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ABC Heywire

Storytelling Competition

Tell a story about your life in your regional town, and you could win a money-can’t-buy experience. Find out more

Tell your story

Trailblazers

Working on a project to make regional Australia a better place? We want to tell the world! Apply Now

Be a Trailblazer

Grants

Receive up to $10,000 in seed funding to pilot youth-developed projects in regional Australia. Apply Now

Apply for a grant

Winners

Heywire winner tells of fear — then relief — when he came out as transgender in a small town

Eliott is one of 35 young people from regional Australia who have been named 2024 ABC Heywire winners for their resilience, courage and desire to create change. Here's where you can find their stories

A young man with short brown hair in a check tshirt and jeans, sitting perched on a fence in a paddock.

Duration: 2 minutes 31 seconds

'It's too late to leave': I felt powerless when I heard that message

Spedding from Adelong, NSW, Wiradjuri Country

A young man with white skin smiles at the camera, arms crossed, in front of a paddock with a horse.

Duration: 3 minutes 11 seconds

After fleeing a genocide in Iraq, I found safety and beauty in my new home

Nada from Toowoomba, Queensland, Jagera, Giabal and Jarowair Country

A woman with long black hair in a pink shirt. Standing near roses with green trees in the background.

Duration: 3 minutes 22 seconds

I want to be a ranger to protect my homelands and keep my culture strong

Tyrone from Galiwin'ku/Elcho Island, NT, Yolŋu Country

A young aboriginal man in a dark blue long sleeve shirt holding a gps up to a tree outside. Smiling at camera.

I dreaded being the first and only girl in my construction class. Now I see it as an accomplishment

Ruby from Margaret River, WA, Wadandi Noongar Boodja

A young woman with long blonde straight hair, wearing a dark blue tshirt. Outside smiling at camera

Duration: 3 minutes 3 seconds

Trailblazers

Meet your 2024 Trailblazer winners determined to make a difference

A comic writer, an Indigenous artist and an app developer are just some of the inspiring young Australians who have won this year's Heywire Trailblazer competition.

An image of a red dirt landscape, in front of it are five young people each with a different coloured outline around them.

Young people are looking for financial help in the wrong places, experts warn

Generation Z has the most debt, least savings and highest costs. But experts say there are ways to help them get more financially savvy.

a man in a blue shirt and jeans sits on a park bench portrait

Everything you need to know about the Trailblazers program!

We're calling on young people aged 18-28 who have started social, educational, and economic development projects in their regional communities to apply for the ABC's Trailblazers program.

From the Top End to down south, these young Australians are determined to make a difference

A TikTok teacher, a drag king and a pilot are just some of the inspiring young Australians who have won this year’s Heywire Trailblazer competition.

Five young people photoshopped in front of a yellow and blue background.

At 19, Dean lost his mother — and with her, much of his memory

Isolated from the world around him, Dean Baron found a lifeline in a different reality. Now he's determined to ensure others don't have to go it alone.

Dean Baron, pictured with his mum when he was a child.

Grants

Monotony 'gnawed' at Ceobahn's friends in a small regional town. Here's their idea to change that

Here's how common problems facing young people in regional Australia could be solved, according to 39 winners of the ABC's Heywire competition.

Outdoors, a young woman with blonde hair stairs into the distance, the sun glowing behind her head

Young people in remote towns are experiencing similar challenges. They don't have to be faced alone

Hear our Voices is an idea from ABC Heywire winners to bring together young people who live hundreds of kilometres apart to solve common problems.

Nine young people sit on a couch at different heights, all smiling.

How Easy Access could improve mental health support services for youths in regional and remote Australia

ABC Heywire winners Sophie, Peta, Jo, Asharnta and Joe have come up with a plan to improve mental health support services in regional and remote Australia.

Six people all sit on a couch at different heights, smiling.

Young people want to redefine what it means to be disabled in regional Australia

The ABC Heywire project We Are Not Alone aims to create a better future for people living with a disability so they feel better understood, accepted and supported in their country communities.

Five people sit on a bench side by side smiling, one person standing up wearing a yellow hoodie.

How Homegrown Hub could help establish marketplaces to provide fresh food for communities

ABC Heywire winners Annie, Ifa, Georgia, Tom and Mia have planted the seed for a series of community marketplaces that would bring farmers, producers, gardeners and home cooks together to offer affordable food for everyone.

six people, three at the back are standing up smiling, with two people sat on a park bench side by side and one person cross leg

How a 'safe place' could offset boredom for young people in small regional towns

ABC Heywire winners Blake from Birchip, Victoria, Ceobahn from Renmark, SA, and Jack from Tamworth, NSW, are behind an idea to give young people a place to channel their energy and prevent the dangers that can arise from boredom.

Four people stand side by side with arms over shoulders smiling.

How a group of young people think teachers could better support diverse students

An idea to connect teachers with the most up-to-date professional learning to help them engage with neurodiverse, CALD or LGBTQIA+ students aims to create a more inclusive environment.

Eight people, four standing up and four sitting down on bench smiling together

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Heywire presents personal stories from young Australians and the conversations that shape their communities

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.

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