2016 Participate Award winner is an inspirational role model

Congratulations to Brianne Yarran who was named as the recipient of the Commissioner for Children and Young People’s Participate Award last Friday at the 2016 WA Youth Awards.

The Commissioner Colin Pettit congratulated Brianne and the other award finalists Anneka Bodt, Joanna-Louise Alexandre and Dodi Tuando for their achievements and contributions to the community.

“Presenting the Participate Award to celebrate the accomplishments of outstanding WA young people is a highlight of my year,” the Commissioner said.

“All the finalists should be incredibly proud of their achievements, and they all have a bright future as leaders in the communities.”

Brianne is an 18 year old student from Hampton Senior High School who has dedicated herself to furthering Reconciliation.

This year alone Brianne has delivered the keynote speech at Perth’s National Apology Anniversary Event, presented to 2000 school students, teachers, Elders and community members at Perth’s National Sorry Day Event, received a scholarship to attend WA United Nations Youth Summit 2016 and was selected to attend Murrup Barak Experience and Leadership Camp at Melbourne University in July 2016.

She has also been invited to be involved in a documentary produced by Screenwest and NITV, focused on her family, courage and achievements.

The Commissioner for Children and Young People’s Participate Award was established in 2010 to recognise young people aged 12 to 18 years in school who have shown an outstanding commitment to improve their communities.

Read more about the achievements of all four finalists on the Participate Award page.

The winner of the overall 2016 WA Young Person of the Year was Vanessa Vlajkovic, a 19 year old deafblind student and strong advocate for people with disability. Vanessa has been a valuable contributor to the Commissioner for Children and young people having served as co-chair of the Sensory Advisory Committee in 2015.