Young, talented women are pursuing huge and significant work to fight for the rights of women and girls all over the world.
Closer to home in Australia, we have an extraordinary group of talent — young women who have worked tirelessly, whether it be speaking out, advocating, pushing for policy solutions, or creating new technology to improve the lives of marginalised people.
Below is a quick snapshot of Australia’s superstar changemakers, and their fearless pursuits to make the world more equal.
Check out our international list on climate change here.
Grace Tame
It’s difficult to condense the totality of the work that this powerful young advocate has achieved – a face representing the fight against sexism, discrimination and justice for victims of sexual abuse for more years than we have seen her in the media. But Tame continues to use her platform for good, championing for survivors’ voices to be heard, elevating the rights of those who have historically been silenced.
Brittany Higgins
Projecting her voice in the national conversation about women’s rights in this country, Higgins has become an unlikely hero to thousands of women, using her platform to launch the Safety, Respect, Equity campaign this IWD. As a former political staffer, and currently the Visiting Fellow at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at the Australian National University, Higgins became a household name last February, after she publicly alleged that she was raped by a male colleague in 2019.
Anjali Sharma
Australian climate activist Anjali Sharma was the lead litigant in a class action suit, including seven other young students, that saw the federal court rule that the federal environment minister had a duty of care towards young people in relation to climate change impacts. The ruling was the first of its kind in the world, and saw Sharma named as a finalist in the International Children’s Climate Prize.
Madison de Rozario
Madison de Rozario was the name on everybody’s lips during the Paralympics in 2021, with her epic gold medal win in the T54 marathon. She’s also a passionate advocate for disability inclusion, telling Women’s Agenda last year that as a role model, she tries to act as authentically and considerately as possible.
Ash Barty
World No.1 tennis player and Ngarigo woman Ash Barty has made headlines for years now with the unforgettable moments she’s produced on the court. There was her final win at Wimbledon in July 2021, where she emulated her hero, Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s 1971 achievement, and more recently, her Australian Open win. We also love all her off-court work, including a recent trip to the Northern Territory to meet, and play, with children from Mutitjulu school.
Melanie Perkins
Melanie Perkins is the co-founder and CEO of Canva, one of the most successful tech start-ups ever. She was recently estimated to have a fortune of $8.2 billion. Alongside her Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht, Perkins has pledged to give away most of her fortune to charitable causes, and do the most good she can do with what she has.
Brooke Blurton
Noongar-Yamatji woman Brooke Blurton has had a massive 12 months, becoming Australia’s first ever Aboriginal and pansexual Bachelorette, using her platform for advocacy around mental health, Indigenous rights, and sexuality. She’s just announced her memoir, Big Love, will be published in October.
Madeina David
23-year-old marine biologist Madeina David lives on Iama (Yam) Island in the Torres Strait, and is using her degree to connect modern science with traditional land and sea management. “I want to ensure future generations can experience the sea and all that it provides,” she said.
Krystal De Napoli
Krystal De Napoli is a Gomeroi astrophysicist, writer and teacher of Indigenous sciences. She is an advocate for Indigenous astronomy, which she embeds into secondary and tertiary curricula. She is the host of Indigenuity, a weekly conversation with Indigenous knowledge holders showcasing Indigenous ingenuity.
Chanel Contos
Since the launch of her petition asking for consent education to be taught in schools, 24-year-old Chanel Contos’ advocacy for survivors of sexual assault has had a big impact. The federal, state and territory governments recently committed to the introduction of holistic consent education in schools across Australia.
Linh Do
As the extraordinarily talented Director of the Leaders for Global Sustainability at the University of Melbourne, Do has spent the last decade of her young life working in advocacy and engagement, media and social enterprise. She was the leader of the Australia and Pacific arm of The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore’s climate change leadership program, and was the Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year in 2013.
Ellie Cole
Ellie Cole, OAM is an Australian Paralympic swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. She was featured in the Netflix documentary ‘Rising Phoenix’ after snapping up four gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Cole became Australia’s most decorated female Paralympian of all time in Tokyo in 2021.
Grace Brennan
As the founder of social media campaign #buyfromthebush, Brennan wanted to promote businesses from rural communities across Australia, creating stronger, more empathetic connections between rural and urban Australia. She was a nominate for last year’s NSW Australian of the Year, and continues to help other women in online agricultural startup spaces.
Teela Reid
This brilliant Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman and lawyer was Australia’s Indigenous Youth Delegate to the United Nations Permanent Forum and has spent her career fighting for justice in criminal, civil and administrative law. She was a leader on s 51(xxvi) in the Constitutional project that concluded with the drafting of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Sizol Fuyana
At just 20, Sizol Fuyana, a law and psychology student, rose to prominence as an advocate for vulnerable young people in her state of NT where she works at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre. Winning the 2022 NT Young Australian of the Year, Fuyana used her experience being admitted to a psychological ward in a hospital to speak out about mental illness among young people.
Hayley McGuire
McGuire is the co-founder and National Coordinator of the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition, fighting daily to ensure Indigenous rights to education and employment. She was our Women’s Agenda Emerging Change Maker of the Year in 2019, and continues to speak widely on Indigenous rights and fair access to education.
Jennifer Star
Star is the founder of Tara.Ed, an NGO that promotes education in rural and regional India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. She was awarded an OAM in 2019, and the NSW Young Australian of the Year in 2012. She is now the Deputy Director (Acting), Asia Education Foundation at Asialink, and based in Brisbane.
Dhanya Mani
As an advocate for change and the empowerment of political minorities, Dhanya Mani is the Wentworth organiser for the Australian Republic movement, and is founding a not-for-profit to support the election, preselection, and promotion of women in the Coalition. Mani has alleged that in 2015, while she was working as an assistant adviser to the then-Speaker of NSW Parliament, she was sexually abused by a male colleague. She made her first public allegation in July 2019 and has since worked to elevate the voices of survivors.
Tayla Harris
This 24-year old extraordinaire is most famous as an AFL player for the Melbourne Football Club and as a professional boxer. While she was still just a teenager, she was drafted to the Melbourne representative side as part of the AFL women’s exhibition series. Her sportspersonship has been heralded as helping increase the profile of AFLW in Australia.
Marita Cheng
As the youngest Member of the Order of Australia in 2019, a Forbes World’s Top 50 Women In Tech 2018, Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016, and 2012 Young Australian of the Year, Cheng has had an impressive young life, founding Aubot (formerly called 2Mar Robotics), which makes a telepresence robot for children with cancer in hospital to attend school, people with a disability to attend work and to monitor and socialise with elderly people.