South Australia
STUDENT CITIZENSHIP AWARDS – 2026
2026 Nominations will close on Monday 27 July 2026
Nominations are now invited for the 2026 Student Citizenship Awards offered by the Order of Australia Association Limited (South Australia Branch).
The awards are intended to recognise those senior secondary students who actively engage with and contribute to school and/or local communities rather than for specific academic or sporting achievements.
Each school or college is entitled to nominate up to two students from Years 11 and/or 12 who satisfy the criteria for these prestigious awards. The Awards exemplify the Association’s objective:
To celebrate and promote outstanding Australian citizenship
All nominations received are considered by an adjudication panel, and all students who are judged to meet the selection criteria will receive a certificate signed by Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia and Patron of the SA Branch of the Order of Australia Association, as well as a special cased medallion made possible by the generous support of the Government of South Australia.
The assessment of student nominations will be based on the criteria set out in the nomination form and brochure. Please note that the criteria differ slightly from previous years and therefore nomination forms from preceding years should NOT be used for 2026.
The ten students judged most worthy (‘With Distinction’) will receive their medallion mounted on a special plaque with personalised engraving at a reception to be hosted by Her Excellency at Government House.
At this ceremony, the 2026 Student Citizen of the Year will be announced. In addition to their certificate and mounted medallion, the 2026 Student Citizen of the Year will receive a prestigious personalised trophy, provided through a generous bequest from the estate of the late Keith ‘Chook’ Fowler OAM (1920-2023) – “The Keith ‘Chook’ Fowler OAM Award”.
In keeping with the aim of the Association to raise awareness about the Order of Australia and Australian citizenship in general, each school/college will be encouraged to invite a member of the Association – an Australian Honours recipient – to attend a suitable school function, probably in term 4, to present the Student Citizenship Award certificate to the recipient student. Arrangements for the member’s attendance will be coordinated by the Convenor in conjunction with and subject to approval from the school/college.
The closing date for nominations for the 2026 Student Citizenship Awards is 5 pm on Monday 27 July 2026. Late nominations will not be accepted.
Please note: Students nominated for this Award in past years are eligible to be renominated, but any of these students who have previously been received by the Governor will be ranked only on achievements since that recognition.
Students may not nominate themselves nor write their own submissions.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact:
The Convenor, Student Citizenship Awards
Dr Neville Highett AM
[email protected]
The SA Branch is very grateful for the ongoing patronage and support of Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia and Branch Patron. We thank all the participating schools and the South Australia Government for their strong support of this Branch initiative.
The 2025 Student Citizenship Award Top 10 recipients
The 2025 Top 10 (‘With Distinction’) Student Citizenship Award Recipients at Government House Adelaide, Monday 1 December 2025:
Rear, left to right: Natalie Severin, St Mary’s College; Cody Bollenhagen, St Patrick’s Technical College; Lincoln Rieger, Concordia College; Rhys Heinrich, Central Yorke School; Laylah Wilson, Cardijn College.
Front: Ramzia Ashori, Thebarton Senior College; Jordan Horne, Sacred Heart College; Callum McIntyre, Mount Gambier High School (2025 Student Citizen of the Year); Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia; Ella Wallace (representing Amy Wallace, Scotch College); Tan Tran, Cardijn College.
The Student Citizenship Awards program is the flagship endeavour of the SA Branch of the Order of Australia Association.
Since 2003, the Association, encouraged by school leaders, has successfully offered prestigious awards and certificates to year 11 and 12 students nominated by their respective schools and colleges, and selected by an adjudication panel as worthy of recognition for their contribution to citizenship in South Australia.
The awards – known as Student Citizenship Awards – are intended to recognise those young people who contribute broadly through voluntary service to school and/or general communities. They exemplify the Association’s objective: “To celebrate and promote outstanding Australian citizenship”.
For the 2025 awards, the top ten awards were classed ‘With Distinction’ and recipients were invited to attend a ceremony at Government House where they received an inscribed plaque with a special medallion, and a ‘With Distinction’ certificate signed by the SA Branch Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia.
The Top 10 students judged most worthy received a ‘With Distinction’ certificate signed by the SA Branch Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia, and the Chairman of the SA Branch of the Order of Australia Association, Mr Tony Metcalf OAM.
The awards were presented by Her Excellency in an award ceremony held at Government House on Monday 1 December 2025 hosted by Her Excellency and Mr Rod Bunten.
In this ceremony Callum McIntyre, a year 12 student attending Mount Gambier High School, was announced as the 2025 South Australian Student Citizen of the Year. Callum has made an impressive contribution to his school and community, as confirmed in his personal citation:
Respected as School Captain, Callum is a standout leader of the Student Representative Council and founder of a regional student advisory network linking schools across southeast South Australia. He also volunteers as a coach, referee and mentor, supporting students of all backgrounds. Callum has championed several equity initiatives, including creating the regional Student Cultural Advisory Group, giving culturally and linguistically diverse students a platform to share experiences and shape school culture.
Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia, with the
2025 Student Citizen of the Year Callum McIntyre from Mount Gambier High School.
The SA Branch Chairman Tony Metcalf OAM joins with all Order of Australia Association members in congratulating each of the worthy Student Citizenship Award recipients who were selected to be in the Top 10.
We thank Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia and Patron of the Order of Australia Association SA Branch, for hosting this awards ceremony to honour these outstanding young Australians.
The SA Branch acknowledges the late Mr Keith ‘Chook’ Fowler OAM, whose generous donations in 2023 enabled the SA Branch to include a special medallion for all Award recipients. From 2026 onwards, these medallions will be provided through the generous support of the Government of South Australia.
From 2025 onwards, through a generous bequest from the estate of the late Keith Fowler OAM, the most highly placed nominee will receive The Keith ‘Chook’ Fowler OAM Award for the South Australian Student Citizen of the Year.
Keith ‘Chook’ Fowler OAM (1920-2023) was respected and admired for his resilience throughout his life. As a young man, he fought for Australia in World War 2, and spent three and a half years as a Japanese prisoner of war in Thailand and Burma. He lived to 103 years of age, and was one of the last surviving POWs in this country. He remained an active and engaged citizen until late in his life, when he made a gift to the Order of Australia Association to support the award of medallions for the South Australian Student Citizenship Awards. The annual South Australian Student Citizen of the Year Award is named in his honour.
PLEASE NOTE
The Student Citizenship Awards are not in any way a category of the Order of Australia, and carry no entitlement to post-nominals.
The Student Citizenship Awards program of the Order of Australia Association SA Branch is separate from, but proudly presented in collaboration with, The Governor’s Civics Awards for Schools program: