Youth mental health researcher and passionate supporter of youth mental health advocacy globally, Maddison O’Gradey-Lee, has been named 2025 NSW Young Australian of the Year.
The prestigious award recognises Maddison’s achievements as co-founder, along with Nataya Branjerdporn, of the Orygen Global Youth Mental Health Fellowship. Now known as the ASEAN-Australia Youth Mental Health Fellowship, it is a six-month program providing youth advocates with support, mentorship and education. The fellowship has now trained 76 youth advocates in mental health education, lived experience advocacy and peer support across 42 countries.
Maddison has created a global community combating taboos around mental health and over 21,000 young people have been reached through the direct and indirect impact of the program to date. Maddison is also working to improve the measurement of mental ill-health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people through her PhD research.
Maddison received the NSW Young Australian of the Year award from NSW Premier, the Hon. Chris Minns
Maddison said she was thrilled to receive the award, and to be nominated alongside inspirational young people making a difference in their communities.
“I feel incredibly honoured to be named NSW Young Australian of the Year, it's a huge privilege,” she said.
“As a child I remember watching the Australian of the Year awards in awe every year, and wanting to one day have that level of impact in the community – so to find myself here feels incredibly special.”
Maddison said she and Nataya were inspired to create the Fellowship program after consulting with young people around the world.
“We heard from young people that they felt alone working in the mental health space, and didn't have access to the training and support they needed,” Maddison said.
“We knew there were so many passionate young people working to make change, and we wanted to ensure they felt supported by a global community and had access to the training and education they needed.
"I'm so proud that the work we do at Orygen has been acknowledged in this way, and that we can raise awareness of the amazing work young people are doing globally to tackle mental ill-health.”
Maddison (right) pictured with part of the most recent cohort of Fellows at the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Youth Mental Health Fellowship Forum in Jakarta.
This latest recognition comes after Maddison recently became the first Australian to win the coveted Diana Legacy Award, presented by Prince William in honour of his late mother, Diana Princess of Wales.
The NSW award recipients were announced at a ceremony at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Sydney last night, and will join other state and territory recipients as finalists for the national awards in Canberra on 25 January 2025.
About the ASEAN-Australia Youth Mental Health Fellowship
Orygen’s Fellowship program is for young people aged 18 to 30 from Australia or any ASEAN country who are passionate about youth mental health and want to create change in the mental health landscape in their respective countries.
It was established to build the capacity and skills of young people to create positive change in mental health awareness, policy and systems reform and supports participants to develop youth mental health project plans designed around the needs of their communities.