Young Australian of the Year

Nominate a young person who makes you proud!

On 9 July Prime Minister John Howard launched the call for nominations for the 2008 Australian of the Year Awards.

The Young Australian of the Year Award helps to highlight the achievements of young Australians, encourages them to contribute to their communities and provides examples of high achieving young Australians who are pursuing excellence. As sponsor of the Young Australian of the Year Award, the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has helped to profile the outstanding contributions many young Australians have made to our community.

No other similar program or event is able to match the Young Australian of the Year Award in terms of improving the portrayal of young people and highlighting their achievements, so why not nominate a young Australian you know who makes you proud. The awards are based on nominations made by the public, so it’s up to all Australians to nominate who they think should be considered for the awards before nominations close on 28 August 2007.

Visit the Australian of the Year Awards website to obtain nomination forms or to find out more about all recipients of the 2007 Australian of the Year Awards or call 1300 655 193 for more information.

Young Australian of the Year 2007 - Tania Major

This year, Queensland's indigenous youth advocate, Tania Major, was named Young Australian of the Year 2007 for her efforts in addressing the issues and welfare of young indigenous people.

Now 25, Tania became the youngest person ever elected to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission (ATSIC) three years ago. Tania's forthright and open approach to the myriad problems faced by her people, including domestic violence, has focused the attention of opinion leaders, politicians and the public alike. Her honesty and passion have established her as a role model not only for indigenous youth, but for all young Australians.

Young Australian of the Year 2007 State and Territory Recipients

Victoria

Duncan McLean, Entrepreneur and charity founder

Through determination and sheer hard work, Duncan McLean has developed a successful business in an extremely competitive market while maintaining his strong passion for helping others. From his $20 investment four years ago, Duncan has built an unconventional swimwear manufacturing and marketing venture into a company with a turnover of over $500,000 from sales here and overseas. Just as importantly, he has used his creativity and marketing skills and channelled his enthusiasm into the One Funky World Foundation, whose major project so far is to provide urgently needed wheelchairs for over 500 Tongans, many of whom have been confined to their homes for years. He's also raised $30,000 for the Heartwell Fitness Scholarship Program, a sports program for disabled children, and he supports a program in Port Moresby that teaches homeless youth basic agricultural skills. Duncan 's success is testament to young Australians' creativity and their ability to break convention.

Queensland

Tania Major, Indigenous youth advocate

Tania Major came to public attention three years ago as the youngest person ever elected to ATSIC. She broke the ice of public discussion about a number of issues concerning the welfare of young Indigenous people when she was featured on national television programs such as Four Corners and 60 Minutes. She made some people feel very uncomfortable, and was happy to do so. She spoke directly and very publicly to the prime minister and other opinion leaders about the appalling secrets of domestic violence in her community in the belief that the best way to represent her people was to tell the truth. Tania is the only person within her community to complete a university degree; indeed, she's the only one to have successfully completed Year 12. Tania has become a role model not only for Indigenous youth, but also for all young Australian's.

South Australia

Laura Long, Regional Advocate

Laura Long is passionate about regional education and vocational training as a way of providing opportunities for rural young people. From a young age, Laura dreaded having to leave rural South Australia to complete her schooling and attend university. This small town is at the centre of a region once known as the Ninety Mile Desert , which through sustainable farming practices and management has long since been converted into productive land. Regional areas such as this need to keep their young people so that they too can blossom and grow. Laura decided very early on to make a difference to quality education opportunities for rural youths. She completed her Bachelor of Agriculture in 2000 and then for her Bachelor of Education specialised in secondary school agriculture and science teaching. At the age of twenty-two, she became a manager, with a staff of three, in a training organisation and is now responsible for seventy agricultural trainees across the state. Laura is making a real difference in the lives of other young people and contributing to the continued life in the bush.

Western Australia

Darren Lomman, Innovative engineer

Darren Lomman makes dreams come true. A chance meeting with someone who had lost the use of his legs set Darren on a course that consumed him for more than two years. The injured motocross rider he met had one wish - to ride again. So this young engineering student designed and built a motorcycle for paraplegic riders that won him an award for his innovative contribution to biomedical engineering. His hand-controlled motorbike is the first of its kind to be registered for road use and now, along with final year engineering students, he is working on a hovercraft and a ski boat. Darren founded the Disabled Recreation Club, enabling people with disabilities to socialise in a non-competitive sporting environment, and set up a trust that funds other equipment design projects for people with disabilities. Darren clearly follows his own advice - make the dreams of today become the opportunities of tomorrow.

Tasmania

Michael Smith, Youth worker

Even at this young age, Michael Smith has already given five years of voluntary work for his community, including working at a nursing home. He served as a member of the Tasmanian Youth Consultative Committee, the state's peak body for youth participation. This group of fifteen young people met regularly to consult, inform, and act on youth issues. Michael was also a facilitator for the Festival of Dreams program, helping young people fulfil their dreams through a weekend of guidance, mentorship, and self-help. Since leaving the program he has trained young people facilitation skills to carry on his role in the program and contributed to hosting a state wide youth forum in an aim to connect youth to the services available in their area. He has now completed his diploma in events management while working as a carer in a nursing home and with the Clarance Council on youth issues. Currently he is travelling around Australia motivating and encouraging youth to take part in the Vocational Education and Training course. His nominators for this award agree that Michael has a real passion for the youth of his community while also caring about older people. He is a young man of high energy and commitment - a leader and role model.

Australian Capital Territory

John Van den Dungen, Youth leader

At the age of eleven, John Van den Dungen left his rural environment to come to Canberra for a new start. Struggling to fit in John did a stint in a reform home and then fell in with the wrong crowd. By eighteen, he was on remand, spending a month in Goulburn prison, which he describes as the "gates to hell." John's decision never to go back there turned his life around. Now he helps other young people facing troubles like those he faced with sheer determination. He became the coordinator of The Connections, a community-run organisation providing peer support to people trapped in a cycle of drugs by offering them a new path, one that John is following also. Through his work, John has emerged as a young man with the enthusiasm and a passion to make a positive difference to the lives of other Indigenous youths.

Northern Territory

Katharina Fehringer, Musician

Katharina Fehringer is a well known and respected Darwin classical guitarist, violinist, music teacher, and performing artist. She has performed extensively in local, national, and international settings and has received several arts scholarships and awards. Katharina's prizes for eisteddfods over the past ten years or so number nearly thirty - including first prize for orchestral strings duet; guitar or mandolin; orchestral strings solo; dance solo ethnic; and Australian verse solo - at both age and open levels of competition. She is a regular performer at the Darwin International Guitar Festival and at the Arafura Games opening ceremony. Katharina was a member of the Chief Minister's Round Table for Young Territorians and the inaugural National Youth Roundtable. A graduate of the Charles Darwin University , she has also studied flamenco guitar in Europe and has recently been accepted to study at the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music in England.

New South Wales

Iktimal Hage-Ali

Iktimal Hage-Ali has relinquished her award as the New South Wales Young Australian of the Year 2007 and withdrawn from the national selection process.