Ten extraordinary young people and organisations were recognised for their contributions to the WA community at the 2023 WA Youth Awards gala ceremony on Friday night at the WA Museum Boorla Bardip.
The 2023 WA Youth Awards recognises young West Australians aged 10 to 25 years for the contribution they make to the social, cultural and economic life of our State. Now in its 24th year, the Awards also recognise the work that the youth sector delivers to support young people.
Winner of the 2023 WA Young Person of the Year is Isabella Choate.
Isabella is a lived experience advocate working across youth, disability, mental ill-health, and LGBTIQA+ areas. They are passionate about celebrating intersectional communities and creating opportunities for young people to have a voice.
Isabella sits on several councils, including the Children and Young People with Disability Australia Youth Council, the Victorian Department of Health Lived Experience Steering Group, and they are supporting Consumers of Mental Health WA to establish a lived experience leadership course.
They are also Co-Chair of the North Metropolitan Health Service Mental Health Advisory Council. In their day job, they work at the Youth Disability Advocacy Network and in their spare time, they host accessible events for members of the disability community to come together and be unapologetically disabled.
Category winners in the 2023 WA Youth Awards are:
- Minister for Youth's Most Outstanding Youth Worker Award: Ben Dancey
- Commissioner for Children and Young People Participate Award: Dillian Binar Cumming
- MercyCare Positive Achievement Award: Abigail Gregorio
- Edith Cowan University Community Leadership Award: Isabella Choate
- Perth Festival Creative Contribution Award: Xanthe Turner
- The Y WA Collective Action Award: Youth Pride Network
- Youth Focus Sector Collaboration Award: Home Stretch WA
- Youth Futures Innovation for a Sustainable Future Award: Samuel Thomas
- Mission Australia Young Changemaker Award: Jack Connor Anderson
- The Charmaine Dragun Memorial: Cameron Carr
This year’s award winners and finalists included a wide range of projects and advocacy from consent, bullying, supporting culturally and linguistically diverse communities, social justice youth homelessness and poverty, disability, mental health and the environment.
Congratulations to all nominees and winners!
The WA Youth Awards are coordinated by the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia, with principal support from the Department of Communities and Lotterywest.
