Caitlin Figueiredo

Co-chair, Australian Youth Affairs Coalition

2024 ACT Young Australian of the Year

Caitlin Figueiredo is determined to give young people a say in politics.  

In 2015, she worked to bring young people's voices into parliament through a national youth advisory council.  

This led to her election to the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition (AYAC) board, a volunteer position that she juggled with university work.  

Caitlin revitalised and transformed AYAC, which represents 4.5 million young Australians, creating a more diverse board that better represented young people.  

Empowering the next generation of female politicians, she co-founded a political leadership group called Girls Take Over Parliament. It connects with young women from all political parties and enables them to receive support and training from a bipartisan lens. 

Caitlin has also addressed the United Nations about the Sustainable Development Goals; this previous work establishing youth structures on gender equality is ongoing. 

Caitlin’s efforts remain focused on making waves and creating more visionary leadership.