South Australia

STUDENT CITIZENSHIP AWARDS – 2026

Announcement of the 2026 TOP TEN

The Student Citizenship Awards program is conducted annually as the flagship program of the SA Branch of the Order of Australia Association. 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. The Awards exemplify the Association’s objective:

To celebrate and promote outstanding Australian citizenship

A total of 43 submissions were received for consideration, from 31 schools and colleges. Following the meeting of the Assessment and Selection Panel, the Top 10 students have been identified to receive a ‘With Distinction’ award.

We heartily congratulate the following Top 10 students on being selected for this well-deserved award:

Nathan Bishop, Blackfriars Priory School

Maggie Collins, Tenison Woods College

Eva Fiebig, Seymour College

Jenny Ngoc Anh Huynh, Woodville High School

Karsha Ireland, Port Broughton Area School

John Thomas Lucas, St Peter’s College

Abinav Murugappa, University Senior College

Marzila Osmani, Thebarton Senior College

Chloe Riley, St Michael’s College

Elena Wabnitz, Temple Christian College

Each student received a ‘With Distinction’ certificate signed by the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, immediate past Governor of South Australia and Patron of the Order of Australia Association SA Branch, and the SA Branch Chair Mr Noel Hender OAM BEM.

They will also receive a Student Citizenship Award medallion mounted on an engraved wooden plaque. These awards will be presented by the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC, former South Australian Governor and President of the Order of Australia Association Limited. In this ceremony at Adelaide Town Hall, the 2026 South Australian Student Citizen of the Year will be announced.

The SA Branch thanks all the participating schools and the South Australia Government for their strong support of this Branch initiative.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact:

The Convenor, Student Citizenship Awards
Dr Neville Highett AM
[email protected]

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.

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 recipients (‘With Distinction’) 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.

The SA Branch Chairman Noel Hender OAM BEM 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.

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.

Looking ahead, Ms Anne Dunstan, Chief Executive, Association of Independent Schools of SA, Dr Neil McGoran, Executive Director of Catholic Education SA, and Craig Fielke, Executive Director of Lutheran Education, have agreed that their respective educational sectors will each support the Association with collaborative funding of $500 per year starting in 2028.

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:

www.education.sa.gov.au/governors-civics-awards-schools