30 Under 30 - 2020 — Out For Australia

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2020 Awards Event

Entertainer

Mama Alto

Omar Sakr

Keynote

Host

Magda Szubanski

Tom Ballard

The event was held virtually.
We expanded the Major Category Awards to include five categories.

Entertainer

Tomi Grainger

2020 Category Winners

Changemaker of the Year

Courtney Hagen

Courtney is a proud Butchulla & Gubbi Gubbi woman from North Brisbane/Sunshine Coast in Queensland. She now works with Cricket Australia in her role as Indigenous Engagement Specialist and Bushrangers Basketball as the Indigenous and Social Engagement Manager.

&

Matika Little

Matika is a proud Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi woman, originally from Wagga Wagga in regional NSW. Matika co-founded ‘Coming Out Blak’, a podcast and online community focused on highlighting Queer, Indigenous voices.

Student of the Year

Hayden Moon

Hayden advocates for the Transgender, Disabled and First Nations communities. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, a Pinnacle Foundation scholar and a competitive Irish Dancer. He recently co-founded Intersectional Irish Dancers, a platform to support marginalised Irish dancers and to create a more inclusive Irish dancing culture.

Young Professional of the Year

Jax Ewin

Jax is a purveyor of fine flowers, and a city councillor in nipaluna/Hobart. They have an insightful political career engaging with at-risk groups and fighting to end homelessness, recently speaking to the UN to make housing a human right. But their real passion is fighting TERF ignorance and possum-stomping conservative ideals.

Community Champion of the Year

Hera Direen

Hera is a playwright and cabaret creator based in nipaluna (Hobart). Having grown up in the Huon Valley starting in community musicals, they have had a varied career in burlesque and drag to circus and acrobatics. Now they have found their voice as a transgender woman returning to song and cabaret creating work for and by transgender people.

Mentor of the Year

Kat Hagger

Kat is a Senior Project Manager working in WSP's Rail Team. Kat's passions lie in developing the engineers of the future, using the opportunity to give back through the co-ordination of WSP's NSW Rail Graduate Scheme, as well as being a dedicated member of the OFA Mentoring Program and supporting university outreach to engage a diverse talent pool for the engineering industry.

2020 Winners

ACT

Dan Tracey is a Senior Associate in Ashurst's Employment team, and the Canberra lead of Ashurst's pride network Spectrum, mentoring LGBTQIA+ students locally and across Australia. As dux of his Master of Labour Law cohort, Dan is a future leader in his field and a passionate advocate for workplace diversity.

Dan Tracey

Kazi is a student-advocate, leader, and volunteer. By day, Kazi administers pastoral care at the ANU, working with survivors of SASH and Queer* and ethnocultural communities. By night, he researches the economics and geopolitics of travel bubbles in COVID-19 and will complete his Master of International Relations (Advanced) degree in 2021.

Kazi

NSW

AJ Lamarque is a fast-rising comedian and producer of the hit show Kweens of Comedy and the popular podcast Dungeons & Drag Queers. He was a 2019 Honour Awards Young Achiever Finalist, a 2020 NSW RAW Comedy State Finalist and was recently appointed Associate Producer, Marketing at Griffin Theatre Company.

AJ Lamarque

Alex Farrell is a graduating medical student. As the 2018 President of the Australian Medical Students' Association, she has been a strong advocate for issues including youth public health, mental health, gender equity, diversity in leadership, and bullying and harassment. Supporting and mentoring other LGBTIQ+ students has been a focus of her work across a number of organisations.

Alex Farrell

Social Worker, Events Planner and bisexual+ advocate, Bree Mountain is the founder and Co-founder of Bi+ Visibility and BiCONIC Events. She has spoken on the InterPride world stage, featured on Global Pride, SBS and radio, has engaged in consultancy with politicians and LGBTQIA+ organisations and hosts regular Bi+ events in Sydney.

Bree Mountain

Cedric founded a community organisation called ANTRA, for the Mandarin & Cantonese speaking LGBTQ people in Australia & New Zealand. A group that cherishes and celebrates the voices and lives of the Queer Chinese Australians. He is a Paralegal by profession and a linguist by passion.

Cedric Yu-ching Cheng

Danielle is a solicitor in Herbert Smith Freehills' corporate group, specialising in mergers and acquisitions. She strives to model what it can look like to thrive in the legal industry as a queer woman of colour in the hope that it helps young people like her see what they can be. She also strives to do as many crosswords as possible.

Danielle Eliatamby

Hayden (he/they) advocates for the Transgender, Disabled and First Nations communities. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, a Pinnacle Foundation scholar and a competitive Irish Dancer. He recently co-founded Intersectional Irish Dancers, a platform to support marginalised Irish dancers and to create a more inclusive Irish dancing culture.

Hayden Moon

Joel is a data scientist and co-founding champion of the pride network at Quantium, and a board director for Trans Pride Australia. He is passionate about raising visibility of the Trans and Gender Diverse community, and the issues faced to enable greater awareness and service provision.

Joel Wilson

Kat Hagger

Matika Little

QLD

Geraldine is a lesbian, Asian woman and a water engineer at the local water utility in Meanjin. She’s co-founded Urban Utilities’ pride network with her amazing workmates. She will keep pushing for industry diversity through representation and hopes to extend her privilege to trans, gender diverse and other queer young people.

