2025 Winners

After being raised in state care until she was 16, Maddison moved to live with her mother who experiences mental and physical health issues, becoming her carer. They become homeless shortly thereafter. Maddison advocated for herself and her mother in the public health and housing systems and found the care and housing they needed. Having successfully completed year 12, she is now undertaking tertiary studies to become a secondary school English teacher and strives to use her resilience, empathy, and determination to be a positive support in her future students' lives.

Rhea is from the Murchison Region, and they speak Badimaya, an endangered language which has inspired them to pursue linguistics at UWA in the hopes of preserving it. Rhea also writes music and runs a linguistics YouTube channel where they share their knowledge and passion for this fascinating, important discipline.

Millie Kolomyjec is a passionate storyteller and creative strategist dedicated to using media as a tool for impact and inclusion. She began her journey as a Media Mentor on The Periscope Crew, a film crew for people with disabilities, empowering underrepresented voices to share their stories through film. Her commitment to meaningful storytelling led her to become a Media Officer for the World Transplant Games, capturing powerful narratives of resilience and global connection.

Since moving to the Pilbara and starting distance education, Sofia has risen above school pressures and grown stronger. She now dedicates her time to supporting at-risk Indigenous youth. These experiences have shaped her purpose, built resilience, and sparked a fire to create real change.

Rachael is a 22-year-old intersectional Lived Experience advocate who wears many hats. Her work, driven by her values of dignity, compassion, determination, and authenticity, ranges from panels and committees to even founding her own movement, Integrity Initiative. If summarised in a single word, Rachael would - without question - be ‘fierce’.

Rhiannon Clarke is a paralympian, university student and disability advocate. She mentors young para-athletes, champions inclusion and equity in sport, and uses her platform to raise awareness and change the narrative around invisible disabilities. Rhiannon is passionate about empowering the next generation to embrace who they are and chase their dreams.

Starting at 18, Jaydan has led youth music programs nationwide—including in Don Dale Youth Prison -and worked with organisations like WAYJO, YARN, and Abmusic. Now Senior Aboriginal Youth Coordinator at Edmund Rice Centre WA, he runs four free weekly programs, empowering youth through culture, leadership, and creative expression.

Wil is the founder of Youth Leadership Academy Australia, a national platform empowering over 50,000 young people each year through leadership, advocacy, and entrepreneurship education, regional access, and youth engagement, driven by a belief in youth-led solutions. His work spans local, state, and national levels, motivated by lived experience and a passion for purpose-driven leadership, aiming to reframe how Australia supports its next generation of change-makers.

Youth Parliament is a youth-led, nonpartisan program empowering Western Australians aged 15-25 to represent their communities, draft legislation, and debate real issues in State Parliament. Founded in 1995, it builds skills in public speaking, critical thinking, and leadership. Guided by passionate alumni, Youth Parliament has shaped key state legislation and policy, including environmental reforms and cyber safety laws, ensuring young voices influence WA's future in meaningful, inclusive ways.

The Equestrian Youth Engagement Service (EYES) was born out of a need to find innovative ways to support justice involved young people to re-imagine themselves living positive hopeful lives, connected and contributing to community. EYES uses multiple behaviour change elements including equine facilitated interventions, cultural mentorship and strong support from the WA Equestrian industry to help young people re-engage with education, undertake work experience, gain employment and divert them from criminal activity and early school disengagement.