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Each year, the ANU Alumni Awards recognise the real impact of our students out in the community by celebrating their volunteer activities. This year, our 2023 Student Volunteer of the Year (Postgraduate) award finalists are making a difference in areas from mental health to Indigenous well-being. Through education, innovation and learning to listen, they continue to shape the future into a positive direction in their respective areas.

Rose Clifford (She/Her) (BA '16, BSc '17) - PhD student

Rose Clifford is a PhD researcher in the Research School of Psychology. Her work volunteering with Mental Illness Education ACT has seen her develop and deliver education programs, reaching 6,400 ACT adults and youth in just 12 months. This amazing and pivotal work saw Rose recognised as the 2020 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year. Her work includes speaking about her lived experiences to ACT school students, and covers vital topics like youth suicide prevention, anxiety, stress, bullying and body image.

Angus Mitchell (He/Him) - PhD student

Angus Mitchell is a PHD student, nominated for volunteering work with First Nations people and non-Indigenous people in the local community. Angus has volunteered for Engineers Without Borders (EWB) for 10 years, most recently organising the first two Local Design Summits with the EWB ACT/ANU chapter. This has helped increase non-Indigenous respect for and engagement with local First Nations peoples, and has generated ideas, energy, and inspiration for First Nations participants. A key part of Angus's contribution to this ongoing work has been ensuring that First Nations participants benefit, which is essential to building long-term non-extractive partnerships.

Ben Mitchell (He/Him) (MBA '19) - PhD student

Ben stands as a proud leader hailing from the Meriam and Mualgal peoples of the Eastern and Western Torres Straits. Over the course of his career, Ben has actively dedicated himself to enhancing the well-being of Indigenous Australians through both his professional endeavours and voluntary work. With over a decade of unwavering commitment to the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app NAIDOC Committee, coupled with his substantial experience as a senior government employee and consultant, Ben's significant contributions include various educational initiatives, fostering collaboration with Indigenous Australians nationwide. Among these endeavours, Ben is the Program Manager of the Graduate Certificate of Management program at ANU, tailored to cater specifically to the needs of Indigenous individuals.

Sharrada Segeran (She/Her) - MChD student

Sharrada Segeran co-founded the Mind Matters Network in Malaysia, after noticing a gap in services and the high level of mental health struggles and suicide among youth, at the peak of Covid. Through this youth-led network, Sharrada has focused her volunteer efforts on increasing mental health literacy in Malaysia. As part of this, Sharrada co-authored the first Handbook on Youth Mental Health in Malaysia written from three perspectives - a psychiatrist, a newly graduated doctor and a student. Within its first month of publication 2,000 copies were distributed for free. These efforts extended to free mental health exhibitions and subsidised art therapy sessions, eventually spanning 22 initiatives within the first year, reaching all 14 states and 2,445 total participants.