Alumni News

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Peter's off to Paris 2024

2023 WA Young Australian of the Year Peter Bol is thrilled to have qualified for the 2024 Australian Olympic team, facing off against the best athletes in the world once again. Peter says: "I'm grateful for the unwavering support of my team and the community that has been with me every step of the way. While being selected is a major milestone, I am now preparing for the next stage of my training as I venture to the mountains in New Mexico."

Read more about Peter

ARE YOU OR DO YOU KNOW A UNIVERSITY STUDENT?

Want to make a difference, but unsure where to start?

Find out how to turn passion into purpose from people who have successfully done it already at this free forum.

Food and soft drinks included.

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From passion to purpose student forum

Jo nabs 2024 ACT Woman of the Year

2024 ACT Australian of the Year Joanne Farrell can add another award to her title. The founder of Build Like A Girl has been awarded 2024 ACT Woman of the Year. The recipients of the 2024 ACT Women’s Awards were announced ahead of International Women's Day.

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Raising resilient kids

2019 Australian of the Year Dr Richard Harris SC OAM says he learnt something profound from the young boys he saved in Thailand. 2024 WA Senior Australian of the Year nominee Maggie Dent 2024 spoke with Richard about what he believes is the secret to raising resilient kids in her podcast, 'The Good Enough Dad.'

Listen now

These are just some of the things Tiahni has been up to...

South Australia's 2024 Young Australian of the Year Tiahni Adamson, Senior Australian of the Year Sister Meredith Evans and Local Hero Rachael Zaltron OAM led a record-breaking International Women's Day Luncheon for South Australian Business Chamber. Tiahni was also a guest speaker at the 2024 Alice Springs Youth Conference. Plus, she recently facilitated a climate panel at the iconic WOMADelaide!

Listen to Tiahni's keynote on IWD

The Year that Made Me

2024 TAS Senior Australian of the Year Reverend Jim Colville AM established Colony 47 in 1973 to provide for people in need who were shunned by the church. Listen on ABC's The Year that Made Me as Jim shares how 1973 set him on his path.

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Compassionate Communities Australia launches

2023 WA Australian of the Year Professor Samar Aoun has launched Compassionate Communities Australia. The not-for-profit soon to be charity aims to become a hub of knowledge and skills for community-led solutions that lead to social and systems change. It supports communities to reclaim and own their central role in caring, dying and grieving.

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Dylan on Playschool

"There’s a chair in there and Dylan as well..." Keep an eye out for 2022 Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott AO later this year when he makes appearance on the iconic Playschool on the ABC! Dylan was also recently at Austin's South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festivals. He delivered a solo keynote, ‘Disability Made Sexy - Capturing a Global Market of 1.3 billion people.’

Listen to Dylan's SXSW keynote

Melanoma March

Melanoma Institute Australia’s Co-Medical Directors and 2024 Australians of the Year, Professor Georgina Long AO and Professor Richard Scolyer AO, urged Australians to join the national Melanoma March campaign to raise vital research funds and stop the glamourisation of tanning.

Learn more and donate

INSPIRING INCLUSION FOR LASTING CHANGE THIS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Auspire – Australia Day Council WA hosted an online lunch with She Codes Australia founder, Kate Kirwin, and para-athlete and disability advocate, Madison Heady, to discover their motivations, journeys, impacts and aspirations for a more inclusive, equitable future.

Coercive control will become a crime in Queensland

Coercive control will become a crime in Queensland after historic laws passed state parliament. Adults will face a new standalone offence – expected to come into force next year – that carries a jail sentence of up to 14 years. 2022 QLD Australians of the Year Sue and Lloyd Clarke, parents of Hannah Clarke, played a pivotal role in advocating for the laws.

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Fran's final hurruh

She was the first female nurse to study medicine in Tasmania. After an incredible career spanning decades, 2023 TAS Senior Australian of the Year Dr Frances Donaldson has decided to hang up her stethoscope. Fran's retirement after 64 years was covered across lots of Tassie local media - and rightly so. This energetic 81-year-old has been hailed as a groundbreaker and mentor for women in medicine.

Read about Fran

Taryn heads to Texas

It’s a speaker’s dream to be involved in SXSW, one of the biggest cultural events in the world. 2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt headed to Austin, Texas in March to deliver a presentation as part of their Culture track on a topic that’s very close to her heart: Changing our Minds about Changing our Bodies.

Listen now

PERCEPTIONS ON DISABILITY

Legally blind barrel racer and 2019 SA Local Hero Megan McLoughlin relies on echolocation to determine where to guide her trusty horse in the arena. 

Megan's been working with the ABC on a project called Real Ability, which focuses on changing people's perception on disability.

 

Finding hope

After tragedy, how do we find hope? It was an act of violence that shocked Australia. 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty AO's powerful words about family violence galvanised the nation. In her inspiring and deeply moving new book, Hope, she shares what happened the day after the worst day of her life and how she reclaimed hope when all hope was lost. Released April 2024.

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Tribute to Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue

Celebrated Indigenous leader Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue has passed away. Throughout her life, Dr O'Donoghue earned a reputation as a tireless advocate and campaigner for the rights of First Nations people. Eminent Australians have united in sympathy to pay their respects to the Yankunytjatjara woman and and 1984 Australian of the Year.

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Photo of Marco Renai speaking at TEDx

When Currumbin, Queensland, decided to host their own TEDx, 2024 QLD Australian of the Year Marco Renai was a stellar choice to include in the line-up.

Marco shared his personal journey of resilience and transformation, from a rebellious child to a visionary, building a school for troubled youth. Through tales of challenges and triumphs, he shared his powerful vision where love, support, and early intervention redefine education, and calls for a united community effort to change the narrative for young men. Watch now.