The Sabian Mandaean community is a small ethno-religious group indigenous to South Mesopotamia, which is modern day Iraq and Iran. The Mandaeans have their own ancient language, texts, traditions, and practices that date back over 2000 years. As followers of John the Baptist, their ancient holy book is called The Ginza Rba. The Mandaic language has been listed by UNESCO as an endangered language with only a little over 200 people able to speak it worldwide.
The Sabian Mandaeans have sought refuge in various countries since the 1980s to escape constant war, violence, religious persecution, and ethnic cleansing that has resulted in a worldwide diaspora of their community. With a population of just 50,000 worldwide and just over 8000 Mandaeans in NSW, this ancient civilisation currently faces a serious threat of extinction. Due to this, they have experienced trauma, PTSD, and inter-generational trauma that affects every Mandaean
household. The Sabian Mandaean Association Australia (SMAA) started initially as The
Association of Mandaean in Australia and was later incorporated as SMAA. Its focus is to provide direct assistance to Mandaean refugees in Australia and ensure all members achieve full cultural, economic, social and political participation in Australian society. SMAA provides a number of services which are critical to the community. The services help to alleviate the poverty, destitution and helplessness suffered by many Mandaean refugees in Australia, which is frequently a product of
the trauma and torture they suffered prior to them fleeing from Iraq and Iran.