Celebrating Ballarat’s young people

Ballarat’s best and brightest young people were celebrated at the City of Ballarat Youth Awards on Friday night.  

The annual youth-led initiative pays tribute to young people making valuable contributions in a range of sectors, including sport, equity, diversity and inclusion, and community service.  

Since 2005, the City of Ballarat has been delivering the annual Youth Awards to recognise the outstanding contributions that young people make to the Ballarat community.  

The awards are designed and delivered by Youth Services volunteers and City of Ballarat staff.  

This year, a total of 105 young people were nominated across 10 categories for their individual contributions to the Ballarat community.  

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson attended the awards and said the winners were terrific examples of young people making Ballarat a better place.

“All the winners continue to contribute an incredible amount to Ballarat and make this city a better place to live,” he said.

“To have more than 100 people nominated shows that there are so many young Ballarat citizens doing extraordinary things.”

Amy Hobbs and Gemma Gale were named as the winners of the prestigious major awards for ages 18-25 and 12-17 respectively.  

Winners of the other categories are as follows:  

• Compassion & Care Award - Maggie Phillips
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Award - Jay Van Nus
• Group Project Award - Thrive Cast
• Influential Adult – Volunteer - Dairong Shan
• Influential Adult – Worker - Louise Rippon
• Leadership in Sport & Recreation Award - Megan O’Beirne
• Personal Growth Award - Gemma Gale
• Positive Leader Award - Memphis McBain
• Young Creative Award - Jay Van Nus
• Youth Volunteer Award - Thu Nguyen 
   

The City of Ballarat Youth Awards are supported through a partnership of community agencies including: Ballarat Foundation, Basketball Ballarat, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ballarat Youth Services Network (BYSN), Committee for Ballarat, Community Bank Buninyong, Compassionate Ballarat, Creative City Ballarat, headspace Ballarat, Highlands LLEN, Western Bulldogs, Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, Y Ballarat and the State Government.

Award winners profiles

12-17 Major Award and the Personal Growth Award – Gemma Gale

Gemma has made genuine and consistent efforts in various aspects of life including a commitment to seek alternative studies at SEDA College, volunteering and fundraising with Relay for Life, working as a swim teacher, coaching basketball and even self-publishing a book called ‘Storms Don’t Last Forever’.

18-25 Major Award – Amy Hobbs

Amy is a committed volunteer with St Johns Ambulance and in 2024 alone has already contributed more than 160 hours with St Johns. She has recently taken on a leadership role as the Operations Officer of the Ballarat Division. Amy supports peers through training new recruits, has worked in bushfire emergencies and is studying paramedicine and nursing.  

Group Project Award – Thrive Cast

Thrive Cast podcast is a collaboration between CMY Youth Action Group and headspace Youth Reference Group. The podcast explores themes of intersectionality, addressing barriers between culture and mental health. Topics covered so far include mental health, culture, families, relationships gendered violence and education.

Leadership in Sport & Recreation Award – Megan O’Beirne

Megan is passionate about sport, including football, tennis and especially cricket, where she has shown great leadership. Megan is a positive example of being a leader through playing, coaching, and being on club committees, all while juggling university and three casual jobs.

Young Creative Award and the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Award – Jay Van Nus

Jay is driven to create art and spread their message of good, healthy, young people from diverse backgrounds. This includes three murals at Federation University, Police Lane and the Ballarat In The Know art trail. Jay is a strong advocate for Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ communities and uses art to create an inclusive culture for marginalised groups in society.

Positive Leader Award – Memphis McBain

Memphis attends the LARF (life skills, activities, relationships and fun) youth group and is held by his peers as a leader. Memphis has high moral standards and rarely lets peer pressure get in the way of acting from a place of compassion and understanding. Despite obstacles, like injury, Memphis is still a lively member of the community and continues to display enthusiasm and positivity.

Compassion & Care Award – Maggie Phillips

Maggie participated in the World’s Greatest Shave earlier this year and fundraised for the Leukaemia Foundation. Maggie’s efforts have ensured that people are educated about the 140,000 families who face blood cancer right now, and that it takes the lives of 16 people every day.

Influential Adult – Worker – Louise Rippon

Louise is an outstanding example of a youth professional that is committed to supporting young people. Louise coordinates the Y Ballarat Youth’s JumpStart automotive re-engagement program. Each term Louise engages with up to 24 young people who are disengaged from education to participate in a weekly term-based program.

Influential Adult – Volunteer – Dairong Shan

Dairong is a dedicated volunteer in the Ballarat community as a group mentor and one-to-one mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Dairong also contributes as a general volunteer, supporting fundraising efforts that contribute to young people seeking mentor matches.

Youth Volunteer Award – Thu Nguyen

Thu has emerged as a leader in three volunteer programs. Thu is a founding member of Tiaal Mi Goa, a youth mental health project focusing on intercultural sharing, community wellbeing and family. Thu also plays a key role in the gender equity-focused Speak Up program, is a leader in the Centre for Multicultural Youth’s Youth Advisory Group, and has helped create Thrive Cast podcast. Thu does all this while managing Year 12 studies and part-time work.