Dylan Alcott is the 2022 Australian of the Year, a dual sport athlete and the youngest ever wheelchair basketball gold medallist in history. Impressively, he has represented Australia in wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis since the age of 13.

The founder of the Dylan Alcott Foundation, which helps young people struggling with their disabilities, Dylan’s true passion is his work as a motivational speaker. By telling his inspirational story of life, Dylan continually tries to alter and change the way people with disabilities are perceived in the wider community. He works as a keynote corporate speaker, bringing disability awareness to schools. He also works extensively in the Australian media landscape, as host on Triple J Radio, and with regular appearances on Channel Ten’s The Project and Channel 7 Sports.

As a world class big wave surfer, Red Bull Athlete and Surf Contest Director Mark Mathews has
become obsessed with the relationship between personal growth, high performance and fulfilment.
Winner of an unprecedented 3 back to back Oakley Big Wave Awards, Mark has cemented himself
as one of the best big wave surfers in the world.

As a highly sought after international speaker, Mathews’ surfer chill vibe and magnetic charisma,
has graced the stages of leading companies worldwide.

From Google, Sony, Intel, to MasterCard, he instantly captures audiences with his epic tales and
spectacular big wave surf vision.

His compelling story offers game changing tips to adapt to stress, harness resilience and perform
when it counts. He has deconstructed, fine-tuned, and personalised emotional resilience techniques
to successfully strengthen ones mindset and sustain long term performance.

Jacara is a Mental health social worker (Headspace), Fitness coach (Essendon Football Club) and Health and wellbeing practitioner (Wayapa). She is passionate about providing holistic health services to support people, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, to reconnect and improve their social and emotional well-being.

Jacara has always felt connected to the fresh waterways of her country and was one of the teaching students of the inaugural River health conferences held in Mildura (back in 1999) and since then has been passionate about looking after our mother earth and educating people about our environment.

Dr Richard “Harry” Harris has worked in anesthesia, diving and aeromedical medicine around the world.

His passion for cave diving goes back to the 1980’s and has taken him to the corners of the globe in search of new adventures.

Harry has a professional and voluntary interest in search and rescue operations, establishing the first flooded cave rescue capability in Australasia. The 2018 Thailand cave rescue was an opportunity to put this training to work.

In 2018 he received the Star of Courage, Australia’s second highest civilian award for bravery, and the medal of the Order of Australia for his role in the Thailand cave rescue. Harry was the joint 2019 Australian of the Year with his dive partner Craig Challen. He is now primarily working as a speaker, author and film maker.

Harry is an advocate for sensible risk taking in young people, encouraging youth to get off their screens and get outside to build independence, resilience and improved mental health.