Geraldine Terada-Bellis

Hamish Bessant (PRON: Bes-ant) Hamish is a health and human services leader, serving as one of the youngest Director’s in the Queensland Government at the age of 27. He is also the Chair of the Queensland Public Sector LGBTIQ+ Steering Committee where he advocates for whole-of-government improvements for the approximately 23,000 LGBTIQ+ public sector employees.

Hamish Bessant

SA

Jacinta is a proud bisexual woman working as a junior doctor in Northern Adelaide with hopes to specialise in gynaecology and sexual health. Jacinta volunteers with the Pinnacle foundation and is passionate about ensuring our LGBTIQ+ young people have access to supportive mentors and opportunities to succeed.

Jacinta Clark

Lachlan grew up in regional South Australia and now calls Adelaide home. Lachlan is a Principal Policy Advisor in the South Australian Government, advising the Department of Human Services’ Chief Executive on social justice and community development. Lachlan has been involved in significant law reform and charitable work aimed at improving the lives of LGBTIQA+ South Australians.

Lachlan Cibich

TAS

Henry is a 23 year old barrister and solicitor from Launceston, Tasmania. Henry holds seven university degrees and is currently completing a MBA and Master of Laws. In his spare time, Henry works to improve LGBTIQ+ rights as a member of Amnesty International’s Governance Committee and Activism and Membership Committee.

Henry Austin-Stone

Hera Direen

Jax Ewin

VIC

Adrian Murdoch (he/him), is an out and proud Queer, working across Partnerships & Campaigns at Minus18, Australia's largest charity for LGBTQIA+ young people. Working at Minus18, Adrian has driven advocacy for LGBTQIA+ young people during Marriage Equality, as the co-producer of the 'Escape Velocity' project and during the national Religious Freedoms debate.

Adrian Murdoch

Anna Bernasochi (she/her) is a community champion striving to put LGBTIQA+ suicide prevention on the national agenda. Anna leads Switchboard Victoria’s suicide prevention program, is a powerful voice, advocate, lived experience representative and recognised as an influential emerging leader in the mental health and suicide prevention sectors.

Anna Bernasochi

Courtney Hagen

Elsa Tuet-Rosenberg (she/her) is a queer, Jewish and Chinese woman of colour. She is an educator, facilitator, performer, activist and public nuisance. She is the Cofounder of Hue: Colour the conversation, delivering antiracism and social justice training and consulting to organisations. She is a touch point among queer POC and queer Jewish communities and was recently appointed to the board of Switchboard.

Elsa Tuet-Rosenberg

James is a community leader who travels to regional areas to promote queer inclusion to young people. He is completing a thesis that analyses the conflict between LGBTQIA+ rights and religious freedom through the lens of Constitutional Law. James has also worked on queer policy in Australia and Washington DC.

James Holland

Mary is a passionate placental biologist completing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an incredibly driven social-justice advocate, and an avid LGBTQIA+ activist. In all facets of her life, Mary strives to use her colourful history and diverse lived experiences to empower others to embrace, nurture, and celebrate their authentic selves.

Mary Mansilla

Miss Cairo is an international cabaret artist, founding Director of The People of Cabaret, and a total babe! She is committed to changing the performing arts landscape to make it inclusive, diverse and safe for everyone to be able to participate. Miss Cairo is honoured to have been considered for this award!

Miss Cairo

Dr Sophia Frentz has a PhD in Genetics, is a councillor for the Royal Society of Victoria, and works as a Data Consultant at Eliiza. They are queer, disabled, autistic, and probably pretty exhausted. Sophia tries to be who they needed when they were 15, because chances are someone else needs that too.

Dr Sophia Frentz

WA

Emery Wishart is a young trans man dedicated to using his lived experience to advocate for and empower trans and gender diverse people. Emery is a long-time volunteer with TransFolk of WA, he delivers trans 101 training, sits on various advisory groups, and acts as a consultant helping promote active and informed allyship.

Emery Wishart

Emilia (MJ) Hawcroft is a Perth-based LGBTIQA+ Specialist for APM Communities, Communications Officer for Youth Pride Network, and Youth Advisory Council Member with Orygen. An experienced and vocal transgender advocate, MJ dedicates her work in LGBTIQA+ education and advocacy to supporting and elevating her peers’ voices.

MJ (Emilia) Hawcroft

Lulkbudia is a proud Miriwoong Gadjerong woman from Kununurra WA who is living in Boorloo (Perth). Lulkbudia’s work is centred in decolonising spaces and elevating queer bla(c)k voices through community engagement. Alongside Boorloo Justice, Lulkbudia is currently co-curating Decolonise Pride:2020, an event celebrating Bla(c)k, queer joy and culture/community.

Lulkbudia Mclean

Paul is an out and proud young professional corrosion engineer working in Perth, Western Australia at Woodside Energy. During his four years at Woodside, he has worked in offshore, regional and international locations with the intention to be a visible role model to other LGBTI+ engineers and students who feel they can’t be their authentic self.

Paul Henderson