Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of a remarkable young man who resides in Wayville, in the electorate of Adelaide. At the young age of 17, Mr Timothy Braund has an impressive list of achievements that would rival a lifetime of achievements by many other Australians. Like Timothy, there are many young people who make a significant contribution to the community both in my electorate and right around Australia. These contributions from young people often go without the recognition they deserve. I am pleased to highlight just one of the very many examples of young people who are out there making a fantastic contribution to Australia each and every day.

Timothy Braund has devoted all of his spare time to undertaking voluntary work in the local community by promoting, informing and contributing to youth programs through various local councils in the electorate of Adelaide. His involvement in the City of Burnside’s Battle of the Bands for 2009 contributed to this event being regarded as the youth event of the year in South Australia. A particular passion of Timothy’s is also the need for greater support for those who are vulnerable and disenfranchised in the community. It has been this passion which has encouraged him to dedicate his time and effort to working with the Mental Illness Fellowship of South Australia. This passion has also led to him being asked to present an education program in local high schools to de-stigmatise mental health issues amongst young people, which is something that I think many young people would benefit from.

Timothy has put endless hours into raising awareness of the plight of marginalised groups, with an emphasis on the disadvantaged. He has also completed the youth mental health first aid course and certification in child safe environments and reporting child abuse and neglect in the interest of further supporting the needs of young people. Not only has Timothy put others first in supporting fellow young people in his community but he is also passionate about protecting the rights and freedoms of all Australians, which is what motivated Timothy to become an Air Force cadet, stationed at the Keswick Barracks. Timothy was promoted to leading cadet in 2009. His persistence in the face of adversity is all the more moving, given his own hearing disability, which, whilst providing challenges, has not stopped him from helping others.

After this litany of remarkable achievements, it is not surprising that Timothy is the Young Australian Citizen of the Year for the City of Unley in 2010 and the Young Citizen of the Year for South Australia this year. To top it all off, he has been nominated for the Channel 9 Adelaide Airport Community Leadership Award and the RAA Driving Force Leadership Award. These nominations are fitting acknowledgments of the selfless work that Timothy does. I congratulate him on all of his achievements and wish him well in the future. (Time expired)