Of all the continents, nations and settlements across the world, few are as a culturally diverse as the Sunburnt Country. Migrants from all walks of life - from the deserts of Africa to the crammed cities of Japan - are accepted for who they are. And more importantly, feel worthy and comfortable to consider themselves Australian.

In the past fortnight, Melbourne has played host to events sure to be etched in the history books forever. Its residents are battling to come to terms with the city's worst heatwave in a hundred years. Melbourne’s railway system buckled after soaring temperatures warped train tracks. And at Melbourne Park, a 25-year-old Australian won the hearts of a nation with inspired performances on Rod Laver Arena, epitomising the multicultural society that has become the envy of the world.

Jelana Dokic, a Serbian migrant who fled troubled Yugoslavia with her forceful father Damir in 1994, returned to professional tennis with a bang. Perhaps Hollywood will turn her story into a film. It would certainly be worthy of it.

At just 11-years-of-age, Dokic and her family fled Yugoslavia – a nation in turmoil, filled with infighting between Slovenians and Croats, Bosnians and Serbs and under the rule of evil dictator Slobodan Milosevic – for Australia, where Jelana would enhance her chances of furthering her tennis potential.

At first, the Australian public adored the young Dokic and admired her on-court tenacity and off-court behaviour. With support from millions of fans, Dokic rose to the heights of number four in the world and in 2002 reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon. It was another example of how migrants can flourish in an Australian environment.

It didn’t take long for the Australian public, however, to revere her controlling father Damir. Jelana was clearly unhappy with Damir as her coach and many involved with tennis Australia urged her to stay in Australia and find a new coach.