Four Curtin University students have been named the 2023 Global Voices Scholars and will liaise with Australian politicians, senior diplomats and public servants to ‘develop a policy paper with key recommendations for addressing their chosen issue’.

Curtin Students Callum Noone, Emily Letch-Avenell, Caitlin Beattie and Ryan Kirby are among the 15 of the young Australian recipients of the prestigious scholarship.

Letch-Avenell, a Human Resource Management and International Business student, says she is looking forward to meeting like-minded people.

“I am excited to collaborate with a diverse network of people who share my passion for meaningful change towards a sustainable and resilient future,” she says.

Noone and Letch-Avenell will both attend the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP28) delegation, whilst Beattie will participate in the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) delegation.

Kirby will join the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Delegation.

Founded in 2011, Global Voices is an Australian non-for profit organisation ‘committed to developing the next generation of leaders by providing practical experience in policymaking, international relations and diplomacy’ by providing the perspectives of youth to domestic and global decision making.

The youth-led organisation allows the scholarship recipients to represent the voices of young Australians at key summits including the Canberra Briefings Program.

Curtin’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne congratulated the four recipients and said she was ‘impressed by each student’s desire to learn about critical issues’.

“I congratulate these four students and am truly excited to see them collectively embracing such a broad range of topics including climate change, gender equality, poverty and the global economy,” she says.

“Their incredibly leadership qualities and innovative proposals for policy change are what have earned them the rare opportunity on the Global Voices journey.”