Mr Vyas captivated the crowd at Victoria Park on Australia Day, mixing humour and passion in one of the highlights of the annual celebration.

He said while he was born and raised in the western suburbs of Sydney, Dubbo has had a profound impact on his life.

It was his visit to Apollo House and LeaderLife, a not-for-profit organisation focusing on giving kids in the Dubbo community love, support and guidance, that changed his perspective.

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While studying, Mr Vyas said he became "desensitised" to the statistics, policy, education and injustice suffered by First Nations Peoples. It wasn't until he was confronted first hand by the children at the LeaderLife program, that he discovered what it meant to be a community.

"The glue that holds this community is on show at that place every single day," he said.

"And while having the chance at running activities with them, and having my face and nails painted in the most absurd colour scheme you'll ever see, is a stark and confronting realisation, impossible to ignore, about the realities for so many young Indigenous Australians."

The 25-year-old graduate lawyer described his experiences as an Australian-Indian, unpacking his life in Australia, and what being Australian means to him.

He said it's in Dubbo that he has seen the way forward for other communities to embrace the diversity around them.

"Dubbo to me is a very special place, because of the symbol of what every person in this community does to stand up for what it means to be Australian," he said.

"From the leaders at LeaderLife, from the leaders in our police force, in our schools .... there are phenomenal people walking every day among us in this community in Dubbo, and that's what makes it such a special place."

While he says politicians calls Australia a "tolerant nation", he argued we should strive to do more than that, and must accept.

"Tolerance is an especially low threshold. One tolerates back pain, one tolerates the extra .50 cents to go with your pie for that extra tomato sauce ... but tolerance can not be the goal when it comes to ethnic diversity. It must be acceptance," he said.

"Being Australian doesn't have anything to do with what we physically look like, it's not about a citizenship paper or a passport.

"Being Australian is about holding onto the values of mateship, friendship and a steadfast result to contribute to the furtherance of this great country."

Mr Vyas highlighted the resilience shown by our nation through the bushfire crisis, drought and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic has united Australians.

"Even though we might look back on this pandemic as the infamous battle for toilet paper, in actual fact we saw more of that Australian spirit on display," he said.

"People of every colour, people of every faith delivering food packages for those affected by the economic dissemination of COVID.

"People of every colour supporting local business, people of every colour looking out for their fellow Australians in their hour of need.

"Indeed at a time where the rest of the western world seem to be turning on each other in this time of crisis, Australia stands unique and remains steadfast in that famous unity."

On days such as Australia Day, Mr Vyas said communities should be furthering their support for each other, seen through crisis to help stand up and embrace cultural diversity.

"Whether that be engaging in debates, engaging in other cultures, standing up when discrimination rears its head," he said.

"As Australians we cannot afford to forget what that diversity brings, and what we owe to ourselves and the rest of the nation to stand up and be the foundation of what makes this country so special."