrolling a few years later who originated from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece. He remained at this school unit up until 2014. In 2015 he took a transfer to Bankstown Senior College where he was appointed as Head Teacher at Bankstown Intensive English Centre in which he continues to work at. Here students who are of a senior age, that is from 16 to 26 years old, study full time and are mainly from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Vietnam and China as well as other countries around the world. The main purposes of the school as well as other similar centres are to teach the English language and to consolidate the newly arrived students’ language skills for their further studies.
Simultaneously with the day schools and from 1998 up until 2003 Dimitrios Kametopoulos was a Modern Greek teacher at the Saturday School of Community Languages – Ashfield Boys’ High School Centre though previously he was for a brief period at the Bankstown Girls High School Centre. In 2004 he took a promotion and became an Assistant Supervisor at the Saturday School of Community Languages -Liverpool Boys’ High School Centre and where he still works at.
Additionally from 1991 and for 16 continuous years he was as a Greek language tutor for foreign adult students at Bankstown Evening/Community College with beginners, intermediate and advanced classes of the Greek.
In the 1990’s Dimitrios worked for many years at the Greek Afternoon Schools of the Parish-Community of “St Euphemia” at Bankstown as well as at the Greek Afternoon Schools of the Parish-Community of “The Resurrection of Christ” at Kogarah.
Dimitrios Kametopoulos served on many Greek and non-Greek community organisations (and is still serving on some now) through various executive seats or being a member on the Committees eg the Mytilinian Brotherhood of Sydney and New South Wales, the Australian-Hellenic Educators Association of NSW, the Pan-Macedonian Association of New South Wales and its Organising Committee of the Annual Macedonian “Dimitria” Celebrations, the Greek-Australian Team of Volunteers for the Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Federation of Aegean Islands of New South Wales, the Organising Committee of the Annual Greek-Serbian Friendship Day, the Bankstown Council Multicultural Committee, the St George Educational region’s Multicultural committee and elsewhere.
At the end of the 1980’s and all of the 1990’s Dimitrios presented at various periods different Greek radio programs. He began as a broadcaster on the first weekly youth show in Sydney titled “Radio crazy waves FM” on Radio Club 90.1FM as well as the weekly show “Something Different” at Bankstown’s Community Radio Station 88.7FM which he continued to broadcast with the same title on Sydney’s 2MM 1665AM 24hour Greek Radio Station. From 2009, he is part of the casual Greek language program broadcasting team of the Multicultural broadcaster of SBS Radio presenting various topics, current affairs and interviews with various people.
His journalistic affiliations also include the publications in local Greek-Australian newspapers of special commentaries and reports focussing mainly on Greek community events. He loves Greek food, traditional music – and especially that of Macedonia region and of the Aegean Sea -, reading newspapers and books, journalism and political commentary, summer, the beach (and of course the famous Greek islands!) as well as enjoying the countryside on four or two wheels (car and motorcycle riding). Dimitrios coordinates and presents many Greek-Australian events by different organisations and bodies as a Master of Ceremonies and in the wider Australian community. By his personal actions and through collective efforts, he supports the continuance of the Greek language within the future Australian generations and the propagation of the Hellenic culture in the wide Greek Diaspora and further afield.
