Working partner: Australian Sports Commission
Members
Ahmad lives in Sydney, New South Wales, and arrived in Australia as a refugee from Afghanistan in 2022 as an unaccompanied young person. Ahmad volunteers as the Head Youth Coach at Melrose Park Football Club, where he leads social inclusion football programs for refugees and new migrants, using sport to build confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging.
He is currently studying a Diploma of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at Western Sydney University and works as a Biomedical Engineer Intern at Fresenius Kabi Australia. He has also worked as a Robotics Coach and Assistant at Barker College.
Ahmad is passionate about learning, helping others, and ensuring sport is accessible to young people from refugee and culturally diverse backgrounds.
In recognition of his leadership through sport, Ahmad has received the 2024 NSW Humanitarian Award (Sport Category), 2025 Multicultural NSW Youth Support Medal, and the SSI Allianz Scholarship. His coaching and the impact of his team were featured nationally on ABC Sport, highlighting the role of community sport in supporting the participation and wellbeing of young refugees in Australia.
Brianna is a proud Iningai woman, born and raised on Wulgurukaba and Bindal Land (Townsville), currently living in North Queensland, on the lands of the Ngadjon-Ji peoples, in the Atherton Tablelands.
Living and being involved in sport in regional and rural locations throughout her life has shown her countless barriers that young people face with accessing sport programs. Brianna is a HPE and business teacher at a local high school and hear regularly the lengths young people are having to go to to attend regular trainings and competitions.
Through her engagement on this advisory group, Brianna hopes to share her experiences and her peers to inform ministers and community members of the differences in sport participation in a regional or rural area, as this often gets overlooked.
Charlie is a passionate leader who lives in south-east Victoria and is currently at university. She brings a strong, lived experienced perspective of disability to her work in youth advocacy. Charlie has worked alongside various organisations including Orygen Youth, Children and young people with Disability Australia, EdConnect and the Chronic Illness Peer Support Program on behalf of the Royal Children’s hospital; sharing her story within the healthcare and education systems as a disabled and neurodiverse woman.
Outside of sports, Charlie is an avid ceramic artist and enjoys spending her free time attending live music events with friends. Through recent involvement in wheelchair basketball, tennis, and AFL, Charlie has firsthand experience of both the barriers and benefits of inclusive sport. Within this group, her focus is on ensuring young people have access to the equipment, facilities, and specialist coaching required to participate, develop skills, and succeed. Charlie understands the importance of accessible, welcoming sporting environments and is committed to ensuring youth voices are central in shaping inclusive and enjoyable sporting opportunities for all.
Ezekiel is a committed youth advocate, real estate professional, and active sports participant, bringing lived experience and practical insight to national conversations on youth engagement and sports participation.
Working in real estate, Ezekiel supports individuals and families to access stable housing while navigating responsibility, opportunity, and long-term decision-making. His professional background has strengthened his understanding of economic participation, leadership, and the structural challenges young people face as they transition into independence.
Alongside his professional work, Ezekiel is an active soccer player, where he has developed a strong appreciation for teamwork, discipline, resilience, and the role sport plays in building confidence, connection, and community, particularly for young people from diverse backgrounds.
As a member of the Sports Participation Youth Advisory Group, Ezekiel is passionate about ensuring young people have meaningful opportunities to engage in sport, regardless of background or circumstance. He is committed to contributing to policy discussions that promote inclusive, accessible, and sustainable sports participation initiatives, and to amplifying youth voices in national decision-making. Ezekiel hopes to use this role to help shape initiatives that strengthen community connection, improve youth wellbeing, and empower young Australians to participate fully and confidently in society.
Fatima is a young person from WA who deeply values the capacity of sport to build a strong sense of community. She currently trains and volunteers in martial arts, and enjoys watching a variety of sports. Fatima has contributed to numerous projects that strive to improve sports participation, particularly for young women and people from diverse backgrounds. She also has a strong background in youth advocacy, having recently served as a WA Youth Week Ambassador and volunteering with youth-led organisations. Fatima is looking forward to collaborating with the Sports Participation Youth Advisory Group to ensure sport is accessible and inclusive for all young Australians.
Matilda is a member of the Sports Participation Advisory Group. She is an Aboriginal young person who is passionate about sport and community involvement. Matilda loves playing netball and regularly volunteers within netball programs. She is starting Year 11 and hopes to use her lived experience to support more inclusive and accessible sport opportunities for young people, particularly First Nations youth.
Ollie comes from a rural community where sport sits at the heart of everyday life. After disliking sport when he was younger and later developing a strong passion for it, Ollie understands the barriers that stop people from getting involved. As a 2025 South Australian Rural Youth Ambassador, Ollie have become even more passionate about supporting young people from all backgrounds, which has led him to this group. Ollie believes sport enriches lives both physically and socially, and everyone deserves that opportunity.
Peter is a third-year Doctor of Medicine student from Darwin. After entering university aged 15, he completed a Bachelor of Clinical Sciences in 2024, graduating with a perfect GPA and receiving the University Medal. He is also a dedicated community volunteer, advocate and public speaker, for which he was recognised as 2024 NT Young Australian of the Year and 2025 Darwin Young Citizen of the Year.
Currently, Peter serves as the Northern Territory’s only UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador for 2025-2026, the Medical Student Representative on the Australian Medical Association NT Council, and a researcher on the national Aussie-FIT community health program. Moreover, he operates his own tutoring firm, Supra Education (supraed.com.au).
Peter is passionate about health, education and sustainable development. He hopes to work at the intersection of these sectors by contributing to building a healthy and active Australia.
Rabbiah is a Pakistani Australian Muslim from Melbourne Victoria, currently finishing up her double degree in Social Work (Honours) and Psychology. She is passionate about human rights, social justice, and creating equal opportunities for young people from diverse and underrepresented communities.
Rabbiah has a strong background in sport participation, particularly boxing and long-distance running, and has experienced firsthand the powerful connection between physical activity, mental health, and a sense of belonging. For her, sport has been more than exercise, instead it has been a source of resilience, identity, community, and wellbeing. She strongly believes that accessible and inclusive sport can play a critical role in supporting young people’s mental health and social connection.
Through her academic, professional and community experiences, Rabbiah has worked alongside young people navigating systemic barriers, including cultural stigma, inequality, and limited access to services. She is passionate about amplifying youth voice, particularly for those who are often unheard, and advocating for inclusive policies and programs.
Rabbiah hopes to be a strong spokesperson for underrepresented communities, contributing to meaningful conversations that strengthen the link between sport, wellbeing, and community connection for all young people.
Renz is a young Queenslander and a firebrand for strengthening youth representation and participatory decision-making. He has served in the Queensland Youth Parliament and continues to engage in community-based policy and advisory work.
He is particularly focused on ensuring young people are at the table and are genuinely and meaningfully involved in the development of public policy that affects them. As a Filipino-Australian, Renz is especially interested in how governance structures can better reflect diverse youth experiences and perspectives to build a future that delivers for all young Australians.
With a strong interest in law and jurisprudence, Renz approaches youth engagement through a lens that actively considers the intrinsic rights, responsibilities, and agency of young people as our future decision-makers. Living with chronic asthma, he contributes a valuable lived-experience perspective to discussions on sports participation strategies, accessibility, and health considerations.
An ADF Future Innovators Award recipient, Renz has undertaken tertiary-level studies in politics and international relations through a higher education head-start program and is motivated to pursue further study in law-related disciplines. He is committed to developing practical, inclusive strategies that expand equitable and sustainable sports participation for young people across Australia.