Ms Le, a former Liberal candidate for Cabramatta, is now the multicultural public relations manager for the NSW parliamentary Liberal team.

The Victorian Multicultural Commission/Australian Multicultural Foundation Award for the Promotion of Multicultural Issue went to a report, 'Return of the Boatpeople', shown on ABC Television.

NSW Opposition leader Barry O'Farrell congratulated Ms Le.

''A boatperson herself who arrived in Australia in 1979 with her mother and two sisters, Dai joined a group of other Australian-Vietnamese boatpeople as they retraced their life changing voyages and arrival in Malaysia,'' he said.

''These individuals are now proud Aussies and successful in their own right. They add to the fabric of multicultural Australia, which makes us so unique.''

Ms Le shared the award with her former ABC colleagues producer Trevor Bormann, cameraman Simon Beardsell and editor Garth Thomas.

''This is an outstanding achievement and due recognition of her work,'' Mr O'Farrell said.

''Anyone who saw the program could not help but be moved by it.''

The United Nationals Association of Australia Media Peace Awards program was formed in 1979 to promote understanding and awareness by recognising the media's efforts in stimulating public debate about humanitarian and social justice issues.